Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
Published on May 11, 2009 under Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL)


BASEBALL

Golden Baseball League: The new Tijuana Potros GBL franchise has been forced to cancel its inaugural season due to health risks in the country from the H1N1 virus. The league will now operate with only nine teams for the 2009 season. The South Division will include the Long Beach Armada, Orange County Flyers, St. George Roadrunners, Tucson Toros and Yuma Scorpions. The North Division will include the Calgary Vipers, Chico Outlaws, Edmonton Capitals and Victoria Seals. The original 2009 GBL alignment had Tijuana in the South Division and Long Beach in the North Division.

Atlantic Baseball League: A group in the Loudon County area of Northern Virginia is trying to build a privately financed ballpark for an ABL franchise. If the county approves the plans, a new franchise could start play in two years.

Canadian-American League (Can-Am): The owners of the Worcester Tornadoes franchise are looking to sell the franchise as it enters its fifth season in the Can-Am League. The league lost two franchises in Ottawa and Atlantic City prior to the 2009 season and the Tornadoes are facing declining attendance and outstanding bills from last season.

Super Independent Baseball: The proposed Super Indy league, which plans to start play in 2011 with teams across the United States, has expressed interest in Atlantic City (NJ) for a team in its Independent Division. The Can-Am League's Atlantic City Surf just left that market, partly because the city had other ideas for the ballpark land and would not support needed improvements.

BASKETBALL

United States Basketball Association: The proposed USBA, which planned to start play this past week with ten teams, has decided to postpone its inaugural season until 2010. The league cited the current state of the economy and its need to overcome negative impressions left from previous basketball leagues and teams in several of the proposed USBA markets.

America Basketball Association: The ABA has announced the Syracuse ShockWave franchise as its first expansion team for the 2010-11 season. The league had a team called the Syracuse Raging Bullz, originally called the Bullies, which played only six games at the start of the 2007-08 season. The franchise planned to relocate to Rochester (NY) for the 2008-09 season as the Rochester Raging Bullz, but that team never materialized.

West Coast Pro Basketball League: The Beijing Aoshen Olympian team has decided to pull out of the 2009 WCPBL season and return to China due to concerns over the outbreak of the H1N1 virus. The team had played seven of its regular-season games. The Olympian team plans to return next fall to participate in the 2009-10 American Basketball Association season and the next WCPBL season.

Baloncesto Superior Nacional: Puerto Rico's longest-running men's basketball league, the BSN, started its 2009 season in April with 11 teams-Arecibo Capitanes (Captains), Bayamon Vaqueros (Cowboys), Caguas Criollos (Creoles), Carolina Gigantes (Giants), Guaynabo Conquistadores (Conquerers), Humacao Grises (Grays), Mayaguez Indios (Indians), Ponce Leones (Lions), Quebradillas Piratas (Pirates), San German Athleticos (Athletics) and Santurce Cangrejeros (Crabbers). The 32-game season runs through June.

FOOTBALL

Southern Indoor Football League: A proposed SIFL expansion team called the West Texas Rustlers, based in Midland, is holding tryouts. The SIFL is currently playing its inaugural 2009 season with six teams, but plans to add expansion teams for next season. The league web site currently lists the Texas markets of Beaumont, Galveston and Waco, along with the Florida markets of Lakeland, Pensacola and Tallahassee, as potential expansion cities.

American Professional Football League: The semi-pro indoor APFL has posted its 2009 standings with six participating teams-the Denver Titans, Florida Scorpions (Bradenton), Iowa Blackhawks (Council Bluffs), Kansas Koyotes (Topeka), Lincoln (NE) Tornadoes and Springfield (MO) Wolfpack. Denver and Florida are partial-schedule teams with only two road games listed, while the other teams will play six to nine games. There was talk of a possible Southern Division with Florida-based teams in 2009, but that did not materialize.

National Football League: The New Orleans Saints recently reached a tentative stadium lease agreement with the state of Louisiana that could keep the franchise in the city through the 2025 season. The franchise had been threatening to relocate if its stadium was not renovated, but the agreement calls for the state to make $85 million in upgrades.

HOCKEY

Central Hockey League: The CHL has announced its new Allen (TX) franchise will be called the Allen Americans when it starts play in the 2009-10 season. The team will be a Double-A affiliate for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League. Another new 2009-10 CHL franchise based in Independence (MO) is expected to announce its name in the near future. The owner of the CHL's Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs wants to sell the franchise and it could shut down if a new buyer is not found this month. The Mudbugs started play in the 1997-98 season of the defunct Western Professional Hockey League, which was merged into the CHL for the 2001-02 season.

Southern Professional Hockey League: The SPHL has officially awarded a Biloxi (MS) franchise for its 2009-10 season. Last week a group in Pensacola was awarded a conditional expansion franchise and the city of Lafayette (LA) is rumored to be under consideration for an SPHL team. All three of these cities have had recent ECHL franchises-Biloxi with the Mississippi Sea Wolves (1996-2005, 2007-09), Pensacola with the Ice Pilots (1996-2008) and Lafayette with the Louisiana Ice Gators (1995-2005).

ECHL: The owners of the Wheeling (WV) Nailers are reportedly interested in relocating the ECHL franchise.

North American Hockey League: The Topeka RoadRunners franchise in the Tier II Junior-A NAHL has been sold and the new owners plan to keep the team in Topeka.

National Hockey League: An investor with an interest in placing an NHL franchise in the Hamilton (Ontario) market has made a bid for the financially strapped Phoenix Coyotes. Previous attempts by this investor to purchase and relocate the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators had failed. The owner of the New York Islanders continues to lose money and has been stalled in attempts to get a new arena. If the situation does not change, a move to another market like Kansas City has been mentioned.

Midwest Hockey League: A proposed single-A hockey team called the Madison (WI) Ice Huskies has been announced and is speculated to be part of the inaugural 2009-10 season of the MWHL. The MWHL had tried to start play for the 2008-09 season with various proposed teams called the Columbus (IN) Rage, Indianapolis Trax, Louisville Chill, Chicago Bulldogs, Michigan Stars and Evansville IceMen. Evansville went on to join the All American Hockey Association for its inaugural 2008-09 season.

Major League Roller Hockey: The next event for the MLRH Pro League Tour will be held in Washington (DC) on May 16. Participating teams will include the Buffalo Wings, Chicago Rollersnakes and Florida Fusion. The co-ed SLAMM Hockey made-for-TV league will also play at this event with participation by the Miami Mambo, Quebec Mistral and Washington Spin.

SOCCER

Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL Premier): The PASL Premier has listed 12 men's teams and 6 women's teams that plan to participate in its 2009 summertime indoor soccer season. The season runs from May to July with the majority of the teams located in the western United States. The PASL Premier also operates a men's winter indoor season, while the women's division plays only a summertime schedule. The PASL Premier league has been around since 1997 and also started its Professional Arena Soccer League, or PASL Pro league, for the recently completed 2008-09 indoor season.

OTHER

National Lacrosse League: The Portland LumberJax franchise does not plan to return to Portland for the next NLL season. The owners have a June 1 deadline to inform the NLL and stated the franchise could move to another market, accept new partners or sell the team. Portland recently completed its fourth season and had entered the league as an expansion franchise for the 2006 season.

American National Rugby League: The amateur AMNRL announced its 12th season in 2009 will feature 11 teams with the addition of the new Boston 13s, plus the return of all 10 teams from last season. Each team will play an eight-game schedule from May 30 to August 8. The AMNRL had a previous team called the Boston Braves that was part of the 2006 season.

National Rugby League USA: Investors are developing the eight-team professional NRL USA for a possible start in 2010. The league plans to have four eastern and four western teams. Franchises are planned for Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Jacksonville and Boston, along with two other locations. The NRL USA plans to be run under a single-entity ownership model with teams playing a 14-game schedule starting in the spring.

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 2008-09 version can be found at http://www.lulu.com/content/6218580. Dan can be contacted at dankrieger@leaguesteamsnicknames.com.

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Southern Indoor Football League Stories from May 11, 2009


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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