Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
October 1, 2007 - American Indoor Football Association (AIFA)


BASEBALL

- Midwest League: The owner of the Beloit Snappers may put the team up for sale after unsuccessful attempts to build a new ballpark in the area. One prospective buyer is interested in bringing a team to Dubuque (IA), where a new privately funded ballpark would be built for the team. A referendum for a new ballpark in Dubuque failed back in late 2003 when the league's Battle Creek Yankees were considering a move to the city.

- Frontier League: After announcing the possibility of a new franchise in the Bloomington-Normal (IL) area last week, another group is interested in renovating Illinois Field on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana for a Frontier League franchise that could start in 2009. The Champaign-Urbana team would be a natural rival for Bloomington-Normal. Champaign-Urbana had an independent team called the Bandits in the only season of the Great Central League in 1994.

- American Association: The residents of Brighton (CO) in the Denver area will vote on a referendum in November to fund a new ballpark that could become home to an AA franchise. Another investment group wants to build a ballpark for an AA franchise in Commerce City (CO), also in the Denver area, but that city wants to wait until the outcome of the Brighton vote before moving forward. Other cities in the Denver area, like Fort Collins and Castle Rock, have been contacted about possible ballpark deals.

- Arizona Fall League: The Chinese National Team will participate in the 2007 AzFL season, as Team China will play one game against each of the six league teams. A United States team called Team USA will also play one game against each of the league teams in 2007.

BASKETBALL

- National Basketball Association: After the owner of the Seattle SuperSonics filed a demand for arbitration to get out of the final two years of the team's lease at KeyArena, the city of Seattle filed a lawsuit to keep the SuperSonics from leaving town before the lease ends on September 30, 2010.

- American Basketball Association: The Rome (GA) Legion expansion franchise, which planned to take the place of the departed Rome Knights, has decided to wait until 2008 to start play. The Buffalo Silverbacks franchise was recently sold and the franchise might wait until the 2008-09 season to resume play. The Boston United Eagles franchise rights have been sold and the new owners have changed the team name to the Boston Blizzard. The ABA announced a New York City team called the NYC Internationalz that will start play in the 2008-09 season. This team plans to be comprised of players from around the world. Another new team called the Pasadena (CA) Push has been added for the 2007-08 season.

- Women's Blue Chip Basketball League: The semi-pro WBCBL is looking to expand for its upcoming 2008 summer season and wants to have 30 teams across North America. The recently completed 2007 season featured about 20 teams playing in three regions-the Mid-South with teams in Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas; the South with teams in the Atlanta area teams; and the Western with teams in Dallas, Houston and Arkansas.

FOOTBALL

- Arenafootball 2 (af2): The possibility of af2 teams returning in Everett (WA) and Fort Wayne (IN) for 2008 are uncertain. An investor in Everett wants to place a new af2 team in the city to replace the Everett Hawks, but he may have to wait until the 2009 season. This investor also hopes to operate a proposed Everett-based Continental Basketball Association (CBA) franchise called the Admirals. If the af2 does not return to Fort Wayne, the United Indoor Football (UIF), which had the Fort Wayne Freedom for its 2005 and 2006 seasons, wants to return to the city with a new ownership group in 2008. Apparently, the city's arena has ownership groups from other leagues interested in the market.

- American Indoor Football Association: The AIFA announced that the Augusta (GA) Spartans and the Columbus (GA) Lions have joined the league for the upcoming 2008 season. The Spartans and Lions have left the World Indoor Football League (WIFL), which operated with only four teams in its inaugural 2007 season. Last week, the Daytona Beach Thunder decided to the leave the WIFL and might try to join the arenafootball2 (af2). The WIFL was left with only the Osceola Ghostriders from last season, plus the Tallahassee Titans franchise, which just switched from the AIFA to the WIFL after the 2007 season.

- Independent Women's Football League: The Central PA Vipers of the National Women's Football Association (NWFA) plan to switch to the IWFL next season. The IWFL also plans to add a new team called the Baltimore Nighthawks in 2008. HOCKEY

- American Hockey League: A consulting firm that was trying to bring an AHL team to Glens Falls (NY) for the 2008-09 season, has put its efforts on hold until the city's arena management group is finalized. A National Hockey League organization was reportedly planning a visit to the city in the near future to evaluate the facilities for its AHL affiliate.

- ECHL: Plans for a proposed arena in Northwest Arkansas near Bentonville appear to be dead, as nothing has been heard from the project's organizer. A 10,000-seat arena was originally planned for Bentonville, but that was later changed to a 7,500-seat arena in the town of Rogers. The developer wanted to place franchises with the ECHL, the National Basketball Association Development League and the Women's National Basketball Association in 2008 and 2009.

SOCCER

- Major League Soccer: Three of the St. Louis area's largest soccer clubs plan to merge into one club that will form a youth development club for a proposed St. Louis MLS franchise. The franchise hopes to play in a soccer-specific stadium that will be part of a new development in the city of Collinsville (IL), which recently approved a financing plan for the project. The organizer of the effort is in the application phase of obtaining a franchise and hopes to have a St. Louis area team on the field for the 2009 season. This group also plans to bring a women's professional team to the St. Louis area when that league restarts in 2009.

- Premier Arena Soccer League: For its upcoming 2007-08 winter season, the PASL, which is considered the top amateur indoor soccer league in North America, plans to have teams competing in ten regional divisions-Great Lakes, Mid Atlantic, Midwest, New England, Northwest, Pacific, Rocky Mountains, South Central, Southeast and Southwest.

OTHER

- International Fight League: The IFL recently completed its first full season with the New York Pitbulls finishing as the league champion. The league featured nine events from January 19 to June 16, 2007 and playoffs in August and September. Each of the IFL teams listed below competed in three events each and the top four teams moved on to the playoffs.

Anacondas (Los Angeles)
Condors (Southern California)
Dragons (Toronto)
Lions (Reno)
Pitbulls (New York)
Razorclaws (San Jose)
Red Bears (Chicago)
Sabres (Tokyo)
Scorpions (Tucson)
Silverbacks (Quad Cities)
Tiger Sharks (Seattle)
Wolfpack (Portland)

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 version can be found at http://www.lulu.com/content/774026. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.



American Indoor Football Association Stories from October 1, 2007


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.


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