Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
Published on February 1, 2010 under North American Soccer League (NASL)

BASEBALL

New York-Penn League: The Oneonta Tigers of the short-season Class-A NY-Penn League made the official announcement that the team would move to Norwich (CT) for the 2010 season and operate as the Connecticut Tigers. The team plans to be renamed for the 2011 season. Oneonta had been home to a New York-Penn League team since 1966.

Canadian-American (Can-Am) League: The owner of the American Defenders of New Hampshire in the independent Can-Am League is close to a deal to move the team from Nashua (NH) to Pittsfield (MA) for the 2010 season. During the 2009 season, the owner operated both the New Hampshire Can-Am team and the Pittsfield American Defenders summer-collegiate team in the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL). The NECBL team has been sold and is expected to relocate, while the Can-Am team is expected to take over the remaining two years of Pittsfield's three-year lease agreement. Pittsfield's most recent pro baseball team was the Berkshire Black Bears that last played in the 2003 Northeast League, which was a predecessor to the Can-Am League.

California Winter League: The new 2010 California Winter League has started its inaugural one-month season with four teams-the Canada A's, Coachella Valley Snowbirds, Palm Desert Coyotes, and Palm Springs Chill. All games are played at the home of the Palm Spring Chill, which had been part of the Arizona Winter League for the past two seasons.

Arizona Winter League: The AWL, which is affiliated with the Golden Baseball League, has started its fourth season with eight teams split into two divisions. The U.S. Division features the Blythe (CA) Heat, San Diego Surf Dawgs, San Luis (AZ) Athleticos, and Yuma (AZ) Scorpions. The International Division has the Calgary Vipers, Saskatchewan Silver Sox, Team Canada, and Western Canada Miners. All teams play home games in Yuma, except Blythe and San Luis.

BASKETBALL

MidWest Basketball League: The new MWBL plans to start in April 2010 with 6 to 10 teams playing a 20-game schedule through June. The league currently has six proposed teams: the Akron (OH) Rise, Centralia (IL) Pride, Cincinnati Century, Evansville (IN) Swish, Chicago Stars, and an unnamed second team in Chicago. The Akron Rise has been part of the 2009-10 season in the American Basketball Association and the Cincinnati Century played in the 2009 Eastern Basketball Alliance, but sat out the 2010 season. The Centralia owner owned the Southern Illinois Truth in the 2009 International Basketball League.

American Basketball Association: The Nashville-based Music City Stars franchise in the ABA has suspended operations for the rest of the season. The league's new Pikeville-based Eastern Kentucky Energy franchise, which will start play in the 2010-11 season, is not connected with the proposed Pikeville-based Eastern Kentucky Miners team that failed to start as planned for the 2009-10 ABA season.

FOOTBALL

Indoor Football League: Two IFL teams that were former arenafootball2 teams, the Arkansas Twisters and Amarillo Dusters, have been forced to change their nicknames due to legal complications. The new Arena Football 1 league purchased the names and logos of all af2 and Arena Football League teams. Both teams will hold a name-the-team contest and will be renamed prior to the 2010 IFL season.

Arena Football 1: The Utah Valley Thunder, which played in Orem (UT) as part of the 2009 American Indoor Football Association and moved to Salt Lake City as part of the AF1, has decided to take the Utah Blaze nickname. The former Utah Blaze was based in Salt Lake City and had been part of the Arena Football League for three seasons (2006-08). The AF1 purchased the assets of the now-defunct AFL and arenafootball2, so several AF1 teams took names from teams in those leagues. The proposed AF1 team in Dallas, which had the Dallas Desperados in the AFL, is rumored to be considering the Dallas Vigilantes as its name. The AF1 is interested in a placing a 2011 team in Columbus (OH), which had the Columbus Destroyers in the AFL for five seasons (2004-08).

American Indoor Football Association: The AIFA has awarded a new expansion franchise to Trenton (NJ) for the 2011 season. The team will be called the Trenton Steel. The league had a tentative agreement with another group to play in Trenton as the New Jersey Kings, but that deal fell through. A team called the Trenton Lightning was part of the Indoor Professional Football League for part of one season in 2001. After two seasons (2008-09) in the league, the New Mexico Wildcats franchise will not return for the 2010 season. The league's Canton Legends franchise, which sat out the 2009 season, will now try to return in 2011.

United Football League: The UFL is expected to make an announcement next month about the possible move of its California Redwoods franchise from the San Francisco area to Sacramento with a new team name. The league's New York Sentinels franchise is expected to be relocated to Hartford (CT) and a couple of new cities could be added, one of which is speculated to be San Antonio.

HOCKEY

Southern Professional Hockey League: The SPHL is apparently close to adding an expansion franchise for next season and an investor group is considering Augusta (GA) as home for the team. A hockey team called the Augusta Lynx last played in the ECHL before dropping from the league in December 2008. The owner of the SPHL's dormant Twin City Cyclones, which previously played two seasons (2007-09) in Winston-Salem (NC), is still searching for a different city to serve as home for that franchise.

American Hockey League: The AHL's Albany River Rats, currently an affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes in the National Hockey League, are reported to be up for sale and could be relocated to Charlotte (NC). This move would keep the Hurricanes' prospects closer to its home in Raleigh (NC). If the River Rats do eventually relocate, there could be an attempt to place another AHL team in Albany.

North American Hockey League: The Tier II Junior-A NAHL announced conditional approval has been granted for an expansion team in Austin (MN) for the 2010-11 season. Since Austin is only about 20 miles west of Albert Lea, there has been speculation that the Austin club would replace the Albert Lea Thunder, which had to be taken over by the league in December 2009. The NAHL has already announced potential 2010-11 teams for Chicago, Dawson Creek (British Columbia), Fresno (CA), and Aberdeen (SD).

SOCCER

Women's Professional Soccer: The Los Angeles Sol franchise will not play in the second season of the WPS, as a deal with a potential new ownership group fell through. The Sol's previous owner had returned its franchise rights to the league back in November 2009. The Sol players will be dispersed to the league's remaining eight clubs and the WPS plans to align those teams in a single table for 2010.

Major League Soccer: The owner of the Montreal Impact, which is a member of the new North American Soccer League, has stated that the club is close to making an announcement about joining the MLS in 2011 or 2012. The Impact and other NASL teams will be part of a 2010 Division II league operated by the United States Soccer Federation.

North American Soccer League: The Tampa Bay Rowdies team, which is part of the NASL, has changed its name to FC Tampa Bay due to a dispute about certain trademark rights concerning the former Tampa Bay Rowdies team that played in a previous league called the NASL. FC Tampa Bay and other NASL teams will be part of a 2010 Division II league operated by the United States Soccer Federation.

National Premier Soccer League: The New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer plan to operate an Under-23 team in the amateur-level NPSL for its 2010 season. The 2010 NPSL plans to have 32 participating teams split into 5 regional conferences. Some of the other new teams being planned include the New Jersey Blaze, FC Sonic, TSC MD Red Devils, New Hampshire Rapids, Brooklyn Italians, Tulsa FC, Milwaukee Bavarians, Minnesota Kings FC (Minneapolis-St. Paul), Sacramento Gold, and San Diego Boca FC.

United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League: The PDL will return to Albany (NY) in 2010 with the Albany BWP Highlanders. The Albany Blackwatch Highlanders club was part of the PDL for two seasons (2003-04) and was followed by a team called the Albany Admirals that played three seasons (2005-07) in the PDL. The new Albany club will incorporate the name of its youth organization, Blackwatch Premier (BWP), in its name. .

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.

North American Soccer League Stories from February 1, 2010

• 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.