Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
Published on October 20, 2008 under Indoor Football League (IFL)

BASEBALL

California League: The Visalia (CA) Oaks franchise in the High Class-A California League has changed its nickname to the Visalia Rawhide. The new name is associated with the area's agriculture and dairy industries and has been used as slang in reference to baseballs and baseball gloves. Although Visalia has changed affiliations over the years, the Visalia Oaks name has been used in the city since 1977, except for two years (1993-94) when the team was the Central Valley Rockies. The Visalia team is currently an affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Canadian-American League: The sale of the Nashua (NH) Pride franchise has closed and the Can-Am League team is officially now called the American Defenders of New Hampshire.

International League: The Triple-A International League had three clubs change Major League affiliations after the 2008 season. The Buffalo Bisons switched from the Cleveland Indians to the New York Mets; the Columbus Clippers switched from the Washington Nationals to the Cleveland Indians; and the Syracuse Chiefs switched from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Washington Nationals.

Pacific Coast League: The Triple-A PCL also had three clubs change Major League affiliations after the 2008 season. The Albuquerque Isotopes switched from the Florida Marlins to the Los Angeles Dodgers; the Las Vegas 51s switched from the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Toronto Blue Jays; and the New Orleans Zephyrs switched from the New York Mets to the Florida Marlins.

BASKETBALL

National Basketball Association: The NBA plans to play some regular-season games in London, England before that city hosts the Olympics in 2012. The league has expressed an interest in expansion into China and has formed a joint venture with a group to design and develop 12 arenas in major Chinese cities. Plans to renovate Seattle's KeyArena are apparently being discussed and it is hoped that this could lead to the NBA returning to the city in the future.

American Basketball Association: The recently announced Salt Lake Dreams franchise in the ABA has changed its name to the Salt Lake City Saints because the league already had a new team with a similar nickname. The Anchorage-based Alaska Dream plans to start play in the 2008-09 season.

Eastern Basketball Alliance: The new Cincinnati team in the EBA men's division is called the Cincinnati Century. The 2009 EBA men's team list now includes the Newark Above the Rim and the 2009 list is up to 13 teams. No longer on the list for 2009 are the New Jersey Bullets, New Jersey Starting 5ive and North Jersey Lakers.

FOOTBALL

Arena Football League: The New Orleans VooDoo franchise announced it has ceased operations and will not be part of the upcoming 2009 season. The VooDoo started play in the AFL as an expansion franchise in the 2004 season. The VooDoo sat out the 2006 season due to hurricane damage to its arena, but the team's players made up the Kansas City Brigade expansion team for that one season. The VooDoo returned in 2007. New Orleans had a previous AFL franchise called the New Orleans Night for two seasons (1991-92).

Indoor Football League: The IFL, which was created by a merger of the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football, has announced the Abilene (TX) Ruff Riders franchise will be part of the 2009 season. This is a transfer of the former Katy (TX) Ruff Riders franchise that played the past two seasons (2007-08) as part of the Intense Football League. The owner of the Katy/Abilene franchise also owns the league's Odessa Roughnecks and plans to add another team in El Paso for the 2009 season. The city of Katy also had a team called the Katy Copperheads that part of the 2006 National Indoor Football League, but that team moved to Spring (TX) and became the Texas Copperheads in the 2007 arenafootball2 season.

Continental Indoor Football League: A split in the ownership of two CIFL franchises, the Saginaw Sting and Kalamazoo Xplosion, has created uncertainty about the future of both teams. The Saginaw Sting was invited to join the Indoor Football League for 2009, but has not yet been accepted. The CIFL reports the Sting has two years left on its contract with the league. Both clubs apparently have outstanding debts with the CIFL.

United Football League: The proposed UFL, which plans to compete as an alternative to the National Football League, is still planning to launch in August 2009. The league will announce its league structure and team locations in the near future. At one time, the markets of Hartford (CT), Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City, Orlando and San Francisco had been considered as 2009 UFL franchise locations.

HOCKEY

American Hockey League: Construction on a new 7,000-seat arena in the Cedar Park area of Austin has started and is expected to be completed in time for the 2009-10 season. The arena will be home to the Texas Stars, the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars in the National Hockey League. The AHL currently has 29 teams and is expected to grow to 30 teams, one for each NHL franchise, when Texas joins next season. The Stars do not have its own AHL affiliate this season after dropping its former Des Moines-based affiliate in the off-season. That club was renamed the Iowa Chops and became an affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks.

ECHL: The ECHL has started its 2008-09 season with 23 teams, down from 25 teams last season. The Columbia (SC) Inferno and Pensacola Ice Pilots did not return and the Beaumont-based Texas Wildcatters are now the Ontario (CA) Reign.

All American Hockey Association: The league's proposed fifth team known as the Crusaders will not be part of the inaugural 2008-09 season. The team was to be called the Genesee County Crusaders in the Flint (MI) area, but a proposed lease agreement fell through. The South Shore Shooters team, based in Dyer (IN), has expanded its marketing area to include the Chicago suburbs and has been renamed the Chi Town Shooters.

Professional Development Hockey League: The semi-pro PDHL is starting its second season and again will have four teams-the Annapolis Wort Hogs, Baltimore Clippers, Piney Pirates and Washington (DC) Lions. All games are played at the Piney Orchard Ice Forum in Maryland.

Major League Roller Hockey: The MLRH has the NY/NJ Rockers now listed as one its teams for its proposed full professional league. Previously listed as the New York Rockers, the team played in Edison (NJ) as part of the MLRH Super League (2005-07).

American Inline Hockey League: The AIHL plans to start its inaugural 2008-09 season this fall. Its top Major level currently has 31 teams split into 6 divisions-Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, Pacific North, Pacific South, Southeast, Southwest. Many of the AIHL teams left last year's Professional Inline Hockey Association. The AIHL also plans to operate a Minor-level of teams for the upcoming season.

Professional Inline Hockey Association: For its upcoming 2008-09 season, the PIHA Pro League has 18 teams listed in 4 divisions-Northeast, Mason Dixon, Gateway and Rocky Mountain. In the Western Conference, the Pacific and Southwest divisions are gone. In the Eastern Conference, the Southwest and Atlantic divisions are gone. The PIHA Pro Division had 42 teams split into 8 divisions last season, but many PIHA teams left for the new American Inline Hockey League. The PIHA's Minor league lost the same divisions as the Pro League and has dropped from 48 to 24 teams for its 2008-09 season.

SOCCER

Major League Soccer: Seven cities have submitted bids for at least two MLS expansion franchises that are expected to be added in the next round of expansion, possibly by the 2011 season. Groups representing Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Atlanta, Miami, St. Louis and Portland have all applied. Missing from the list were previously mentioned groups representing Las Vegas and a second New York City franchise. The Miami application was somewhat of a surprise and was submitted by the Spanish soccer club FC Barcelona, which is looking to establish a U.S.-based club in the MLS. The MLS currently has 14 teams and has already announced new teams in Seattle for 2009 and Philadelphia for 2010. The league would grow to 18 teams with the next two-team round of expansion.

Professional Arena Soccer League: The PASL-Pro League has replaced the Flight A, B, C, D and E division names. The eight U.S. teams are split into a four-team Eastern Division and four-team Western Division. The three teams from the Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League are in the Canadian Division and the three teams from the Liga Mexicana de Futbol Rapido are in the Mexican Division. The league has one other group of teams designated as "Provisional, Expansion, Exhibition".

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/2533047. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.

Indoor Football League Stories from October 20, 2008

• 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.