Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
Published on February 25, 2013 under American Indoor Football (AIF)
BASEBALL
Atlantic Baseball League: The new stadium to be built for the Loudoun County (VA) Hounds, which plans to start play in the 2014 ABL season, is facing some opposition. Potential construction delays could jeopardize the team's start in 2014, along with the 2014 start of a proposed North American Soccer League team called the Virginia Cavalry that also plans to use the new facility.
Gulf Coast League: The affiliated Rookie-level GCL plans to expand to 16 teams for the 2013 season with the addition of a New York Mets team and two New York Yankees teams. This will be the first time a Major League team will field two GCL teams in one season. Both teams will be based at the Yankees' base in Tampa. One of the Yankees teams will be placed in a four-team Northeast Division and the other in a four-team Northwest Division. The GCL will also have a four-team South Division and a four-team East Division.
Pecos Spring League: The Pecos League dropped the Las Cruces (NM) Vaqueros team from its regular summer season for 2013, but has now added a team using the Las Cruces Vaqueros name for its upcoming 2013 Pecos Spring League. The spring season will run through the month of March with all games played in the Houston area.
BASKETBALL
Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacifico (CIBACOPA): The CIBACOPA (Pacific Coast Basketball League), Mexico's second professional basketball league next to the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP), has announced its Caballeros de Culiacan team will not participate in the upcoming 2013 season that starts next month. The Caballeros will ask for a leave of absence due to renovations to its home arena that will not be completed until May. The CIBACOPA will have a total of nine teams based in the Mexican states of Baja California, Sonora and Sinaloa.
Americas Basketball International: The ABI has been trying to get off the ground in the past few years with international competition between its league-sponsored teams based in Birmingham (AL) and various teams in Central and South America. The ABI now plans to start play in March 2013 with a 20-game tour that will feature league-sponsored teams called the Gladiators and Wolf Pack visiting El Salvador and Guatemala. After the tour, the league plans to host games in Birmingham between the ABI teams and some international teams.
Central Basketball League: The new Midwest-based CBL has announced another new team called the Kentucky Bisons (Bowling Green) will be part of the inaugural 2013 season that starts in April. A team by the same name played two seasons (2008-10) as part of the American Basketball Association.
FOOTBALL
American Indoor Football: The AIF announced that the proposed new Roc City Thunder franchise, based in Rochester (NY), will not be part of the 2013 season as planned due to the owner's illness. The league is down to only five teams-the Cape Fear Heroes (Fayetteville, NC), Harrisburg Stampede, Washington Eagles (Landover, MD), West Virginia Badgers (Ranson) and York (PA) Capitals. A recently revised schedule has the Badgers playing a total of four games, all on the road, while the other teams will play four home and four away games in 2013.
American Professional Football League: A team called the Bell County (TX) Bandits announced it will be part of the semi-pro indoor APFL for the 2013 season.
Ultimate Indoor Football League: The seven-team UIFL starts its 2013 season next week. The new Sarasota Thunder team will be a travel-only team playing seven road games. There has been speculation the new Miami Sting team might not be ready to start the 2013 season as planned.
United States Football League: A marketing group trying to bring a springtime USFL franchise to Akron (OH) has purchased the city's vacant Rubber Bowl stadium. The Akron Fire is the proposed name for the new USFL team. The USFL stated that a proposed team in Alabama will not be based in Birmingham. The league wants to have eight teams starting in March 2014.
National Spring Football League: The proposed new eight-team NSFL has pushed back the start of its inaugural 2013 season from late March to April 20. A new team called the San Jose Rush has been added as the eighth team and replaces the Arizona Racers team, which could join as a 2014 expansion team.
HOCKEY
Southern Professional Hockey League: The owner of the SPHL's Columbus (GA) Cottonmouths has sounded a warning about the franchise's financial losses and the need for increased attendance to continue operating. The Columbus Cottonmouths team was formed for the league's first season of 2004-05. A team by the same name played five seasons (1996-2001) in the Central Hockey League before ownership took over a dormant ECHL franchise and the team played three more seasons (2001-04) as part of the ECHL.
American West Hockey League: The Glacier Nationals (Whitefish, MT) team, which played a split schedule between the Tier III junior-level AWHL and the Tier III Northern Pacific Hockey League during the 2012-13 season, will be a full-time member of the AWHL for the 2013-14 season.
SOCCER
Major League Soccer: The ownership of the Orlando City Lions team in the United Soccer Leagues PRO league has been trying to build a new soccer-specific stadium for a potential MLS franchise. The Lions recently announced a new ownership member who will bring an investment to the team that could help it finance part of the proposed stadium. The Lions hope to find out about possible admission into the MLS by the end of 2013. The VisionPro Sports Institute, which operates the VSI Tampa Bay FC teams in the USL PRO league, USL Premier Development League and women's USL W-League announced plans to build a 28,000-seat soccer stadium in downtown Tampa that could become home to an MLS team. The state of Florida is considering a subsidy to help build a soccer stadium to lure an MLS team.
Liga de Mexicana Futbol Rapido: Mexico's professional indoor soccer league known as the LMFR, which is affiliated with the Professional Arena Soccer League in the United States, announced it will start its 2013 season in April with eight teams. Two other new teams called the Pumas de la UNAM and Venados de Morelos could also participate in the 2013 season. The league's Monterrey Flash, which moved to Hidalgo (TX) to become the Rio Grande Valley Flash for the 2012-13 PASL season, will also play in the 2013 LMFR as the Rio Grande Valley Flash. The league's VIRMAC team based in the state of Puebla will become the Lobos BUAP Puebla for the 2013 season. The six other teams from last season will return in 2013.
North American Soccer League: The new Ottawa-based Division II NASL team that will start play in 2014 plans to announce its nickname next week. The owner of the Ottawa Fury soccer club, which has men's and women's teams by that name in the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League and W-League, will operate the new NASL team in Ottawa.
OTHER
Continental Indoor Lacrosse League: The semi-pro Midwest Indoor Lacrosse Association has been renamed the Continental Indoor Lacrosse League (CILL) for 2013 as it tries to branch out beyond the Midwest. The MILA completed its second season this past summer and all ten teams are expected to return. A Buffalo-based team called the Upstate Bears is expected to join and the league is talking with two teams in Dallas and another in Philadelphia. A proposed 2013 team based in Indianapolis will not join as planned.
USA Rugby League: The USARL will return for its third season in 2013 with the same eight teams as last season, but the teams will be aligned into a Freedom Conference with the Baltimore Blues, Jacksonville Axemen, Philadelphia Fight and Washington DC Slayers, and a Liberty Conference with the Boston Thirteens, New Haven Warriors, Oneida FC (Boston) and Rhode Island Rebellion (Providence). The USARL season will run from June through July with each team playing eight matches.
Dan Krieger is the creator of the "The Leagueology Almanac 2011-12", which tracks the changes in league alignments, franchise movements and team nicknames in today's sports world. The publication is currently available at www.amazon.com.
American Indoor Football Stories from February 25, 2013
- 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.
