Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
Published on November 2, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
BASEBALL
Carolina League: The Pittsburgh Pirates are swapping its High Class-A affiliate in the Carolina League with the Cincinnati Reds' High Class-A affiliate in the Florida State League. The Reds plan to take over the Lynchburg (VA) Hillcats in the Carolina League, while Pittsburgh will take over the Sarasota Reds franchise in the FSL and move the team to Bradenton, which is home to the Pirates' spring training complex and Rookie-level Gulf Coast League team. Lynchburg is expected to keep the Hillcats name in the affiliation switch, while the Bradenton FSL team will get a new name. The Pirates were affiliated with the Hillcats since 1995.
Frontier League: The Frontier League has announced its 2010 schedule that will include the new Oakland County (MI) Cruisers franchise, which was based in Ypsilanti in 2009 as the Midwest Sliders. The Cruisers will play its first nine home games in Ypsilanti until the first phase of its new stadium in Waterford opens in mid-July 2010. The league is also adding the new Normal (IL) CornBelters franchise in 2010.
Dominican Prospect League: A group of investors hopes to start a four-team amateur development league this November called the Dominican Prospect League. The league hopes to promote top Dominican amateur players and is seeking funding from Major League Baseball.
BASKETBALL
Premier Basketball League: The PBL held its player draft for its upcoming 2010 season that plans to start in January. The nine-team draft list did not include the proposed Las Vegas Thunderbirds franchise, which will not be playing in 2010 as planned. The league's new Maryland team now has a name-the Maryland GreenHawks. Other new teams for 2010 include the Capitanes de Puerto Rico and the Lawton-Fort Sill (OK) Cavalry.
Women's National Basketball Association: New ownership has purchased the WNBA's Atlanta Dream franchise and it plans to stay in Atlanta. Prior to this sale, the Dream had been mentioned as a possible relocation candidate. A group in Albuquerque (NM) is again promoting the construction of a new 12,000-seat downtown arena. When plans for this arena were originally proposed a few years ago, a possible WNBA franchise was under consideration as an anchor tenant for the facility.
American Basketball Association: The proposed College Park (GA) Spyders ABA franchise will not start play until the 2010-11 season. The Las Vegas Aces have announced its 2009-10 season schedule. This past summer, the team reportedly changed its name to the Las Vegas Dynasty. The league's California Beach Ballers franchise, which was assumed to be the previously announced Stockton-based Delta King Ballers, will be based in Newport Beach for its inaugural season in 2009-10.
Continental Basketball League: Another new basketball league called the CBL plans to start play in April 2010. The league reportedly has applications from 14 teams and will feature a minimum of 7 teams when it starts play. The CBL will be based in Florida and its commissioner had been involved with the dormant Continental Basketball Association.
International Basketball League: The IBL has confirmed that a team called the Albany (NY) Legends plans to be part of its 2010 spring/summer season. The city recently had the Albany Patroons team that played in the shortened 2008-09 season of the Continental Basketball Association. The Patroons also played one spring/summer season in 2007 as a member of the United States Basketball League.
Global Professional Basketball League: Two proposed GPBL franchises, the Lancaster (PA) Liberty and Canton (OH) Conquest, plan to hold tryouts next month. The Canton tryout will also be looking at players for another new Ohio-based team to be announced in the future. The GPBL plans to start its inaugural season April 2010.
FOOTBALL
Arena Football 1: The Lexington-based Kentucky Horsemen, which was one of the 16 franchises announced in late September by the new AF1, has decided not to move forward in the new league and will fold. The Lexington Horsemen franchise played two seasons (2003-04) in the defunct National Indoor Football League; moved to the United Indoor Football for three seasons (2005-07); and moved to the arenafootball2 for two seasons (2008-09), changing to the Kentucky Horsemen for the 2009 season. An announcement on the final alignment of teams for the AF1's inaugural season is expected soon.
Arenafootball2: The Manchester (NH) Wolves franchise, which was considering a move to the new Arena Football 1 league, has decided to cease operations. The Manchester Wolves had entered the af2 in 2004 when the Connecticutt-based Mohegan Wolves franchise was relocated. When the af2 disbanded after the 2009 season, the Wolves had suspended operations while making a decision for 2010. The new AF1 did not have teams located close to Manchester and travel costs would have been prohibitive.
Indoor Football League: The Chicago Slaughter franchise, which had been part of the 6-on-6 Continental Indoor Football League for three seasons (2007-09), has left the CIFL to join the IFL for its 2010 season. The IFL plans to have up to 23 teams in 2010 with the addition of Chicago and a few other teams.
Continental Indoor Football League: The CIFL suspended its Chicago Slaughter franchise for failure to meet financial obligations, but the Slaughter announced plans to move to the Indoor Football League for its 2010 season. The CIFL operated with eight teams in 2009, but Chicago has left and its Wheeling (WV) Wildcats franchise folded. The league's dormant New Jersey Revolution franchise had recently announced plans to join the American Indoor Football Association for 2010.
Southern Indoor Football League: The SIFL's proposed Albany (GA) franchise is close to signing an arena lease for the 2010 season. The SIFL has already added some southeastern teams like the Columbus (GA) Lions and Carolina Force (Greenville, SC). Another team called the Augusta (GA) Colts is trying to join for 2010, while other southeastern cities in Mississippi and Florida are reportedly under consideration.
HOCKEY
North East Professional Hockey League: The four-team NEPHL was planning to start its inaugural season in the coming week, but the owner of the New England Pharaohs (Salem, NH) and Twin City Yeti (Fitchburg/Leominster, MA) franchises has been forced to suspend operations of the clubs due to a health emergency. This leaves only the New York Aviators (Brooklyn) and Rhode Island Storm (Kingston). A new group was trying to form at least one replacement team in East Haven (CT) with a possible start in mid-November, but the future of the league's 2009-10 inaugural season is uncertain.
Professional Inline Hockey Association: The PIHA has started its 2009-10 season with a 10-team Pro league and a 17-team Minor league. Both leagues are split into an Eastern Conference Atlantic Division and a Western Conference Rocky Mountain Division.
American Inline Hockey League: The AIHL has started its 2009-10 season with 40 Elite teams split into 8 divisions and 43 Minor teams split into 8 divisions. The AIHL divisions are spread across the United States and include the New England, Atlantic, Colonial, Southeast Gulf, Rocky Mountain, Northern California, Southern California and Southwest.
SOCCER
United Soccer Leagues W-League: The women's USL W-League has announced it will add a 2010 expansion franchise in Wayne (NJ). The W-League team will be called the North Jersey Valkyries after a female mythical figure.
Team Owner's Association: A group of team owners known as the TOA has been planning to break away from the United Soccer Leagues First Division and is still pursuing a new USL alternative that could be started for the 2010 season. The TOA includes current USL First Division members Carolina RailHawks, Miami FC Blues, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact, and Vancouver Whitecaps, along with other potential groups in St. Louis, Atlanta and Tampa.
Major League Soccer: The new Vancouver Whitecaps MLS expansion franchise that plans to start play in 2011 will play the first part of its inaugural season in a temporary stadium until renovations to the BC Place facility are completed in the summer of 2011.
OTHER
World TeamTennis: The WTT has announced it will operate its Pro League for a 35th season during the month of July in 2010. The team rosters are expected to be announced by the end of March 2010.
World Boxing League: The proposed WBL is expected to receive a major infusion of capital that will allow it to launch full operation of the only league of professional boxing teams. The WBL has been in development for the past few years and now plans to start in 2010 as a professional team-boxing sports league. The WBL plans to launch with ten teams in North America for its inaugural season, with ten teams each in Europe, Africa and Asia to follow.
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.
Carolina League Stories from November 2, 2009
- Two Former Keys In World Series - Frederick Keys
- Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report - OSC Original by Dan Krieger
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.
