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 Major League Lacrosse

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
August 25, 2014 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)


BASEBALL

American Association: A group in Ciudad Juarez, which is located in the Mexican state of Chihuahua and across the border from El Paso (TX), announced a proposal to bring an independent AA team to the city. A team called the El Paso Diablos had been part of the AA since the league was formed for the 2006 season, but the Diablos dropped out after the 2013 season and are planning a move to Joplin (MO). The El Paso Chihuahuas of the affiliated Triple-A Pacific Coast League are playing their first season in the city.

Can-Am League: The Can-Am League's Ottawa Champions expansion team is moving forward and recently unveiled its logo. The Champions are expected to start play in the league's 2015 season.

East Coast Baseball League: The proposed new ECBL, which plans to start play in the spring of 2015, has announced its first two teams will be located in Welland (Ontario) and Newburgh (NY). Both towns have had independent teams in the past. The Welland AquaDucks were part of the North Atlantic League for two seasons (1995-96). The Newburgh Nighthawks played two seasons (1995-96) in the Northeast League and the Newburgh Black Diamonds played in the 1998 season of the Atlantic League.

Michigan-based Baseball League: A proposed new 2,500-seat baseball stadium to be built in Utica (MI), just north of Detroit, plans to become home to three or four teams in a new semi-pro independent baseball league. The facility could open in either May 2015 or May 2016.

BASKETBALL

Tobacco Road Basketball League: The TRBL reports that a team called the Charlotte Elite will start play in the 2014-15 season as a travel team.

East Coast Basketball League: The proposed new spring-summer ECBL, which was formed by five teams that left the Tobacco Road Basketball League after the 2014 season, announced the addition of another team called the East Carolina Storm, based in Wilmington (NC). With this team and the addition of four teams last week, the ECBL is now at ten teams. Of the four teams announced last week, the Fort Gordon Eagles (Augusta, GA) played last season in the South Eastern Military Athletic Conference (SEMAC) and will continue to play in the fall-winter (October through February) SEMAC season before moving into the spring ECBL season. The ECBL's High Point Heat team, which was also announced last week, played in one sanctioned TRBL game and some other exhibition games in 2014 as the Triad Heat. The owner moved the team from Winston-Salem to High Point as part of the ECBL.

National Basketball Association Developmental League (D-League): The NBA D-League will have 18 teams in the 2014-15 season and is expected to realign into an Eastern Conference with a five-team Atlantic Division and a four-team Central Division, and a Western Conference with a five-team West Division and a four-team Southwest Division.

FOOTBALL

Fall Experimental Football League: The proposed new FXFL, which plans to start this October and hopes to become a developmental league for the National Football League, announced it will have four teams playing a six-game season in 2014. Teams will include the Boston Brawlers, Brooklyn Bolts, Miami Blacktips and Omaha Mammoths. Proposed teams in Austin and Portland (OR) have been part on hold for the first season.

Arena Football League: The AFL announced it will add a team called the Las Vegas Outlaws for the 2015 season. The original AFL, which operated from 1987 to 2008 before filing for bankruptcy and returning as a new version in 2010, had two previous Las Vegas-based teams. The Las Vegas Sting played two seasons (1994-95) before moving to Anaheim. The Las Vegas Gladiators played five seasons (2003-07) before moving to become the Cleveland Gladiators for the 2008 season. When the new version of the AFL returned in 2010, the Cleveland Gladiators and several other teams from the original AFL returned.

Champions Indoor Football: The new league created by the merger of the Champions Professional Indoor Football League and the Lone Star Football League will be called Champions Indoor Football when it starts play in 2015. The Wichita Wild will not be one of the former CPIFL teams joining the new league, but a new investor has stepped forward and plans to operate a totally new Wichita-based team in the new merged league. The Wichita team will be considered the new league's first expansion team, but it has yet to announce a name or home arena. The new CPI plans to have 14 or 15 teams and will align regionally into North and South Divisions.

Professional Indoor Football League: The PIFL's Lehigh Valley Steelhawks team, which has been based in Bethlehem (PA), will move to the new PPL Center in Allentown (PA) for the 2015 season. The PPL Center is the new home for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, formerly the Adirondack Phantoms, of the American Hockey League.

HOCKEY

Central Hockey League: The Denver Cutthroats and the Arizona Sundogs (Prescott Valley) of the CHL announced they will both suspend operations for the upcoming 2014-15 season. The Cutthroats joined the league as an expansion team for the 2012-13 season and hopes to return in 2015-16 with additional investors. The Sundogs joined the CHL as an expansion team for the 2006-07 season and will remain a league member with hopes of returning in 2015-16. After the loss of the St. Charles (MO) Chill following the 2013-14 season, the CHL is now down to seven teams.

Northern States Hockey League: The junior-level NSHL, which is a member of the Amateur Athletic Union and not affiliated with USA Hockey, has grown from 9 to 11 teams with the addition of the new Lockport (NY) Express and Roc City Royals (Rochester). The league will be aligned into a six-team Eastern Division and a five-team Western Division. A proposed 12th team called the Central New York Stallions (Morrisville) was announced earlier this year, but will not be part of the NSHL this season.

SOCCER

Major Arena Soccer League: After the owner of the Rochester Lancers announced the team would not be part of the MASL's inaugural season in 2014-15, efforts are moving forward with a new ownership group to make sure the team returns for the 2014-15 season. The Rochester Lancers were one of three indoor soccer teams in the proposed United Soccer Leagues I-League, which became part of the Major Indoor Soccer League when the USL took control of the MISL starting with the 2011-12 season. After the 2013-14 season, the MISL merged with the Professional Arena Soccer League to form the MASL. The Rochester Lancers are still listed as part of the new MASL's Eastern Division.

Major League Soccer: The Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League have signed an agreement with the owner/operator of its new stadium, which will open in 2016, to put an MLS franchise in the Minneapolis-based facility. The owner of the Division II North American Soccer League's Minnesota United FC has been trying to build a separate 20,000-seat soccer-specific stadium for an MLS franchise in the downtown Minneapolis area.

OTHER

Major League Lacrosse: The MLL summertime field lacrosse league announced its Rochester (NY) Rattlers team will remain in Rochester for the 2015 season, although the long-term future of the franchise is uncertain due to attendance issues. The league operated the team in 2013 and it played three of its seven home games at neutral sites that were under consideration for MLL teams. A new owner took over the Rattlers this season, but it ranked next-to-last in average attendance for the league's eight teams. The Rochester Rattlers were a charter member of the MLL in 2001, but suspended operations after the 2008 season and most of the players and organization became part of the expansion Toronto Nationals team in 2009. New ownership revived the Rochester Rattlers for the 2011 season by taking over the league's Chicago Machine franchise. Over the past two years, there have been rumors of either expansion or relocation by the MLL to the Atlanta and Philadelphia markets.

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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