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Arena Football League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
December 22, 2014 - Arena Football League (AFL)


BASEBALL

Canadian-American League: The new independent Can-Am League team that will play at Skylands Stadium in Augusta (NJ) starting with the 2015 season will be called the Sussex County Miners. The stadium was home to an affiliated team called the New Jersey Cardinals for 12 seasons (1994-2005) in the short-season Class-A New York-Penn League and another Can-Am League team called the Sussex Skyhawks for four seasons (2006-09). According to the Miners' posted schedule, the four Can-Am teams from last season will return, along with Sussex County, another new team called the Ottawa Champions, and a short-schedule road team.

South Atlantic League: The owner of the Savannah Sand Gnats in the low Class-A SAL has been given a deadline of January 1, 2015 to let the city know if a team will be playing in the city for the 2016 season. The Sand Gnats' owner is building a new stadium in Columbia (SC) and needs to bring a team there for the 2016 season. With the city of Savannah recently rejecting plans to build a new ballpark, the Sand Gnats are the most likely team to be relocated. The Sand Gnats' owner recently purchased the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Double-A Southern League, but that team is not expected to be moved.

East Coast Baseball League: The organizer of the proposed ECBL plans to consider Old Orchard Beach (ME) for a possible team when the league starts play in 2015. This market became available when owners of the Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide, which played the past three seasons in the summer-collegiate Futures Collegiate Baseball League, recently sold the team to owners in a different market. Old Orchard Beach had previous professional teams called the Maine Guides (1984-87) and Maine Phillies (1988) in the Triple-A International League.

United League Baseball: The Fort Worth Cats of the independent ULB are in danger of missing the 2015 season if the team does not find a home stadium by the end of January. The team has struggled to keep up with payments to vendors and employees and lost its stadium lease after the 2014 season. The Fort Worth Cats were one of only four teams in the 2014 ULB season. One of the 2014 teams was a travel-only club and another, the San Angelo Colts, is currently dealing with bankruptcy issues.

Atlantic League: With the possibility of the United States normalizing relations with Cuba, the head of the independent Atlantic League has expressed interest in placing a team in Cuba as part of a proposed Caribbean Division that would also include teams in Florida, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

Major League Baseball: The prospect of keeping MLB's Tampa Bay Rays in the area is uncertain as the St. Petersburg city council voted against a deal made by the mayor that would have allowed the St. Petersburg-based Rays explore new stadium sites in the region, including sites outside of St. Petersburg. The deal would have let the team search for a new home in Hillsborough County, which includes the city of Tampa, in exchange for payments to the city if the team leaves Tropicana Field before its lease expires in 2027.

BASKETBALL

Central Basketball Development League: The CBDL has added the Savannah Crusaders and D-Elite Silverbacks (Auburn, AL) to a proposed Southeast Division and teams called the New Jersey Knights and Virginia Vengeance to a proposed Northeast Division for its 2015 season.

Women's Blue Chip Basketball League: The semi-pro WBCBL announced an expansion team called the San Antonio Crusaders will be part of the 2015 season. The WBCBL started play in 2005 and plays a spring-summer season.

Canadian Basketball League: The proposed new CBL is still trying to organize for a start in the fall of 2015. The league plans to have six Ontario-based teams in a Central Division for the first season and eventually expand with teams in Atlantic and Western divisions.

FOOTBALL

Arena Football League: The AFL officially announced the Pittsburgh Power will not play in the 2015 season. Pittsburgh had been part of the league for the past four seasons, but ownership decided to end its membership. The AFL hopes to return to the Pittsburgh market in the near future with a new franchise under new ownership. A team called the Pittsburgh Gladiators played four seasons (1987-90) in the original AFL before moving to Tampa. The AFL also announced the schedule for the upcoming 2015 season that will feature only 12 teams. The league had 14 teams in 2014, but the Pittsburgh Power, San Antonio Talons and Iowa Barnstormers will not return. The AFL added an expansion team called the Las Vegas Outlaws for the 2015 season.

HOCKEY

American Hockey League: The AHL's Oklahoma City Barons team, which is the AAA-level minor-league affiliate of the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers, plans to cease operations after the 2014-15 season. The Barons joined the AHL for the 2010-11 season, but the team has had attendance problems over the past few seasons. There is speculation the Oilers could move its AHL affiliate to Bakersfield (CA), which is home to the Oilers' ECHL AA-level affiliate called the Bakersfield Condors. An AHL Western Division is being proposed by several western-based NHL teams that could include some other current ECHL markets. The NHL's Los Angeles Kings own the ECHL's Ontario (CA) Reign and the NHL's Calgary Flames are in the process of buying the ECHL's Stockton (CA) Thunder. The NHL's Anaheim Ducks are said to be considering Long Beach or San Diego for an AHL affiliate. AHL affiliates of other western NHL teams like the San Jose Sharks and Arizona Coyotes could also become part of a new AHL Western Division.

Ontario Hockey League: The Plymouth (MI) Whalers in Canada's major-junior OHL are expected to relocate after this season and are reported to be looking at Chatham (Ontario), which is about 75 miles east of Plymouth. The Chatham arena is older and has a smaller seating capacity than most OHL arenas. The OHL could try to keep the team in Michigan with a move of the Whalers to Flint, where another group was trying to start up an expansion team in the Tier-I United States Hockey League. Hamilton (Ontario) has also been mentioned as a possible destination for the Whalers.

North American Hockey League: The Tier-II junior-level NAHL announced the ownership of the league's Keystone Ice Miners team, which is based in Connellsville (PA) just south of Pittsburgh, has voluntarily terminated its membership in the league. The league has stepped in to make sure the team can complete its 2014-15 schedule. This was the first season for the Ice Miners team that played as the Port Huron Fighting Falcons before ownership moved the team to Pennsylvania in the off-season.

North American 3 Eastern Hockey League: The Tier-III junior-level NA3EHL, which is being operated by the Tier-II North American Hockey League this season, plans to move the Laconia-based New Hampshire Fighting Spirit to Lewiston (ME) for the 2015-16 season.

American Inline Hockey League: The AIHL has started its 2014-15 season with 26 elite-level teams in 5 regional divisions and 39 minor-level teams in 5 regional divisions. The AIHL started play for the 2008-09 season when several teams left the Professional Inline Hockey Association.

SOCCER

United Soccer Leagues - PRO: Reports from the USL's annual meeting indicated the Division-III USL PRO league will operate with 24 teams split into 12-team Western and Eastern conferences for the 2015 season. The league operated with 14 teams in one table in 2014, but lost 2 teams and will add 12 new teams in 2015. There are also reports the USL PRO could expand to 32 teams by the 2016 season and it plans to apply for Division-II status by the 2017 season. Currently, the 11-team North American Soccer League is the only Division-II league. Also, the Arizona United SC of the USL PRO will move from Peoria to Scottsdale for the 2015 season.

North American Soccer League: The Division-II NASL announced the schedule for its 2015 Spring Season will feature 11 teams playing from early April to mid-June. All ten teams from last season will return and the league has added an expansion team called the Jacksonville Armada FC for the 2015 season. The league plans to announce its 2015 Fall Season schedule in January 2015 and could add a 12th team by the Fall Season. The NASL has a long-range goal of 18 to 20 teams.

Major League Soccer: The city council in Las Vegas has approved subsidies that could help build a new soccer stadium for a possible MLS expansion team. The funding is contingent on the stadium developers first obtaining an MLS expansion team. The city council in Washington (DC) passed legislation to authorize funding on construction of a soccer-specific stadium for the league's D.C. United.

OTHER

Major Lacrosse League: The field lacrosse, or outdoor lacrosse, MLL announced the schedule for its 15th season that will run from mid-April to late July 2015. The season will include the same eight teams as last season: the Boston Cannons, Charlotte Hounds, Chesapeake Bayhawks (Annapolis, MD), Denver Outlaws, Florida Launch (Boca Raton), New York Lizards, Ohio Machine (Columbus) and Rochester Rattlers.

American Ultimate Disc League: The professional AUDL has finalized the five teams for its new South Division in 2015 with the announcement of an expansion team in Charlotte. Other new South Division teams will be based in Atlanta, Jacksonville, Nashville and Raleigh (NC). The AUDL also has seven-team Northeast, Midwest and West divisions of teams.

Dan Krieger is the creator of the Leagues, Teams & Nicknames 2013-14: "The Leagueology Almanac" , 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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