Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
Published on October 27, 2008 under Premier Basketball League (PBL)
BASEBALL
Florida State League: The Vero Beach Devil Rays franchise in the High Class-A FSL has moved to Charlotte County (Port Charlotte) for the 2009 season. The team was recently renamed the Charlotte Stone Crabs and will remain the High-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. There had been rumors of the Baltimore Orioles moving its spring training facility to Vero Beach and eventually trying to establish another Vero Beach FSL team in the future.
Frontier League: The new 2009 Frontier League franchise in Avon (OH) has seven potential nicknames for the team-Walleyes, Woolies, Groove, Ironmen, Red Tails, Crushers and Artichokes. The Groove nickname is currently being used by the Augusta Groove of the Premier Basketball League. The Toledo ECHL hockey franchise that plans to restart play in 2009-10 will be called the Toledo Walleye.
International League: The city of Richmond, which recently lost the Braves of the Triple-A International League, has awarded development rights for a proposed downtown ballpark. This move could eliminate a group that planned to have an independent Atlantic Baseball League team play in Richmond and favors an affiliated team moving into the market. Possible affiliated teams considered as possible relocation candidates for Richmond include the Charlotte Knights, a current member of the International League, and the Bowie Baysox of the Double-A Eastern League.
Atlantic Baseball League: The Newark Bears franchise in the ABL has apparently ceased operations because of financial difficulties. The Newark franchise has been around since the league started play in 1998. The ABL recently lost the Nashua Pride (2006 season) and the Atlantic City Surf (2007 season) to the shorter-season Canadian-American League.
California League: The High-A Cal League is expected to lose two franchises to the High-A Carolina League in 2009 and the Bakersfield Blaze is expected to be one of the departing teams. Should Bakersfield depart the league, the independent Golden Baseball League has expressed an interest in the market.
BASKETBALL
Premier Basketball League: The PBL announced that its 2009 season will run from January through March with its 13 teams split into 3 divisions. The Atlantic Division will consist of the Halifax Rainmen, Manchester Millrats, Montreal Sasquatch, Quebec Kebs (Kebekwa), and Vermont Frost Heaves. The Eastern Division will include the Augusta Groove, Buffalo Stampede, Rochester RazorSharks and Wilmington (NC) Sea Dawgs. The Central Division will include the Battle Creek (MI) Knights, Chicago Throwbacks, Detroit Panthers and Mid-Michigan Destroyers (Bay City).
International Basketball League: The IBL is close to placing a new franchise in Edmonton to replace the failed Edmonton Chill franchise that lasted only the 2008 season. If the new Edmonton ownership group is approved, the team plans to be called the Edmonton Graduates, or the Grads, when it starts play in 2009.
American Basketball Association: The St. Louis Stunners team is no longer listed as part of the Southeast Division on the ABA's list of 2008-09 teams. The ABA's new Charlotte (NC) team that plans to start play in the 2009-10 season will be called the Charlotte Crossovers.
United Regions Basketball League: The Texas-based URBL now has "Del Rio" listed on its roster of 2009 teams. Other locations listed are Converse (Flight), San Antonio (Soul), Houston, Universal City (Warriors) and Bexar County (previously listed as the Barons).
Women's Blue Chip Basketball League: The semi-pro WBCBL plans to have a team called the Kansas City (MO) Queenz as part of a proposed Mid-West division in its 2009 summer season.
Texas Pro Basketball League: The TPBL plans to add a women's division in 2009 and will host a women's pro tournament in early December to preview talent.
FOOTBALL
American Indoor Football Association: The Kearns-based Utah Saints franchise folded after the 2008 AIFA season, but the franchise was sold to a new investor who will operate the team in the city of Orem as the Utah Valley Thunder in 2009. The AIFA also announced another Utah-based franchise for 2009 will play in the city of Ogden, about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City.
Arenafootball2: The af2 has confirmed that a proposed Macon franchise will not happen for the 2009 season, although it might be a possibility in 2010.
HOCKEY
National Hockey League: There has been speculation that the NHL could place an expansion team in the Toronto market. This could be granted to a certain investor in return for bailing out the financially strained Nashville Predators franchise. With some weak NHL markets in the United States and a stronger currency in Canada, the idea of a return to former NHL Canadian markets like Quebec City and Winnipeg has been suggested.
Central Hockey League: The CHL recently started its 17th season with 16 teams, down one team from last year. The league lost the Austin Ice Bats and the Youngstown (OH) SteelHounds, but added the new Rapid City (SD) Rush expansion franchise for the 2008-09 season. In addition to switching some teams among the divisions, the Corpus Christi Rayz were renamed the IceRays for the 2008-09 season.
Southern Professional Hockey League: The SPHL recently started its fifth season for 2008-09. The league is down to six teams after the Jacksonville Barracudas suspended operations for this season.
SOCCER
Women's Professional Soccer: The Los Angeles franchise in the new WPS will be called the Los Angeles Sol. Of the seven teams planned for the inaugural 2009 season, only the Bay Area team has not yet announced its team name. The St. Louis WPS team will simply be called "St. Louis" for its first season. The St. Louis owner is also trying to obtain a Major League Soccer franchise and, if granted, would have the WPS team derive its name from the MLS team.
Canadian Soccer League: Three separate groups of investors are interested in bringing professional soccer to the city of Winnipeg by the start of the 2010 season. Two groups want to bring a CSL team to Winnipeg, as part of a proposed CSL Western Division expansion plan that would include teams in Manitoba (Winnipeg), Saskatchewan (Saskatoon), Alberta and British Columbia. The CSL currently operates with 11 teams in Ontario and Quebec. Another group wants to place a United Soccer Leagues team in Winnipeg.
National Indoor Soccer League: The Orlando Sharks, formerly of the Major Indoor Soccer League, have announced the team will not play as planned in the inaugural 2008-09 NISL season. With the loss of Orlando, the NISL is down to four teams in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Rockford and Monterrey (Mexico).
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/2533047. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.
Premier Basketball League Stories from October 27, 2008
- Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report - OSC Original by Dan Krieger
- RazorSharks announce 2009 schedule - Rochester RazorSharks
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.
