Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
December 16, 2013 - Southern League (SL1)

BASEBALL

Southern League: The owner of the Huntsville (AL) Stars in the Double-A Southern League was reported to be in negotiations with an owner of several other minor league teams who is trying to relocate a Southern League team to a proposed new ballpark in Biloxi (MS). The city of Biloxi is waiting on a commitment from a team to move to the city before finalizing ballpark construction financing.

Mexican League: The Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz team from the Triple-A Mexican League is looking to lease the Nueces County ballpark in Robstown (TX), just outside Corpus Christi, for off-season training and possibly for fielding a team in one of the independent baseball leagues operating in south Texas. The Robstown ballpark was home to the Coastal Bend Aviators for three seasons (2003-05) in the former Central Baseball League and two seasons (2006-07) in the American Association. The ballpark was also used by the Corpus Christi BeachDawgs in the 2008 season of the Continental Baseball League and by the Coastal Bend Thunder for two seasons (2009-10) in United League Baseball. In 2005, a new ballpark was completed in nearby Corpus Christi when the Corpus Christi Hooks of the Double-A Texas League moved to the area.

Atlantic Baseball League: The independent ABL is moving forward with plans to eventually have a four-team division of teams in Texas. The league currently has only one Texas-based team called the Sugar Land Skeeters based in the Houston area. The league has expressed interest in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and wants to add another team in the Houston area.

Major League Baseball: A recently completed feasibility study looked favorably on the possible return of MLB to Montreal. A new stadium would have to be built for an MLB team, which would most likely be the relocation of a current team. A local company has been created to pursue bringing an MLB team to Montreal. The Montreal Expos were part of MLB's National League from 1969 to 2004. The Expos relocated to Washington (DC) for the 2005 season after playing 22 of its 81 home games in Puerto Rico in both the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

BASKETBALL

Tobacco Road Basketball League: The TRBL has announced the schedule for its third season that will run from mid-January to mid-June 2014. The league's past two seasons ran from April through June. The 2014 season will have 13 teams each playing 12 games. Teams will be aligned into a six-team TRBL East division and a seven-team TRBL West division. Two "TRBL Sanctioned Opponents" called the East Carolina Stealth and the Triad Heat will each play two games on the 2014 TRBL schedule.

Premier Basketball League: The PBL has a new alignment with a seven-team East division and a six-team Midwest division. The Sauk Valley (IL) Predators are no longer listed, but the league added a team called the Fayetteville (NC) Shipmen. The PBL's 2014 season is scheduled to start December 31, 2013.

Central Basketball League: The CBL has added a Central Division with some new teams called the Beaumont (TX) Cardinals, Louisiana Cajun All-Stars (Lake Charles) and Shreveport (LA) Captains. The eight previously announced Florida-based teams are now listed in a Southeast Division.

American Basketball Association: The ABA has added a new team based in Edison (NJ) that will start play in 2014. The league has a current team called the Jersey Express based in Newark (NJ).

American Basketball League: The ABL, which played a 2013 winter season with a six-team Florida-based Tropics Conference and a six-team Texas-based Lone Star Conference, will play a late spring to summer schedule starting in June 2014. The league recently announced plans to expand into the Bahamas with an ABL Bahamas Division of teams in 2014. The ABL Bahamas Division champion will play the ABL Florida Division champion in Nassau, Bahamas at the end of the season. It appears as though the Texas-based teams are out for 2014.

Central Basketball Association: The four original teams from last year's Central Basketball League have joined together to form the new CBA. Teams include the Bowling Green (KY) Hornets, Middle Tennessee Storm (Nashville area), River City Panthers (Peoria, IL) and the St. Louis Hawks. The CBA plans to add four to six additional franchises before its inaugural season starts in the spring of 2014. The original organizer of the CBL decided to get out of the business and recently sold the league, which now has most teams in Florida, Texas and Louisiana.

Texas Basketball Association: The new semi-pro TBA has started its inaugural 2013-14 season with six participating members-the Dallas Bulldogs, Denton Destroyers, Palestine Platinum Zone, South Texas Spirit (Houston), Temple Bulls and the Ubal Allstars (Houston). The season runs from late November 2013 to mid-February 2014. The league plans to add additional teams and start a second season that will run from July to November 2014.

FOOTBALL

Independent Women's Football League: The IWFL has added the new San Diego-based team called the North County Stars for the 2014 season. In addition, the league has added the Utah Jynx (Salt Lake City), New York Sharks (New York City) and Pittsburgh Passion teams for 2014. These three teams were part of the women's league called the Women's Football Alliance in 2013.

Legends Football League-Australia: The LFL, formerly the Lingerie Football League, has started its LFL-Australia league with four teams called the New South Wales Surge (Sydney), Queensland Brigade (Brisbane), Victoria Maidens and Western Australia Angels (Perth). The 2013-14 season includes each team playing four games from December 7, 2013 to February 1, 2014. In addition to leagues in the United States, Canada and Australlia, the LFL plans to start a European league in 2015.

Independent Indoor Football Alliance: The semi-pro IIFA now has five Texas-based teams listed for its return in 2014. These include the Conroe Jaguars, Dallas Silverbacks, Victoria Redskins, Waco Knights, and North Texas Crunch (Dallas/Fort Worth). It looks like the Waco Knights replace the formerly listed Brazos Vipers of Waco.

HOCKEY

Central Hockey League: The ownership of the CHL's dormant Fort Worth Brahmas team, which was suspended by the league after the 2012-13 season due to financial issues, has reverted back to the team's owner prior to the 2012-13 season because of a default on a purchase agreement. The team has been renamed the Texas Brahmas, but it is uncertain when it will start play as it looks for a new arena in the Fort Worth and Tarrant County area.

SOCCER

National Women's Soccer League: The NWSL has added a 2014 expansion team called the Houston Dash, which will be owned and operated by the men's Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer. The league operated with eight teams in its inaugural 2013 season and the Houston Dash will be the league's ninth team and first expansion team. The NWSL is operated by the United States Soccer Federation and includes players from the national teams of the United States, Canada and Mexico.

United Soccer Leagues - PRO: Construction of a temporary soccer stadium at Cal Expo for the Sacramento Republic FC expansion team in the 2014 USL PRO league has been delayed. Another meeting on the project will not take place until next month and the team might have to look for another home field if construction is delayed further. The head of the Sacramento Republic stated the team's goal is to be awarded a Major League Soccer franchise in 2016. There is another Sacramento MLS effort in suburban Elk Grove that is trying to build an MLS-style stadium.

United Soccer Leagues - W-League: The women's W-League has added a team called the Colorado Pride, based in Colorado Springs, to the Western Conference for the 2014 season. The league has two other Colorado-based teams called the Colorado Rush (Littleton) and the Colorado Rapids Women (Denver).

Premier Arena Soccer Leagues: The PASL-Premier, which is the developmental league for the Professional Arena Soccer League, has started its 2013-14 season. Currently, the 44-team league has an eight-team Southwest Division, an eight-team South Central Division, a six-team Rocky Mountain Division with Colorado-based teams, a five-team Great Lakes Division, a six-team Midwest Division, a six-team Northwest Division-North and a five-team Northwest Division-South. The Central Oregon Steelheaders (Bend) of the Northwest Division-South has already dropped out of the league, but the league is hoping to bring a new team in as a replacement.

OTHER

Major League Lacrosse: The MLL plans to hold its 2014 championship game at the stadium on the campus of Kennesaw State University in suburban Atlanta as the league considers the area for possible expansion. Last season, the league held a regular-season game at Kennesaw State University to test the market. The MLL recently added the new Florida Launch team in Palm Beach County for the 2014 season after testing that market by playing the 2012 All-Star game and a 2013 regular-season game there.

Dan Krieger is the creator of the "The Leagueology Almanac 2012-13", which tracks the changes in league alignments, franchise movements and team nicknames in today's sports world. The publication is currently available at www.amazon.com.

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