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Frontier League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
March 17, 2014 - Frontier League (FL)


BASEBALL

Frontier League: The prospect of building a new ballpark in Parkersburg (WV) for a proposed Frontier League baseball team received strong support in the first phase of a feasibility study, so the second phase of the study is underway with looking at two possible ballpark locations. The potential Parkersburg franchise owner is also the majority owner of the league's Washington (PA) Wild Things team.

Federation of American Professional Baseball: The proposed new independent FAPB has expressed interest in placing one of its teams in the Hagerstown (MD) market, where the Hagerstown Suns of the affiliated low Class-A South Atlantic League are relocating to a new ballpark to be built in Fredericksburg (VA). The FAPB wants to start play in the 2015 season. Hagerstown has had offers from other teams and the city was mentioned as a possible home to a relocated affiliated team in the short-season Class-A New York-Penn League.

BASKETBALL

National Basketball Association Development League (D-League): The NBA D-League announced the parent company of the NBA's New York Knicks has purchased a D-League franchise that it will operate in Westchester County (White Plains, NY) as the Knicks' D-League affiliate starting with the 2014-15 season. The new D-League team plans to hold a name-the-team contest. For the past three seasons, the Erie (PA) BayHawks served as the Knicks' D-League affiliate under a hybrid affiliation in which the Knicks ran the team's basketball operations. Erie has been part of the league since the 2008-09 season and wants to establish a single affiliation with another NBA team starting next season. The NBA's Portland Trail Blazers have decided to end their single affiliation with the D-League's Idaho Stampede, so the Stampede will seek a new single affiliation with another NBA team for next season. The NBA's Orlando Magic wants to establish a single affiliation with a D-League team, possibly for the 2014-15 season.

American Basketball Association: The proposed new Indianapolis-based ABA expansion team to be added for the 2014-15 season will be called the Indianapolis Southsiders.

Central Basketball League: The CBL announced an ownership change for two of its teams called the Fort Pierce Warriors and Martin County (FL) Lions. The league's Shreveport Captains team is no longer listed in the Western Conference, which is now down to only three teams.

American Professional Basketball League: The Winchester (VA) Storm of the APBL has apparently ended its 2013-14 season. The team has been removed from the remaining schedule and from the Colonial Division, which now has only three teams.

FOOTBALL

Arena Football League: The AFL recently started its 2014 season and has 14 teams aligned in an American Conference with four-team East and South divisions and a National Conference with three-team Pacific and West divisions. The Utah Blaze (Salt Lake City) and Chicago Rush did not return from last season, but the league added the Los Angeles KISS and Portland (OR) Thunder as 2014 expansion teams.

Ultimate Indoor Football League: The UIFL has only four teams announced for its upcoming 2014 season that starts in April, but recently announced a new team called the Capital City Revolt, based in Columbia (SC), will join the league for the 2015 season.

Lone Star Football League: The indoor LSFL recently started its 2014 season with five teams called the Amarillo Venom, New Mexico Stars (Albuquerque), Rio Grande Valley Sol (McAllen, TX), San Angelo (TX) Bandits and West Texas Wildcatters (Odessa). The Laredo Rattlesnakes and Abilene Bombers did not return from last season, but the league added the Rio Grande Valley Sol and West Texas Wildcatters as new teams for 2014.

HOCKEY

North Atlantic Professional Hockey League: The proposed new NAPHL officially announced its first team called the Berkshire Black Bears will be based in North Adams (MA), but the details of a lease have not yet been worked out. The league would like to have six teams for its inaugural 2014-15 season and has been targeting markets in northern New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire and southern Massachusetts.

Maritimes Junior Hockey League: The junior-A level MHL, which is one of ten junior-A leagues in the organization called the Canadian Junior Hockey League, announced it will add a twelfth team based in St. Stephen (New Brunswick) for the 2014-15 season.

SOCCER

Women's Premier Soccer League: The WPSL has posted the league alignment for teams participating in the upcoming 2014 season. The league currently has 74 teams aligned into 11 different geographic regions. The league had 70 teams in 13 geographic regions for the 2013 season.

United Soccer Leagues - PRO: The USL PRO league announced the Phoenix FC Wolves franchise has undergone an ownership change and the team has been renamed the Arizona United SC. The United will take over the 2014 schedule previously announced for the Phoenix FC Wolves. The Wolves started play last season, but ran into financial difficulties. The new ownership group plans to move the team's home games to Peoria (AZ) for the 2014 season.

OTHER

National Indoor Field Lacrosse: The proposed new NIFL, which plans to be the first professional indoor field lacrosse league, announced its fourth team will be the St. Catharines (Ontario) Wolfpack when it starts its inaugural 2014-15 season this fall. Two other Ontario-based teams called the Niagara Riptides and Welland River Rats, along with the Buffalo Xtreme in the United States, were previously announced.

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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