Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
September 8, 2014 - Champions Indoor Football (CIF)
BASEBALL
Appalachian League (APPY): The Pulaski (VA) Mariners of the rookie-level APPY league will not be returning for the 2015 season. A local businessman plans to renovate the city's ballpark and will try to get an APPY league team affiliated with a different Major League Baseball club. Depending on the timing of the renovations, a new team might not happen until the 2016 season. The Pulaski Mariners have been part of the league since the 2008 season.
American Association: Renovations have begun on the home stadium for the independent AA's new Joplin (MO) Blasters team that plans to start play in 2015. After the 2013 season, the ownership of the league's El Paso Diablos decided to move the team to Joplin and it sat out the 2014 season.
Atlantic League: The organization involved with the Atlantic League's Loudoun Hounds expansion team appears to be collapsing after it failed to obtain financing for a proposed stadium as part of a development in Ashburn (VA). The future of the stadium and the expansion team is uncertain. A proposed North American Soccer League team called the Virginia Cavalry was to share the new stadium, but that soccer team is considering other options.
East Coast Baseball League: The first two teams announced for the proposed new independent ECBL will be called the Newburgh (NY) Newts and the Niagara Wild, based in Welland, Ontario. The league plans to start play in the summer of 2015.
Coastal Plain League: A new team based in Holly Spring (NC) will be part of the 2015 season in the summer-collegiate Coastal Plain League. The team is holding a name-the-team contest.
Prospect League: The summer-collegiate Prospect League plans to expand to 12 teams next season with the addition of a new team in Kokomo (IN).
BASKETBALL
Midwest Professional Basketball Association: The new MPBA plans to start play in January 2015 with eight teams. As of now, the league will have two teams from St. Louis, two teams from Chicago, a team from Champaign (IL) and the Bloomington (IL) Flex team that was part of the 2014 season in the Premier Basketball League (PBL). One of the Chicago teams is the Chicago Force, which formed its organization late last year, but did not participate in a league in 2014. The Bloomington Flex started play in the 2013 PBL season after the owner purchased the 2012 Bloomington-based PBL team known as the Central Illinois Drive. The PBL removed the Flex from the league during the 2014 playoffs in a dispute over game scheduling and venues.
FOOTBALL
Champions Indoor Football: The Tulsa-based Oklahoma Defenders have decided to sit out the inaugural 2015 season of the CIF, which was created by a merger of the Lone Star Football League (LSFL) and the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) after the 2014 indoor football season. The Defenders played its first season in 2012 as part of the semi-pro indoor American Professional Football League before becoming a charter member of the CPIFL in 2013. Another CPIFL team called the Bloomington (IL) Edge was planned for the new CIF, but the owner has put that team up for sale and it is uncertain if the team will play in 2015.
Legends Football League: The women's indoor LFL, formerly the Lingerie Football League, has announced a new LFL Global structure that will take effect in January 2015. The LFL currently owns leagues called LFL-USA, LFL-Canada, LFL Australia and LFL-Europa. The LFL-USA is completing its fifth season; LFL-Canada played one season in 2013and is dormant; LFL-Australia will be starting its second season this year; and LFL-Europa will start play in 2015. The new structure will include LFL Americas, which will include teams in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Central and South America; the LFL Oceania, which will include teams in Australia and New Zealand; and LFL Europa, which will include all European-based teams. In the coming months, LFL Global plans to announce teams in Canada and Mexico to join LFL Americas in 2015. The LFL also plans to concentrate on getting established in Europe and South America. The LFL-USA recently completed its 2014 regular-season with ten teams.
HOCKEY
Canadian Women's Hockey League: The CWHL recently held its player draft for the upcoming 2014-15 season that will feature the same five teams-the Brampton Thunder, Boston Blades, Calgary Inferno, Montreal Stars and Toronto Furies-as last season.
Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League: The Buffalo Regals, the only United States-based team in the Canadian Junior-B GOJHL, has requested a one-year leave of absence for the 2014-15 season with plans to return next season.
Minnesota Junior Hockey League: The Twin Cities Northern Lights and Crystal Lake (IL) Rampage will not be part of the 2014-15 season in the Tier-III MnJHL. The 14-team league will have an eight-team Minnesota Division and a six-team Central Division.
SOCCER
United Soccer Leagues - PRO: The USL PRO league's expansion team called the Tulsa Roughnecks is preparing for its inaugural season in 2015 and recently unveiled the team logo and uniforms. The Vancouver Whitecaps of Major League Soccer (MLS) signed an agreement earlier this year to work with nearby New Westminster (British Columbia) to renovate its 2,000-seat stadium as a home for a USL PRO affiliate. There has been some local opposition to these plans and the Whitecaps need a decision by later this month to complete renovations for the 2015 season. The Montreal Impact of the MLS announced it will operate its own USL PRO team called FC Montreal starting in 2015. The Impact started an under-23 team in the USL Premier Development League for the 2014 season and some of those players will move to the USL PRO team. The Houston Dynamo of the MLS is considering McAllen (TX) as a possible location for its own USL PRO team. The Dynamo is also looking at three other places, including Houston, for the development team that is set to start in 2016.
Major League Soccer: A co-owner of the Sacramento Kings in the National Basketball Association has purchased the Sacramento Republic FC of the United Soccer Leagues PRO league with hopes of developing the Division-III team into an MLS franchise. Based on the success of the Republic FC in its first USL PRO season, MLS officials will be visiting the city of Sacramento later this month to review plans for an MLS-type stadium. In addition to possible stadium sites near downtown Sacramento, suburban Elk Grove has developed its own MLS-type stadium proposal.
League1 Ontario: The new Canadian semi-pro League1 Ontario started its inaugural 2014 season this summer with ten teams. In late July, the licensing agreement of the Internacional de Toronto club was terminated and the league is completing the season with nine teams. League1 Ontario also announced it plans to start a semi-pro women's division in May 2015.
Western Indoor Soccer League: The proposed elite-level WISL, which plans to start play this fall with teams based in the state of Washington, announced the Oly Town Artesians (Olympia) will be part of the 2014-15 season. The league currently lists four other teams called the Arlington Aviators, Tacoma Stars, Wenatchee Fire and WSA Rapids (Bellingham). Another previously announced team called the Snohomish Bigfoot is not currently listed as one of the WISL teams.
United Soccer Leagues - Premier Development League: The PDL's Connecticut FC Azul (Danbury), also known as the CFC Azul, has changed its name to AC Connecticut. The team joined the PDL for the 2012 season and came under new ownership prior to the 2014 season.
OTHER
American Ultimate Disc League: The AUDL, a 17-team professional Ultimate Frisbee league, announced it has established a franchise called the Nashville NightWatch. Nashville will be part of a new Southeast Division that the league plans to add in 2015 or 2016. Earlier this year the league mentioned a possible Jacksonville franchise that could be added as part of a proposed Southeast Division.
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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Champions Indoor Football Stories from September 8, 2014
- Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report - OSC Original by Dan Krieger
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
