Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
February 24, 2014 - Indoor Football League (IFL)

BASEBALL

South Atlantic League (SALLY): The owner of the Savannah Sand Gnats in the low Class-A SALLY is still working on a new ballpark in Savannah even though he is pursuing construction of a new ballpark in Columbia (SC). The city of Savannah recently announced it will undertake a feasibility study on a new ballpark for the Sand Gnats. If that ballpark moves forward, the owner would consider purchasing another team, possibly in the high Class-A Carolina League, for relocation to Columbia. The Columbia city council appears to be moving toward building a new stadium.

Mid-Plains League: The new summer-collegiate Mid-Plains League, which was originally announced as the Great Plains League, plans to start play in 2014 with six teams called the Baldwin City (KS) Blues, Junction City (KS) Brigade, Midwest Athletics (Peculiar, MO), Rossville (KS) Rattlers, Topeka Golden Giants and Topeka Senators.

Michigan Summer Collegiate Baseball League: The new MSCBL plans to start play in 2014 with six teams called the Motor City Pride, Bloomfield Sting, Michigan Monarchs, River City Rapids, Muskegon Clippers and Holland Millers. The league is affiliated with the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League, which is part of the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball (NACSB) that receives support from Major League Baseball.

BASKETBALL

Independent Basketball Association: The IBA team list has undergone some changes as it prepares for its 2014 spring season. The Albany (NY) Legends are now the Schenectady (NY) Legends and the Holland (MI) Dream has returned. Three new teams called the Grand Rapids (MI) Fusion, Illinois Markham City Racers and Racine (WI) Storm have been added.

Eastern Basketball Alliance: The EBA has added a seventh team called the Marietta (GA) Tarantulas to its Atlanta-based Southern Division.

Central Basketball League: The Indiana Legends (Portland) and Kansas City Attack have disappeared from the CBL's Western Conference, which now lists only four teams and two of those teams will be travel-only teams in 2014. The Eastern Conference still has 12 teams listed.

American Basketball Association: The ABA announced a Native American team called the Wind River (WY) Bison has joined the league as a 2014-15 expansion team. The Bison will be part of the league's Rocky Mountain Division.

FOOTBALL

Imperial Indoor Football League: The new IIFL plans to start its inaugural season in March 2014 and currently lists four teams that all were associated with other leagues. The Atlanta-based Georgia Stealth was at one time announced as part of the new X-League Indoor Football; the Chicago Assassins and New York Wolves (Calverton) were at one time announced as 2014 American Indoor Football teams; and the Virginia Knights were part of the 2013-14 season in the Indoor Championship Football League.

Professional Indoor Football League: The owner of the PIFL's Albany (GA) Panthers stated it is most likely the team will not play in 2014 due to termination of its lease agreement because of missed payments.

Indoor Football League: The nine-team IFL started its 2014 season this weekend with a five-team United Conference and a four-team Intense Conference. The Chicago Slaughter did not return after four seasons (2010-13) in the league, but was replaced by the expansion Bemidji (MN) Axemen in the United Conference. Also, the IFL officially announced it will add an expansion team called the Billings (MT) Wolves as its tenth team for the 2015 season. The city had a team called the Billings Thunder Bolts in a former league also known as the IFL for the 2000 season. The Billings Outlaws (known as the Mavericks for the 2005 season) played six seasons (2001-06) in the defunct National Indoor Football League, moved to United Indoor Football (UIF) for two seasons (2007-08) and played two seasons (2009-10) in the current version of the IFL, which was formed from the merger of the UIF and Intense Football League for the 2009 season. The Outlaws dropped out due to costs associated with tornado damage to its arena.

National Football League: The ownership of Wembley Stadium in London (England) has expressed interest in becoming home to an NFL franchise, possibly within the next five years. The Jacksonville Jaguars will play one home game in London each of the next three seasons and have been mentioned as a potential relocation candidate

HOCKEY

North American Hockey League: The Tier-II junior-level NAHL recently held an owners meeting and all 24 teams have committed to returning for the 2014-15 season. There is the possibility a couple of teams could relocate before next season and one or two expansion teams could be added.

SOCCER

Major League Soccer: The MLS announced it has taken control of the Los Angeles-based Chivas USA franchise for the upcoming season. The league wants to find a new ownership group committed to building a new soccer-specific stadium and keeping the team in the Los Angeles area. The club will be called Chivas USA in 2014, but will receive a new name when it comes under new ownership. The Chivas USA, whose ownership was affiliated with the Guadalajara-based Chivas club in Mexico's top soccer league, entered the MLS for the 2005 season and shared the Home Depot Center (renamed the StubHub Center in 2013) with the league's Los Angeles Galaxy. The MLS will increase to 21 teams when teams in New York City and Orlando start play in 2015. A Miami team has been awarded, but it is uncertain when it will start play. To reach its goal of 24 teams by 2020, the MLS is considering Atlanta, Minneapolis, Sacramento, San Diego and San Antonio for the two remaining expansion teams.

United Soccer Leagues - PRO: The owner of the St. Louis Lions team in the USL Premier Development League is trying to form a team in the Division-III USL PRO league and wants it to eventually become an affiliate of a Major League Soccer (MLS) team. The PDL's Toronto Lynx soccer team requested a move to the city of Hamilton (Ontario) where it wanted to move up to the USL PRO league and play in the city's stadium that is undergoing renovations for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. The long-range goal was to have the Hamilton USL PRO team become affiliated with the Toronto FC of the MLS. The city of Hamilton has apparently denied this request and is working under an agreement with the ownership of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to bring a higher-level team to the 22,000-seat stadium in either the Division-I MLS or the Division-II North American Soccer League by the 2016 season.

United Soccer Leagues - Major Indoor Soccer League: The owner of the Baltimore Blast in the seven-team MISL is pushing for a merger of the league with the 20-team Professional Arena Soccer League. The PASL held merger discussions last spring and summer with officials from the USL, but talks broke down over who would own a merged league.

North American Soccer League: The new Jacksonville (FL) expansion team in the Division-II NASL announced it will be called the Jacksonville Armada FC when it starts play in 2015. The name comes from the area's Spanish heritage (Spanish Armada) and from being home to various U. S. Navy facilities.

OTHER

USA Rugby League: The semi-pro USARL plans to add a four-team Southeast Conference for the 2014 season. The Jacksonville Axemen, one of the league's six teams in 2013, will join the new Atlanta Rhinos and other new teams in Central Florida (Daytona/Orlando) and Tampa Bay to comprise the Southeast Conference. The USARL plans to have ten teams with the addition of a new team in Brooklyn (NY) that will join the five other returning northern teams in another conference.

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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