Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
November 16, 2015 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
BASEBALL
Pacific Association: The San Rafael (CA) Pacifics of the four-team independent Pacific Association are seeking donations so the team can continue operating for the 2016 season. The Pacifics started play in 2012 in the last season of the North American Baseball League and became part of the Pacific Association's inaugural season in 2013. All Pacific Association teams are located in Northern California.
Can-Am League: The independent Can-Am League announced its 2016 season schedule that will feature the same six teams from last season. The teams include the New Jersey Jackals (Little Falls), Ottawa Champions, Quebec Capitales (Quebec City), Rockland Boulders (Pomona, NY), Sussex County Miners (Augusta, NJ) and Trois-Rivieres Aigles (Quebec). The Can-Am League played an interlocking schedule with teams from the independent American Association over the past four seasons (2012-15), but that will not continue in 2016. The league will have two foreign teams, the Cuban national team and an all-star team from Japan's independent Shikoku Island League, each playing three to four games against every team in the Can-Am League.
Western Major Baseball League: The city of Brooks in southeast Alberta, Canada plans to add a team in the summer-collegiate WMBL. The league is currently comprised of 11 teams throughout the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
BASKETBALL
National Basketball Association Development League (D-League): The National Basketball Association D-League started its 2015-16 season this weekend and grew to 19 active teams with the addition of the new Raptors 905 team, which is owned and operated by the Toronto Raptors and located in Mississauga (Ontario). The Raptors 905 team was added to the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division and the Canton Charge was moved from the Atlantic to the Eastern Conference Central Division. The Eastern Conference divisions each have five teams, while the Western Conference has a four-team Southwest Division and a five-team Pacific Division. The NBA's Chicago Bulls announced they will own and operate an NBA D-League team in the 2016-17 season. The team will play home games at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates (IL). The addition of a Chicago-owned team and two other recently announced teams, one operated by the Charlotte Hornets in Greensboro (NC) and another operated by the Brooklyn Nets in Brooklyn and eventually on Long Island, will bring the league to at least 22 teams next season with 13 of those teams being fully owned and operated by NBA teams. The D-League is working toward 30 teams, one for each of the 30 NBA teams, and is talking to other NBA teams without their own D-League affiliate.
Tobacco Road Basketball League: The minor professional TRBL started its 2015-16 season last weekend with ten teams aligned into five-team East and West divisions. Ten of the 14 teams from last season have returned as full-schedule teams. The Robeson County (NC) Showstoppers are now the Lumbertown Showstoppers and the D-Elite Flyers are now the Auburn (GA) Pro Elite. The league also has four sanctioned travel/exhibition teams: the returning Savannah Cavaliers and Stealth All Stars, a 2014-15 full-schedule team called the All American Ballers (Fayetteville, NC), and a new team called the Chapel Hill (NC) Blue Force.
American Basketball Association: The semi-pro ABA recently started its 2015-16 season that currently features over 90 teams listed in 13 regional divisions, along with an "At Large" Division of short-schedule teams and travel-only teams.
Midwest Professional Basketball Association: The men's MPBA announced the 2016 regular season schedule will run from January 9 to March 26. Of the six teams from the inaugural 2015 season, the Bloomington (IL) Flex will not return in 2016 and the Chicago Force was renamed the Chicago Blues. The league will operate with seven teams after the addition of the new Pontiac (IL) 66ers team and the Lima (OH) Express from last season's Premier Basketball League. The league will still play two regular-season doubleheaders in Bloomington during the 2016 season and the city will host the season-ending championship series.
New Era Basketball Association: The men's NEBA started its inaugural 2015 winter season this weekend with eight teams called the Austin Knights, Central Florida Marvel (Orlando), Garland (TX) Hoyas, Houston Xperience, Hub City Cyclones (Jackson, TN), Memphis Lions, Miami Live and San Antonio Kings. Each team will play an eight-game schedule through January 2016. The league also plans to start a nationwide spring season in 2016.
Midwest Basketball League: The new men's MBL plans to start play in April 2016 with a spring-summer season running through July. The league currently lists six teams called the Anderson (IN) Runnin' Wild, Indiana Dream (Muncie), Minnesota Rangers (Plymouth), Ohio Flash (Dayton), Waukesha (WI) Wires and Wisconsin Panthers (Wauwatosa/Milwaukee). The Anderson Runnin' Wild and Ohio Flash were part of the Universal Basketball Association for the 2014-15 season.
FOOTBALL
American Indoor Football: The new Muskegon-based AIF team announced it will be called the West Michigan Ironmen when the team starts play in the 2016 season. Other potential team nicknames included the Breakers, Marauders, Melee and River Rats. A team called the Muskegon Thunder played two seasons (2007-08) in the Continental Indoor Football League and one season (2009) in the Indoor Football League.
Arena Football League: The San Jose SaberCats of the AFL unexpectedly announced the team will no longer continue as a member of the league. The AFL is trying to secure new ownership for the San Jose franchise. The San Jose SaberCats played 14 seasons (1995-2008) in the original AFL, which folded after the 2008 season, and in 2011 joined for the second season of the new version of the AFL. The league recently announced nine teams for the 2016 season with San Jose to be one of four western teams in the National Conference. The AFL also lost the Las Vegas Outlaws, New Orleans VooDoo and Spokane Shock teams after the 2015 season.
Legends Football League: The indoor women's LFL, formerly known as the Lingerie Football League before re-branding in 2013, recently announced the return of the Dallas Desire team for the 2016 season. The Dallas Desire was a member of the Lingerie Football League for its first two full seasons (2009-11). The Dallas Desire will join the previously announced Austin Acoustic expansion team in a four-team Western Conference, which will also feature the returning Los Angeles Temptation and Seattle Mist. The Las Vegas Sin was a member of a three-team Western Conference in 2015, but the league announced Las Vegas would not return in 2016 after four seasons in the league. The LFL also had a three-team Eastern Conference in 2015, but teams in that conference have not yet been finalized for 2016.
HOCKEY
Atlantic Metropolitan Hockey League: The AMHL organization, which includes the Tier-III Metropolitan Junior Hockey League, plans to restructure its junior program and return to a two-tiered system for the 2016-17 season. The AMHL will announce the new two-tiered league name and teams next month. The AMHL had a previous two-tier system with the MJHL and the higher-level Atlantic Junior Hockey League (AJHL), but the AJHL was allowed to leave the AMHL and operated independently starting with the 2012-13 season. It was re-branded as the Eastern Hockey League for the 2013-14 season.
Major League Roller Hockey: The MLRH plans to operate its Pro Tour as a "no check" series starting in January 2016 with qualifying events held in North America and Europe through April 2016 leading to a championship event in May 2016. The league will return with its full-contact Super League in the summer of 2016.
SOCCER
North American Soccer League: The Division-II NASL announced a new Oklahoma City-based team called Rayo OKC will start play in the 2016 spring season. The Spanish La Liga club Rayo Vallecano de Madrid entered into a partnership with the majority owner of the Oklahoma City NASL franchise. This is the first Spanish La Liga club to invest in a pro soccer club in North America. A team called the Oklahoma City Energy FC started play in 2014 as part of the Division-III United Soccer League. The co-owner of the USL team was once involved in trying to bring an NASL franchise to Oklahoma City. The uncertainty of the NASL's Carolina RailHawks (Cary/Raleigh, NC) team has been settled, as a local entrepreneur has stepped forward to purchase the franchise. The league operated the RailHawks for most of the 2015 season after suspending the team's ownership group, whose manager was indicted for various financial violations. The new RailHawks ownership has expressed interest in bringing an MLS franchise to the Raleigh market.
National Premier Soccer League: The men's elite-level NPSL announced a new team called Memphis City FC will join for the 2016 season. The Cincinnati Saints announced last month the team would not return in 2016 after two seasons (2014-15) in the league, but now ownership says the team will relocate to Dayton where the it will be re-branded for the 2016 season.
United Soccer League: The new Rio Grande Valley FC, or RGVFC, will be joining the Division-III USL for the 2016 season and recently announced the Toros as the team's nickname. The RGVFC Toros will have a single affiliation with Major League Soccer's Houston Dynamo team, which was affiliated with the USL's Charleston (SC) Battery in 2015. The RGVFC is building a new 9,400-seat stadium in Edinburg (TX) and the team's owner is also owner of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the National Basketball Association Development League (D-League). The USL previously announced four other teams called FC Cincinnati, Bethlehem Steel FC, Orlando City B and Swope Park Rangers (Kansas City, MO) will also be added in 2016. The top-tier MLS requires each of its teams to have an affiliation with or an ownership interest in a USL team that is used for player development and reserves.
OTHER
Major League Ultimate: After some uncertainty about the future of the MLU professional disc league going into the 2016 season, the MLU announced it has negotiated funding for the 2016 season with commitments for 2017 and 2018. The eight-team MLU, which started play in 2013 with central investors and eight centrally run teams, has been facing competition from a growing American Ultimate Disc League whose owners buy a franchise with rights to run the team independently. The AUDL started play in 2012 with 8 teams and grew to 25 teams for the 2015 season.
Dan Krieger is the creator of the Leagues, Teams & Nicknames 2014-15: "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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United Soccer League Championship Stories from November 16, 2015
- Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report - OSC Original by Dan Krieger
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