Sports stats



MLS Major League Soccer

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
March 3, 2008 - Major League Soccer (MLS)


BASEBALL

- Pacific Coast League: The Nashville Sounds could be up for sale and on the move if a new lease is not negotiated. The team's current lease expires after the 2008 season. A potential new stadium deal in downtown Nashville fell through last winter. The city wants the Sounds to commit to investing in a new stadium before agreeing on another location. The Reno-bound Tucson Sidewinders will remain an affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks when the team moves to Reno in 2009. A two-year extension was signed for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Ground was recently broken for the yet-to-be-named Reno team.

- South Coast League: As the SCL enters its second season with only four teams, there are some questions about unpaid debts that were incurred last season from one of its teams, the Macon Music. The Charlotte County Redfish team is expected to return in 2009 and the league plans to add Jackson (MS) and other possible markets. The Columbus (GA) market could become available next season, if the South Atlantic League's Catfish move to Bowling Green (KY). The SCL is reportedly interested in the Spartanburg (SC) market and would like to add another Florida-based team.

BASKETBALL

- Women's National Basketball Association: The sale of the Seattle Storm by the owners of the National Basketball Association's Seattle SuperSonics to an independent ownership group was recently approved by the WNBA. This ensures the WNBA franchise will remain in Seattle even after the NBA team's proposed move to Oklahoma City. This will be the seventh WNBA team to be owned and operated independently from an NBA team.

- National Basketball Development League: The NBDL announced it will place a franchise in Reno (NV) for the 2008-09 season. The new team's ownership currently operates the NBDL teams in Tulsa and Albuquerque, and previously operated the Austin Toros and the former Fort Worth Flyers. The Continental Basketball Association attempted to add a Reno-based franchise called the Northern Nevada Blackjacks for its 2006-07 season and the American Basketball Association tried to organize the Reno Sharpshooters for its 2007-08 season.

- Continental Basketball Association: The Great Falls Explorers franchise has suspended basketball operations due to financial issues with its home arena lease. The team's owner stated the team could return next season. The remaining home contests of the Atlanta Krunk have been cancelled due to unsafe playing conditions at its arena. The team will play their remaining games on the road and play the remaining road games of the Great Falls Explorers.

- National Professional Basketball League: The NPBL has started its second season and now has seven teams. The Charleston-based West Virginia Wild, which played in the 2006 season of the International Basketball League, is part of the 2008 NPBL season. A North Division features the Hudson Valley Hawks, Elmira Bulldogs and Westchester Monarchs, while a South Division has the New York Strikeforce, Maryland Bayraiders, Virginia Avengers and West Virginia Wild. The Avengers, also referred to as the Alexandria Avengers, were part of the 2008 Eastern Basketball Alliance season. The NPBL has expansion teams called the Virginia Vipers and Connecticut Stars that plan to start in 2009.

- Baloncesto Superior Nacional: Puerto Rico's BSN recently started play in its 2008 season that runs until early May. The league lost one team from last season, the Coamo Maratonistas, and its 12 returning teams are again aligned into 2 divisions, which are now called the Isla and Metro.

- American Basketball Association: The ABA has announced plans to return to Nashville with a team in the 2008-09 season. A team called the Nashville Rhythm played in the league's 2004-05 season and also played a few games in the 2005-06 season before folding.

- SlamBall: The SlamBall hybrid basketball game, which features trampolines in the shooting areas, plans to return for a "showcase" season that is expected to be taped in June 2008. SlamBall was a made-for-TV show in 2002 and 2003, but new organizers now plan to sell eight franchises before 2009 for a proposed SlamBall League in the United States. This league concept was successful when tried in Italy last summer.

FOOTBALL - Indoor Gridiron Football League: Billed as the first winter-season indoor football league, the IGFL now has a second team listed called the Las Vegas Gamblers to go with its charter Snohomish County Stallions franchise. The IGFL plans to start play in November 2008 with at least eight teams playing a regular season of eight to ten games.

- Revolution Football: Revolution Enterprises plans to operate multiple sports leagues within a market as a single brand. Local franchisees will have the opportunity to operate franchises in the various leagues within a market. One of its products is a reduced-field football league with games played in arenas, although there could be an outdoor game too. Teams are preparing for a February 2009 start.

HOCKEY

- ECHL: The ECHL has apparently planned its 2008-09 season without the Columbia (SC) Inferno. The franchise missed a deadline to submit a lease agreement for next season and reportedly applied for voluntary suspension for next season. The Inferno has been trying to build a new a 5,300-seat arena in the Irmo-Chapin area.

- Central Hockey League: A majority of the property owners in the district that will be home to a new arena in Independence (MO) have approved the half-cent sales tax to build the facility. This was considered the last hurdle to move the project toward completion and opening in the fall of 2009. The arena is expected to become home to a CHL franchise.

- Revolution Hockey: Revolution Enterprises plans to operate multiple sports leagues within a market as a single brand. One of its products is a hockey league with a slight adjustment to the rules to make the game more wide open.

SOCCER

- United Soccer Leagues First Division: The USL First Division will have 12 clubs in 2008 and plans to have 16 clubs by the 2010 season. The Austin Aztex will start in 2009 and the league would like to expand west of the Mississippi River. Some of the markets that could be under consideration for the future include Albuquerque (NM), Birmingham (AL), Boise (ID), Memphis (TN), Oklahoma City (OK), Omaha (NE), Phoenix (AZ), San Antonio (TX), Tampa (FL) and Tulsa (OK). Victoria (British Columbia) recently announced plans for a 2009 team in the USL's Premier Development League with hopes of eventually moving up to the First Division.

- Major League Soccer: The MLS announced Philadelphia as the location for its 16th franchise that will begin play in the 2010 season. The team will play at a new soccer-specific stadium to be built in suburban Chester (PA). Philadelphia had previous outdoor soccer teams in the defunct North American Soccer League-the Atoms (1973-76) and the Fury (1978-80). The MLS has added San Jose as the 14th team for the 2008 season and Seattle will start play in 2009 as the league's 15th team. Expansion talks continue with about ten markets and the league could feature 18 teams by the 2011 season. St. Louis is considered at the top of the list for the league's next team and plans for a new soccer-specific stadium on the Illinois side of the river have been approved. The league would like St. Louis to strengthen the financial depth of its ownership. Miami also has plans for a soccer-specific stadium to be built on the site of the Orange Bowl, but there is no ownership group in place.

- If the MLS adds St. Louis and Miami by 2012, an 18-team MLS could have a three-conference alignment with D.C., Miami, New England, New York, Philadelphia and Toronto in the Eastern; Chicago, Columbus, Kansas City, Dallas, Houston and St. Louis in the Central; and Colorado, Los Angeles Chivas, Los Angeles Galaxy, Salt Lake, San Jose and Seattle in the Western.

OTHER

- Revolution Lacrosse & Revolution Boxing: Revolution Enterprises plans to operate multiple sports products within a market as a single brand. Two of its four products will be an indoor lacrosse league and a boxing competition. Revolution Lacrosse will be the indoor variation or box lacrosse. Revolution Boxing will be a "team boxing" format featuring a group of boxers from one city competing with a group from another city.

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/1375144. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.

Check out the Major League Soccer Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Major League Soccer message board...

Major League Soccer Stories from March 3, 2008


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.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central