Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
Published on August 17, 2009 under Frontier League (FL)
BASEBALL
Northern League: After getting the Rockford RiverHawks of the Frontier League to join the Northern League for the 2010 season, it appears the Northern League has approached the Frontier League's Windy City Thunderbolts about a possible league shift. This would give the Northern League six Chicago area teams-Rockford, Windy City (Crestwood), Lake County (Zion), Schaumburg, Joliet and Gary (IN). This has led to speculation that the Northern League's three non-Chicago area teams in Winnipeg, Fargo-Moorhead and Kansas City could shift to the American Association.
Pacific Coast League: The Omaha Royals of the Triple-A PCL recently broke ground for a new ballpark in suburban Sarpy County. The 6,000-seat ballpark is scheduled to open in 2011, although there are still some issues for funding the project. The Royals did not want to share a new 24,000-seat stadium built for the College World Series that plans to open in downtown Omaha for the 2011 season. There has been talk of an independent baseball team possibly making its home at the downtown stadium.
Eastern League: Although the Connecticut Defenders are likely to move to Richmond for the 2010 season, three other Double-A Eastern League teams-the Bowie Baysox, Erie Sea Wolves, and Binghamton Mets-were also reportedly interested in the Richmond market.
BASKETBALL
National Basketball Association Development League: The NBA D-League has announced its 2009-10 alignment. The Central, Southwest and West divisions have been eliminated in favor of a seven-team Eastern Conference and a nine-team Western Conference. The Eastern Conference will include the Dakota Wizards, Erie BayHawks, Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Iowa Energy, Maine Red Claws, Sioux Falls Skyforce, and Springfield Armor. The Western Conference will have the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, Austin Toros, Bakersfield Jam, Los Angeles D-Fenders, Idaho Stampede, Reno Bighorns, Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Tulsa 66ers and Utah Flash.
Global Professional Basketball League: The GPBL has suspended its proposed Pittsburgh Phantoms franchise for its failure to meet certain financial obligations. Apparently, the Phantoms' owner has decided to move the franchise to the American Basketball Association for the upcoming 2009-10 season.
American Basketball Association: The ABA has announced it will return to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area with a franchise in the 2010-11 season. An ABA franchise called the Minneapolis/St. Paul Slamma Jammas was proposed for the 2005-06 season, but never started play. Another Minneapolis/St. Paul ABA franchise called the Minnesota Ripknees played as part of the 2006-07 season and failed in an attempt to return for the 2007-08 regular season. In addition to Minneapolis/St. Paul, the ABA is accepting reservations for other 2010-11 teams. The Pittsburgh Phantoms, previously associated with the proposed Global Professional Basketball League, plan to join the ABA for its 2009-10 season.
FOOTBALL
United Football League: The UFL has announced the names of the four teams that will participate in its inaugural 2009 season this fall. These include the California Redwoods (San Francisco), Florida Tuskers (Orlando), Las Vegas Locomotives, and New York Sentinels. Prior to this official announcement, there was speculation the California team would be called the San Francisco Rockfish and the Florida team would use "Orlando" in its name. The "Tuskers" nickname refers to a type of wild boar of central Florida.
United National Gridiron League: The UNGL has announced the North Carolina Comets as the fifth of its proposed eight franchises that hope to start play in 2010. The Comets are expected to be based in the Winston-Salem area. The league previously announced the Alabama Blackbirds (Birmingham), Miami Scorchers, Georgia Slashers (Columbus), and Ohio Marauders (Akron/Cleveland). The UNGL will announce the names of the other teams planned for Louisiana, Texas, and Virginia in the near future.
Arenafootball2: The af2 plans to hold an owners' meeting in two weeks and a possible two-tiered league model could be under consideration. The first tier could include some of the larger markets from the dormant Arena Football League, along with some af2 markets. A second tier could include other af2 teams and current teams in the Indoor Football League.
Indoor Football League: After the American Indoor Football Association announced the name of its new Richmond (VA) Raiders franchise last week, the IFL has announced five potential team nicknames for its Richmond-based franchise. The IFL nickname finalists are Blitz, Reign, Revolution, Rivermen, and Rush. The AIFA Richmond team plans to start play in 2010. The IFL Richmond team is building a new suburban arena that will be ready for 2011, but the league has been considering a temporary location for a 2010 start.
Southern Indoor Football League: The Acadiana Mudbugs SIFL franchise has changed its nickname to the Lafayette (LA) Wildcatters. The league recently held a summer conference that included groups representing the five 2009 charter teams, along with potential expansion groups from Florida, Texas, Georgia, and Mississippi.
World Football League Women's Division: The semi-pro WFL is moving forward with creation of a women's football league and is currently targeting the Northwest and Midwest as two of its regional divisions for a 2010 start. Some early possible team names are the Seattle Warbirds, Rose City Wildcats (Portland) and Nebraska Hawks (Omaha).
HOCKEY
North East Professional Hockey League: The Fitchburg-based franchise in the new NEPHL will be called the Twin City Yeti after the Tibetan abominable snowman. The "Twin City" portion of the name is in reference to the neighboring cities of Fitchburg and Leominster, about 50 miles west of Boston. The other teams will be the Rhode Island Storm (Kingston), Boston Wings (Saugus), Salem (NH) Phantoms and New York Aviators (Brooklyn). Reportedly, the league is still trying to add Danbury (CT) as a sixth market for its inaugural 2009-10 season.
All American Hockey League: The AAHL has announced a merger with the Midwest Hockey League, which had been trying to get off the ground since 2007. The AAHL will absorb the MWHL's only current team called the Madison (WI) Ice Muskies and will operate with six teams for its second season in 2009-10. Madison will join the five current AAHL teams that had been announced last week. These included the Chicago Blaze, Chi-Town Shooters, Battle Creek Revolution, Detroit Hitmen, and Evansville IceMen. With this merger, the AAHL will no longer have to compete with the MWHL for expansion markets in the upper Midwest. The AAHL is planning further expansion in the future and hopes to develop franchises in New York and New Jersey as part of a proposed Eastern Division.
United States Hockey League: The owner of the USHL's Youngstown (OH) Phantoms has reached a financial agreement with the Tier II Junior-A North American Hockey League over the move of the Youngstown-based Mahoning Valley Phantoms team from the NAHL to the Tier I Junior-A USHL after the 2008-09 season.
SOCCER
Major League Soccer: The owners of the Montreal Impact, which currently plays as part of the United Soccer Leagues First Division, had hoped to start play in the 2011 MLS season, but the team's 13,000-seat stadium is too small and not up to MLS standards. The owners may have to try public financing for the stadium expansion and this could pose a delay until 2012. The league is adding a Philadelphia franchise in 2010 as its 16th team and will add Portland and Vancouver teams in 2011.
OTHER
National Lacrosse League: After spending three NLL seasons in various parts of the New York City area, the New York Titans franchise has officially moved to Orlando (FL) and the team will be known as the Orlando Titans when its starts play in the upcoming 2010 NLL season. Orlando is expected to take New York's spot in the Eastern Division of the league alignment.
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 2008-09 version can be found at http://www.lulu.com/content/6218580. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.
Frontier League Stories from August 17, 2009
- Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report - OSC Original by Dan Krieger
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- Cornbelters Announce Back to School Event - Normal CornBelters
- 3rd Annual Salute Our Troops Night This Wednesday - River City Rascals
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.
