Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
Published on October 15, 2007 under Northern League (NL)

BASEBALL

- Northern League: The Northern League informed the Calgary Vipers and Edmonton Cracker-Cats that the teams will not be part of the 2008 season due to irreconcilable differences. The two teams announced they would move forward in discussions with the Golden Baseball League about being part of its 2008 season. The Northern League is now reduced to six teams.

- Frontier League: The proposed new ballpark at McHenry Community College in Crystal Lake (IL) that would become home to a Frontier League franchise is facing opposition from a group of citizens. The city council will be considering a zoning variance for the project next week.

- American Association: Nueces County terminated the lease of the Coastal Bend Aviators and the franchise is not expected to be part of the 2008 AA season. The AA will likely not operate the St. Joe (MO) Blacksnakes and have ten franchises in 2008. The league plans to expand and wants to have 16 teams by 2011. The AA hopes to have a team in Brighton (CO) for the 2009 season and was reportedly working toward placing a team in Topeka (KS). With the recent problems in the Northern League, there was talk of the Northern League wanting to set up some sort of inter-league play with the AA in 2008 or some Northern League teams eventually switching to the AA. Four of the AA's current Northern Division teams were once part of the Northern League.

- Canadian-American League: The owner of the Nashua Pride is still working on a season ticket drive to keep the team alive for one more season and will give the league an answer on October 25. If Nashua returns, the league will probably go with eight teams and drop the league-operated Grays travel team. The North Shore Spirit already announced the franchise would not return in 2008. A number of legal issues in Ottawa have slowed an attempt to add a Can-Am team there for the 2008 season.

- Arizona Fall League: Major League Baseball's Arizona Fall League started its season last week. Each of the six teams has players from five Major League clubs. The league added an International Division for the Team China and Team USA teams, which will each play one game against the AzFL clubs.

East Mesa Solar Sox (Astros, Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Red Sox) Phoenix Desert Dogs (Athletics, Orioles, Pirates, Twins, White Sox) Scottsdale Scorpions (Blue Jays, Devil Rays, Diamondbacks, Giants, Mets)

West Peoria Javelinas (Braves, Mariners, Nationals, Rockies, Yankees) Peoria Saguaros (Dodgers, Marlins, Padres, Phillies, Tigers) Surprise Rafters (Angels, Indians, Rangers, Reds, Royals)

International Team China Team USA

- Golden Baseball League: The GBL again plans to operate its off-season Arizona Winter League that will run from January 28 to March 2, 2008. The league announced that an expansion team called the Palm Springs (CA) Chill will be part of the second season of the winter league. The four to six participating teams for the 2008 Arizona Winter League will be announced shortly. The GBL could be adding the Calgary Vipers and the Edmonton Cracker-Cats from the Northern League for its regular 2008 summer season. The GBL also wants to place a team in the Bay Area in 2009 and expand into Washington State, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

BASKETBALL

- Premier Basketball League: A week after holding its inaugural draft, the PBL announced that the Jacksonville Jam, a 2006-07 American Basketball Association franchise, has switched to the PBL and will be part of its inaugural season.

- Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP): The expansion franchise called Guerroros of Morelia was having arena problems and could be out of the league. Two other franchises have changed locations. The Correcaminos Reynosa have moved to Piedras Negras Coahuila, across the border from Eagle Pass (TX), and the team has been renamed the Bravos Piedras Negras-Eagle Pass. The Correcaminos Matamoros team has moved to Nuevo Laredo Tamaulipas, across the border from Laredo (TX), but a new name for the team has not yet been announced.

- International Basketball League: The Phoenix Flame franchise has moved to Scottsdale (AZ) and will be called the Scottsdale Flame for the 2008 IBL season.

FOOTBALL

- United Football League: The UFL is inviting fans in 12 potential markets to determine which cities will host teams in the league's inaugural season that is scheduled to start in August 2008. The eight cities generating the most ticket reservations will be considered as leading markets to host a franchise. The 12 potential host cities include: Austin, Birmingham, Columbus, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Raleigh, Sacramento and San Antonio.

- National Football League: The owners of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League have reportedly become the second group that wants to try to bring an NFL franchise to Toronto.

- Arena Football League: The Nashville Kats franchise has ceased operations after three seasons. The original Nashville Kats franchise played from 1997 through the 2001 season and moved to Atlanta as the Georgia Force. The owner of the NFL's Tennessee Titans then restarted the Nashville Kats AFL franchise in 2005. The AFL approved the Austin Wrangler's request to drop down to arenafootball2 for the 2008 season. The af2 has fewer expenses and should help the Wranglers financially. The franchise will continue to be called the Austin Wranglers in the af2. The idea of international expansion is in the early planning stages, but the league wants to be overseas within the next three to five years. New arenas in London and Berlin could be considered along with locations in Mexico.

- Arenafootball2 (af2): The owner of the Louisville Fire, who was considering the folding of the af2 franchise, has decided to return for the team's eighth season in the league. The owner now plans to position the franchise for an eventual move to the Arena Football League after a new downtown arena is completed in 2010.

- Intense Football League: The IFL has announced its ninth franchise for 2008 will be located in Fairbanks (AK) and will become a natural rival for the Anchorage-based Alaska Wild. All eight teams from last season plan on returning in 2008 and the league could still add another one or two teams.

- American Indoor Football Association: The AIFA announced that it will not renew the franchise of the Erie Freeze. The Johnstown Riverhawks will sit idle in 2008 and hope to return in 2009. Erie and Johnstown started play in 2005 as part of the Atlantic Indoor Football League, a predecessor to the AIFA. Erie could switch to the Continental Indoor Football League or just sit out the 2008 season.

HOCKEY

- United States Hockey League: The new Fargo (ND) franchise that plans to start play in the 2008-09 USHL season will be called the Fargo Force. The Phantoms and Fire were also considered as possible nicknames for the team. The USHL is the top junior-level hockey league in the United States.

SOCCER

- Women's Soccer LLC: If a new stadium is built for Major League Soccer's Kansas City Wizards, the team's ownership would like to place a team in the proposed women's professional soccer league, currently known as Women's Soccer LLC.

- Major League Soccer: Both Portland and Seattle are interested in placing a franchise in the MLS, but the league would most likely consider adding a team in just one of the two cities by 2010. Seattle has been rumored to be the choice for addition in 2009. Due to the number of applications for potential franchises, the league has stated in still might consider further expansion by 2012. Both cities have current franchises called the Portland Timbers and the Seattle Sounders in the First Division of the United Soccer Leagues.

OTHER

- National Lacrosse League: The NLL has set October 15, 2007 as a deadline to reach a collective bargaining agreement with the players' association or it will cancel the upcoming season.

- Major League Lacrosse: The MLL still plans to add two more teams to the current four-team Western Division, but future expansion might not happen until 2009. Cities under consideration include, but are not limited to: Cincinnati, Dallas, Portland, Salt Lake, San Diego, Seattle and St. Louis.

Dan Krieger is the creator of "Leagues, Teams & Nicknames", which tracks the changes in league alignments, franchise movements and team nicknames in today's sports world. The latest version can be found at http://www.lulu.com/content/774026. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.

Northern League Stories from October 15, 2007

• 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.