IL1 International League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
Published on March 2, 2015 under International League (IL1)


BASEBALL

International League: The Pawtucket (RI) Red Sox team, also known as the PawSox, of the Triple-A International League has been sold and new ownership plans to move the team to a proposed new stadium in nearby Providence (RI) for the 2017 season. With the move, the team would be renamed the Rhode Island Red Sox. The Pawtucket Red Sox have been the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox since the 1973 season. The team was called the Rhode Island Red Sox for the 1976 season and started the PawSox name in 1977. The new Pawtucket ownership would still need to work out land acquisition and financing for a new stadium in Providence.

East Coast Baseball League: The new ECBL team announced for Old Orchard Beach (ME) will be called the Old Orchard Beach Surge when the independent league starts its inaugural season in 2015. The league plans to have six teams, one of which will be a travel team.

Florida State League: The Viera-based Brevard County Manatees of the high Class-A Florida State League are exploring a possible move about 25 miles south to a new downtown baseball stadium in nearby Melbourne. Plans to build a new stadium for the team on the campus of Rollins College in the Winter Park area of Orlando were rejected last year. The team wants to remain in Central Florida.

BASKETBALL

National Basketball Association Development League (D-League): The city of Edinburg (TX) announced plans to build a new 8,500-seat arena for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA D-League with completion set for October 2016. The Vipers currently play at the State Farm Arena in Hidalgo (TX), about 20 miles south of Edinburg. The Vipers joined the D-League as a 2007-08 expansion team and have been the lone D-League affiliate of the Houston Rockets since the 2009-10 season.

Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacifico (CIBACOPA): Mexico's Pacific Coast Basketball League known as the CIBACOPA, which is the country's second professional basketball league next to the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP), announced the 2015 season will feature 10 teams each playing a 36-game schedule from early April to early June. All nine teams will be returning from last season with the Mineros de Caborca moving back to Cananea as the Mineros de Cananea. One new team called the Nauticos de Mazatlan was added for 2015. Four teams are located in the state of Sonora, five teams are in Sinaloa and one is in Baja California.

Eastern Basketball Alliance: The EBA has removed the Southern Division of teams from the standings and will try it again in 2016. The recently added DMV Kings travel team is now the DMV Warriors.

FOOTBALL

Arena Football League: The AFL announced the divisional alignment for the 12 teams participating in the 2015 season. The American Conference will have a three-team South Division and a three-team East Division, while the National Conference will have a three-team Pacific Division and a three-team West Division. Of the 14 teams from last season, the Pittsburgh Power, San Antonio Talons and Iowa Barnstormers (to the Indoor Football League) did not return, but the league added the new Las Vegas Outlaws. The New Orleans VooDoo moved from the South Division to the East Division, which lost Iowa and Pittsburgh. Las Vegas was added to the West Division, which lost San Antonio. The Pacific Division remains the same as last season.

Champions Indoor Football: The new CIF, which was created for the 2015 season with a couple of expansion teams and some teams associated last season with the Champions Professional Indoor Football League, the Indoor Football League and the Lone Star Football League, announced last week the New Mexico Stars will not be part of the 2015 season. The league stated the Stars' management was unable to meet CIF requirements. The CIF schedule will now start this weekend with only eight teams. The New Mexico Stars were based out of the Santa Ana Star Center in the suburban Albuquerque area of Rio Rancho and played its inaugural 2012 season as part of the IFL before moving to the LSFL for the past two seasons. New ownership has taken over the remnants of the New Mexico Stars and formed a new team call the Duke City Gladiators that will play home games at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque. The Gladiators were trying to join the X-League Indoor Football for the 2015 season.

Indoor Football League: The IFL started its 2015 season this weekend with ten teams aligned into a five-team Intense Conference and a five-team United Conference. The league had nine teams last season, but the Wyoming Cavalry (Casper) shut down and the Texas Revolution (Allen) moved to the new Champions Indoor Football. The IFL added new teams called the Billings (MT) Wolves and Wichita Falls (TX) Nighthawks, along with the Iowa Barnstormers (Des Moines) from the 2014 Arena Football League.

HOCKEY

American Hockey League: The AHL's new 2015-16 Bakersfield team, which is currently operating as the Oklahoma City Barons, announced the team will be called the Bakersfield Condors when it becomes part of the league's new five-team Pacific Division next season. The city's current AA-level ECHL team is called the Bakersfield Condors, but that team is relocating to Norfolk (VA) where it will become the Norfolk Admirals starting next season. The AHL's new 2015-16 Stockton (CA) team, which is currently operating as the Adirondack Flames (Glens Falls, NY) and owned by the National Hockey League's Calgary Flames, announced the Blaze, Fire, Heat, Inferno and Scorch as the five finalists from a name-the-team contest. The city's current AA-level ECHL team called the Stockton Thunder is moving to Glens Falls where it will be called the Adirondack Thunder next season.

Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League: Teams from the Golden Horseshoe Conference of the Canadian junior-B GOJHL were previously thought to be leaving to form their own league after this season, but it looks like the Golden Horseshoe Conference will stay under the GOJHL umbrella with the Mid-Western Conference and Western Conference teams for next season. The Golden Horseshoe League, Mid-Western League and Western Ontario League were merged to form the GOJHL for the 2008-09 season.

North American Hockey League: The Topeka RoadRunners of the Tier-II junior-level NAHL do not have a lease for next season. The team is currently in negotiations with the Expocentre, but arena officials are exploring all options and considering not having the team return next season. The RoadRunners moved to Topeka from Santa Fe (NM) for the 2007-08 season.

SOCCER

Major League Soccer: The MLS recently announced it is no longer considering Las Vegas as an expansion market and plans for a proposed 24,000-seat soccer stadium in Las Vegas appear to be dead. This leaves Sacramento and Minneapolis as the prime MLS expansion candidates. The San Antonio Scorpions, a current member of the Division-II North American Soccer League, still want to be considered for an MLS expansion team. The Mexican Football Federation recently sent an endorsement to the MLS for the San Antonio Scorpions to be included in the MLS.

National Premier Soccer League: The men's elite amateur NPSL announced an expansion team called the Weston FC (Florida) has joined for the upcoming 2015 season.

United Soccer League: The majority owner of the Real Salt Lake from Major League Soccer has rescinded his offer to finance and build an 8,000-seat stadium at the Utah State Fairpark for the team's USL affiliate called the Real Monarchs. The Real Salt Lake wanted to move forward on construction, but decided not to keep waiting for a lease to be approved on the Fairpark property. The team will continue looking at additional sites in the Salt Lake Valley.

OTHER

Western Lacrosse Association: The British Columbia-based indoor Senior-A WLA announced its 2015 season schedule last month. The league will feature the same seven teams as last season-the Burnaby Lakers, Coquitlam Adanacs, Langley Thunder, Maple Ridge Burrards, Nanaimo Timbermen, New Westminster Salmonbellies, and the Victoria Shamrocks. The season runs from late-May to early August. At the end of the season, the WLA champion plays the champion of the Ontario-based Major Series Lacrosse for the Mann Cup.

Major Series Lacrosse: The Ontario-based indoor Senior-A MSL announced its 2015 season schedule last month The league will feature the same six teams as last season-the Brampton Excelsiors, Brooklin Redmen, Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks, Oakville Rock, Peterborough Lakers and Six Nations Chiefs (Hagersville). The season runs from late May to late July. At the end of the season, the MSL champion plays the champion of the British Columbia-based Western Lacrosse Association for the Mann Cup. Both the MSL and WSA develop players for the indoor National Lacrosse League and some NLL players participate in the MSL and WSA during the NLL's off-season.

Dan Krieger is the creator of the Leagues, Teams & Nicknames 2013-14: "The Leagueology Almanac" , 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.

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International League Stories from March 2, 2015


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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