Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
February 10, 2014 - Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL)

BASEBALL

Atlantic League: A group in Virginia Beach (VA) wants to build a 5,000-seat ballpark for a proposed new team in the independent Atlantic League. The city council is set to vote on the proposal next week and the group hopes to start construction this summer with completion in time for the 2015 season. The area has a current affiliated team called the Norfolk Tides in the Triple-A International League.

United League Baseball: The city of Edinburg (TX) has rejected a stadium lease request by the ULB's Edinburg Roadrunners team for the upcoming 2014 season. The city was considering the University of Texas-Pan American for use of the city's baseball stadium. The Roadrunners had a couple of issues with late rent payments to the city in the past few years.

Frontier League: Although a proposed new ballpark in Parkersburg (WV) for a possible Frontier League team is still undergoing a feasibility study, the team will have either "Ohio Valley" or "Ohio River" in its name for a broader geographic appeal. A former Parkersburg-based team called the Ohio Valley Redcoats played six seasons (1993-98) in the Frontier League before relocating.

Midwest League: The head of Minor League Baseball stated that the Beloit (WI) Snappers of the low Class-A Midwest League will need to address upgrades to its ballpark over the next few seasons or risk losing the team. The Snappers ranked last in attendance for the 16-team league in 2013.

Pecos Spring League: The independent Pecos League will hold its third annual Pecos Spring League in the Houston area from March 6 to 26, 2014. The schedule lists six teams called the Coastal Bend Kingfish, Pecos Bills, Galveston Sea Lions, Las Cruces Vaqueros, Houston Apollos and the Garden of Gears (Mesa). Players pay for the opportunity to be evaluated by the Pecos League and other independent leagues that are looking to sign players for the upcoming summer season.

BASKETBALL

Central Basketball League: The CBL announced that the Beaumont Cardinals and Shreveport Captains will be travel-only teams as part of the Western Conference for the league's 2014 season starting in April. The CBL also announced it has four expansion teams ready to join in 2015 and eventually wants to grow to 40 teams.

American Basketball Association: The ABA announced the Minneapolis-based Minnesota Rattlers as an expansion team for the 2014-15 season. Last month, the Minnesota Rattlers were announced as an expansion team for the 2014 season of the Central Basketball League, but the Rattlers are no longer listed as part of the CBL.

Women's National Basketball Association: Former National Basketball Association player Magic Johnson is part of an ownership group that has stepped forward to purchase the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks franchise. Early last month the Sparks' previous ownership informed the league it would no longer be involved with the team and there were some questions as to whether the team would return in 2014. With new ownership in place for the Sparks, the WNBA announced its 2014 season schedule that will run from mid-May to early August and feature the same 12 teams as last season.

Eastern Basketball Alliance: The EBA's new Atlanta-based Southern Division, which previously had only the Atlantic Crowns and Atlanta Purple Lightning, now has four new teams called the Blue Spiders, Decatur Slammers, Midnight Dragons and Peach City Lions.

North American Basketball Development Leagues Association: The proposed new NABDLA, which plans to start play in March 2014 with several state-based basketball leagues, has added the Brooklyn Blackout to the New York Basketball League. The Blackout was originally announced as an expansion team for the 2013-14 season of the American Basketball Association.

FOOTBALL

A11 Professional Football League: The proposed outdoor springtime A11FL, which will feature a new patented A-11 Offense with interchangeable players at every position, announced six of the eight charter teams that will play in the league's inaugural 2015 season. The six teams include the Los Angeles Express, Bay Area Sea Lions (San Francisco), Dallas Wranglers, New Jersey Generals, Chicago Staggs and Tampa Bay Bandits. The league plans to play two showcase games in 2014-one in Tampa on May 17 and another in Dallas on June 5.

Continental Indoor Football League: The CIFL has started its 2014 season with ten teams aligned into five-team North and South divisions. The league started last season with ten teams, but the Kane County (IL) Dawgs and Owensboro (KY) Rage dropped out during the season and the Pikeville-based Kentucky Drillers dropped out after the season. The CIFL added three new teams called the Northern Kentucky River Monsters (Highland Heights), Chicago Blitz and Bluegrass Warriors (Lexington) for 2014.

Canadian Football League: With the Ottawa RedBlacks joining the CFL as a ninth team for the 2014 season, the CFL commissioner will be talking to officials in Halifax (Nova Scotia) next week about that city's chances of becoming home to the league's tenth team. The league would like to add a fifth team to the current four-team East Division with special interest in Atlantic Canada, most likely Halifax or Moncton (New Brunswick). Either location would need a stadium suitable for CFL standards, so it could be a few years before the league sees another expansion team.

Legends Football League-United States: The LFL-US, formerly known as the Lingerie Football League, recently announced its 2014 season schedule that will run from early April to late August with ten teams each playing four games. Of the 12 teams from last season, the Philadelphia Passion and Minnesota Valkyrie will not return. The Cleveland Crush relocated to become the Toledo Crush for the 2014 season.

HOCKEY

American Hockey League: The AHL's Portland (ME) Pirates and the city's Cumberland County Civic Center signed a new five-year lease. The Pirates will return to Portland after playing the 2013-14 in Lewiston (ME) due to a dispute over terms of the arena lease. A junior hockey team called the Portland Junior Pirates of the United States Premier Soccer League will move their home from Saco (ME) to Lewiston (ME) next season.

Western States Hockey League: The junior-level WSHL, which is affiliated with the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), announced it will add three new teams for the 2014-15 season. These new teams will include the Casper (WY) Coyotes, Oklahoma City Junior Blazers and a yet-to-be-named team in Aurora (CO) near Denver.

Eastern Hockey League: USA Hockey's Tier-III junior-level EHL announced a team called the Vermont LumberJacks (Burlington) will be part of the 2014-15 season. Burlington was last home to a junior hockey team called the Green Mountain Glades that left after the 2011-12 season.

SOCCER

Major League Soccer: Former MLS player David Beckham announced he will exercise his option for an MLS franchise in Miami. A stadium site and construction financing for a soccer-specific stadium still need to be worked out before the league will come to Miami. The MLS had a previous team called the Miami Fusion that played four seasons (1998-2001) before folding.

National Women's Soccer League: The Division-I professional NWSL, which features national team players from the United States, Canada and Mexico, announced the schedule for its second season that will run from mid-April to mid-August 2014. The eight teams from last season return and the league added the expansion Houston Dash for 2014. All nine teams will be aligned in one table for the 2014 standings.

United Soccer Leagues - W-League: The USL women's W-League announced the schedule and league alignment for its 20th season in 2014. The league will feature 25 teams aligned in four geographic conferences. New teams for 2014 include the recently announced Braddock Road Stars Elite (Northern Virginia), Colorado Pride (Colorado Springs), Gulf Coast Texans (Pensacola) and Sedona FC Strikers (Arizona). The Los Angeles Strikers and Pali Blues merged in the off-season to become the Los Angeles Blues. A club called the Colorado Storm (Centennial) has taken over the Colorado Rapids Women franchise, which was previously the Fort Collins Force (1997-2008) and Colorado Force (2008-2011). Other non-returning teams are the VSI Tampa Bay FC and Fredericksburg Impact. The Quebec City Amiral was renamed the Quebec Dynamo ARSQ for 2014.

National Premier Soccer League: The new Fort Worth team in the 2014 men's elite-level NPSL announced potential nickname choices for the team are the Fort Worth Vaqueros FC, Fort Worth United FC and Panther City FC. The NPSL announced a new team in Fredericksburg (VA) called FXBG FC will join the league for the 2015 season.

OTHER

World TeamTennis: After playing 28 seasons in Sacramento, the WTT's Sacramento Capitals franchise is moving to Las Vegas where the team will be called the Las Vegas Neon starting with the 2014 season. This is the third franchise shift for the eight-team league since the end of the 2013 season. Previously, the New York Sportimes moved to become the San Diego Aviators and the Orange County Breakers moved to become the Austin Aces. In addition, the Kansas City Explorers moved to Irving to become the Texas Wild prior to the 2013 season. The WTT also announced the Springfield (MO) Lasers will be switched to the Eastern Conference for 2014 and join the Washington (DC) Kastles, Philadelphia Freedoms and Boston Lobsters. The teams in Las Vegas, Austin, San Diego and Texas (Irving) will comprise the Western Conference.

Dan Krieger is the creator of the "The Leagueology Almanac 2012-13", 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.

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