Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
Published on October 15, 2012 under Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL)

BASEBALL

Pecos League: The independent Pecos League plans to add a team called the Taos (NM) Blizzard for its 2013 season. The league lists another potential new team called the Pecos (TX) Bills and also mentions the Las Vegas (NM) Train Robbers as a proposed 2013 team.

Texas Winter League: The Texas Winter League will operate its 2013 season from January 31 to March 1, 2013 in Harlingen (TX) with four teams called the Roadrunners, Thunder, Toros, and WhiteWings. The league originally planned to also operate a four-team fall season (October-November ) in Fort Worth (TX), but those plans were apparently scrapped.

Arizona Fall League: Major League Baseball's six-team AzFL has started its 2012 season with the same teams and alignment as last season. The East Division features the Mesa Solar Sox, Salt River Rafters, and Scottsdale Scorpions, while the West Division includes the Peoria Javelinas, Phoenix Desert Dogs, and Surprise Saguaros. Each AzFL team has players assigned from five different MLB teams.

Frontier League: The city of Parkersburg (WV) is still considering construction of a ballpark for a proposed Frontier League team and plans to undertake a feasibility study. The city was home to the Ohio Valley Redcoats in the Frontier League from 1993 to 1998.

Atlantic Baseball League: The ABL, which is officially known as Atlantic League Professional Baseball (ALPB), plans to move forward with a feeder league called the ALPB2 that is targeting 2014 for its start with teams based in the Northeast. The ABL itself wants to expand and add more teams in Texas and possibly include games in the Caribbean against teams in Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Plans by a developer to place an ABL team in the Malden (MA) area of Boston have been pushed back until 2015, as lease negotiations for the ballpark site have taken longer than expected.

North American Baseball League: The city of Edinburg (TX) plans to terminate the ballpark lease of the NABL's Edinburg Roadrunners team due to past-due payments under the team's lease agreement.

American West Baseball League: The new ownership of the Yuma (AZ) Panthers franchise in the proposed new AWBL has announced it will rename the team through a name-the-team contest. The former Yuma Scorpions of the North American Baseball League became the Yuma Panthers after the 2011 season, but sat out the 2012 NABL season and moved to the AWBL.

BASKETBALL

National Basketball Associaton Development League: The NBA D-League has officially announced the move of the Dakota Wizards from Bismarck (ND) to Santa Cruz (CA) where the team will become the Santa Cruz Warriors for the 2012-13 season. The NBA's Golden State Warriors purchased the Wizards to become its D-League affiliate prior to the 2011-12 season. The Wizards became part of the NBA D-League for the 2006-07 season after playing in the defunct Continental Basketball Association from 2001 to 2006 and in the defunct International Basketball Association from 1995 to 2001.

Central Basketball League: The proposed new CBL has tryout information posted for the Indiana Diesels. A Columbus-based team called the Indiana Diesels was part of the 2012 Premier Basketball League and the 2010-11 American Basketball Association.

American Basketball Association: The ABA has announced the Hampton Roads Stallions team will start play in the upcoming 2012-13 season as part of the Mid-Atlantic Division. The Stallions apparently replace the Norfolk Sharks team that was announced, but never played in 2011-12, and then was listed as the Hampton Roads Sharks. The ABA also announced a new team called the Buffalo 716ers has been added as an expansion team for 2013-14. The league's Tennessee Mad Hatters team, which is based in Johnson City, has been renamed the Tennessee Halo's (not Halos). The Pennsylvania Project that is establishing new ABA franchises in the state has announced tryouts for the Harrisburg Hawks team.

FOOTBALL

Championship Professional Indoor Football League: The Topeka-based Kansas Koyotes team has left the indoor American Professional Football League to join the new CPIFL for its inaugural season in 2013.

This is the fifth former APFL team to join the CPIFL. The Bloomington Edge, which was part of the 2012 Indoor Football League, has come under new ownership and will move to the new CPIFL for 2013. This franchise started as the Bloomington Extreme in the 2006 United Indoor Football, moved to the IFL in 2009, and changed its name to the Edge under new ownership prior to the 2012 season.

Arena Football League: The Milwaukee Mustangs franchise of the AFL announced it will sit out the 2013 season and try to return in 2014. The franchise joined the new AFL in 2010 as the Milwaukee Iron, which had been a 2009 expansion team in the final season of the arenafootball2 minor indoor league. The Iron was renamed the Milwaukee Mustangs in 2011, taking the name of a team that played in the original AFL from 1994 to 2001. The AFL's Georgia Force team in the Atlanta area announced it has ceased operations after failing to find local ownership to take over the franchise. This version of the Georgia Force entered the AFL for the 2011 season when the Huntsville-based Alabama Vipers moved to the Atlanta area. A previous version of the Georgia Force played seven seasons (2002-08) in the original AFL until that league ceased operations. In late August, the AFL's Kansas City Command franchise announced it would not be returning for the 2013 season.

Continental Indoor Football League: A team called the Kane County (IL) Dawgs, which was previously called the Dekalb (IL) Dawgs and a potential new team for the indoor American Professional Football League, has officially been announced as a new team in the CIFL for its 2013 season. The Chicagoland team is the league's tenth team and will play its five home games at a facility in Romeoville (IL).

Ultimate Indoor Football League: The UIFL's former Western Pennsylvania Sting travel team has moved to Florida and will be called the Miami Sting for the 2013 season.

Lone Star Football League: The Rio Grande Valley Magic (Hidalgo, TX) of the indoor LSFL will not return in 2013, but will be replaced by a new franchise called the McAllen Toros. Last week, the league revoked the franchises controlled by the owner of the Magic and the Corpus Christi Hammerheads.

Canadian Football League: The CFL has announced the addition of its ninth team to be based in Ottawa (Ontario) is set for the 2014 season. The city of Ottawa recently voted in favor of plans to refurbish the city's Frank Clair Stadium, but the construction needs to stay on schedule for a 2014 start. The CFL had the Ottawa Rough Riders from 1958 through 1996 and the Ottawa Renegades from 2002 through 2006.

United States Football League: The proposed new springtime USFL, which has been trying to get off the ground over the past few years, has pushed its proposed 2013 start back until 2014. The league plans to have eight teams each playing a 14-game spring-summer schedule under National Football League rules.

United Football League: It appears as those financial and attendance issues might be affecting the UFL as its 2012 has gotten underway. The league's Sacramento Mountain Lions are reportedly past due on player salary payments.

HOCKEY

American Hockey League: The 30-team AHL, whose teams each have an affiliation with a team in the National Hockey League, has started its 2012-13 season with the same teams as last season. The league made a change in alignment of teams within the three divisions of the Western Conference. The Abbotsford Heat (British Columbia) were moved from the West Division to the North Division, the Grand Rapids Griffins were moved from the North Division to the Midwest Division, and the Charlotte Checkers were moved from the Midwest Division to what is now the South Division (formerly the West Division).

ECHL: The ECHL, which is considered the premier "AA" hockey league, has started its 2012-13 season with 23 teams. The Eastern Conference includes the a four-team Atlantic Division, the five-team North Division and the five-team South Division, while the Western Conference has a four-team Mountain Division and a five-team Pacific Division. Of the 20 teams from 2011-12, only the Chicago Express did not return. The league added four new teams with the expansion Orlando Solar Bears joining the Eastern Conference South Division, the Fort Wayne Komets and Evansville IceMen entering the Eastern Conference North Division from the Central Hockey League, and the expansion San Francisco Bulls joining the Western Conference Pacific Division.

SOCCER

United Soccer Leagues - PRO League: Two individuals from Milwaukee are trying to find investors for a possible USL PRO team to be located in the area, possibly in time for the 2014 season.

North American Soccer League: A group of businessmen in Indianapolis is considering placing a team in the Division II NASL, possibly for the 2014 season. Apparently, the organization is also interested in eventually moving up to Major League Soccer.

New Women's Pro Soccer League: The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) could lend support to a proposed new women's pro soccer league, which is trying to start play in 2013, by funding the salaries for top U.S. national team players that participate in the new league. There are reported to be ten cities interested in the new league, which is expected to be run by the United Soccer Leagues.

OTHER

National Lacrosse League: The indoor NLL will hold an exhibition game in Montreal on December 15, 2012 between its Toronto Rock and Rochester Knighthawks teams. Eventually, the league is hoping exhibition games like this will help generate interest for a Montreal-based NLL franchise. The league had a 2002 team called the Montreal Express, which was the relocated Columbus (OH) Landsharks franchise, but the Express lasted only one season before shutting down.

North American Lacrosse League: The indoor NALL plans to start its second season in January 2013 with four teams. These will include the returning Kentucky Stickhorses (Louisville) and three expansion teams called the Baltimore Bombers, Boston Rockhopper, and Rhode Island Rockfish (Providence). The NALL's inaugural 2012 winter season ended up being a series of exhibition matches hosted by the Stickhorses after several other proposed NALL teams decided to leave and formed the fall-season Professional Lacrosse League, which is currently playing its inaugural season.

Dan Krieger is the creator of the "The Leagueology Almanac 2011-12", 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.

Champions Professional Indoor Football League Stories from October 15, 2012

• 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.