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Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
Published on January 18, 2016 under ECHL (ECHL)


BASEBALL

Pacific Coast League: The city of San Antonio, which is home to the San Antonio Missions in the Double-A Texas League, wants to become home to a Triple-A team in the PCL. One possible relocation candidate for San Antonio is the PCL's Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Elmore Sports Group owns both the San Antonio Missions and the Colorado Springs Sky Sox and there is talk that the Texas League Missions would move to a new stadium approved in Amarillo, while the PCL Sky Sox move to San Antonio where a new Triple-A stadium would be built. The city of Amarillo has a current team in the independent American Association, but wants an affiliated team for its new stadium.

Eastern League: The Double-A Eastern League's new Hartford Yard Goats, formerly the New Britain (CT) Rock Cats, will have to start the 2016 season on the road due to funding shortfalls and construction delays at the new stadium in Hartford. The owner of the league's Richmond Flying Squirrels team, which moved from Norwich (CT) after the 2009 season with the promise of a new stadium in Richmond, is frustrated at the lack of movement on the stadium and could move the team after the 2017 season.

California League: The High Desert Mavericks of the high Class-A California League are in a dispute with the city of Adelanto over use of the local stadium and the city council voted to terminate a stadium deal with the Mavericks. The Mavericks' owner says the team will work to resolve the issue in time for the 2016 season. Stadium issues involving the High Desert Mavericks and the league's Bakersfield Blaze have led to discussions in the past of a possible move of these two teams from California to the high Class-A Carolina League. The Bakersfield owner had been trying to move the Blaze to a different California location, but was having difficulties financing a new ballpark.

Atlantic League: There could be a settlement coming in the case involving construction of a new stadium in Ashburn (VA) for a proposed Atlantic League team called the Loudoun Hounds.

American Association: The owner of The Rock Sports Complex in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin has developed a revised proposal to obtain city approval to build a minor league baseball stadium that could become home to an American Association team. If construction starts this summer, the stadium could open in 2017. A previous stadium plan proposed in 2014 was voted down and at that time a Frontier League team was planned for the stadium. Also, the Texas-based American Association team that will be a combination of the Amarillo Thunderheads and Grand Prairie AirHogs for the 2016 season is now listed as the Texas AirHogs. The team will play half of its home games in Amarillo and half in Grand Prairie.

Prospect League: The new summer-collegiate Prospect League team to be based in Lisle (IL) announced it will be called the DuPage Drones when it starts play in the 2016 season. The city had a previous summer-collegiate team called the DuPage Dragons that played six seasons (2005-10) in Lisle.

BASKETBALL

Central Basketball Development League: The CBDL announced the Nashville-based Tennessee Sting has joined the league for the 2016 season.

Women's Blue Chip Basketball League: The developmental WBCBL recently announced some new 2016 teams called the Houston Resurrection, Katy (TX) Lady Saints and Georgia Soul (Grovetown). The Auburn (AL) Flyers team recently announced plans to move to Elsberry (MO). The spring-summer WBCBL has been around since the 2005 season.

FOOTBALL

National Football League: The NFL approved the relocation of the St. Louis Rams to Los Angeles for the 2016 season. The team is expected to play at the Los Angeles Coliseum until a new stadium in Inglewood is completed for the 2019 season. The league also gave the San Diego Chargers one year to negotiate a deal to join the Rams in Inglewood. The Oakland Raiders will be given the opportunity to move to Los Angeles, if the Chargers do not exercise their option. The Rams moved from Los Angeles to St. Louis prior to the 1995 season. As part of the old American Football League, the Chargers moved from Los Angeles to San Diego prior to the 1961 season. The Oakland Raiders moved to Los Angeles for the 1982 season and returned to Oakland for the 1995 season.

HOCKEY

ECHL: The mayor of Owensboro (KY) stated that the ECHL's Evansville IceMen are negotiating a possible move to the arena in Owensboro. The IceMen and the city of Evansville have been unable to work out a new arena lease beyond the current season.

United States Premier Hockey League: The junior-level USPHL, which currently operates four leagues at the Tier-III level, is reported to be proposing a move of some USPHL-Premier Division teams to a new eastern-based Tier-II level league for the 2016-17 season. The 22-team North American Hockey League is currently the only Tier-II league under USA Hockey.

SOCCER

Major League Soccer: The MLS is considering TCF Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus and the Minnesota Twins Target Field as possible temporary locations so the expansion Minnesota United FC can start play in the 2017 season. A new MLS stadium planned for the Minnesota United FC will be built in St. Paul, but will not be ready until 2018. The league plans to add the Atlanta United FC expansion team in 2017 and would like to add another team at the same time for better scheduling.

United Soccer League: The Major League Soccer's FC Dallas and the USL's Oklahoma City Energy FC have agreed to a two-year affiliation that will start with the 2016 season. Last season, FC Dallas had the Arizona United FC as its USL affiliate, while Oklahoma City was affiliated with the MLS's Sporting Kansas City, which will operate its own USL affiliate in 2016. The MLS Atlanta United FC expansion team that will start play in 2017 announced a one-year partnership with the USL's Charleston (SC) Battery for the 2016 season with a possible extension. This will allow the Atlanta United FC to sign and develop players in 2016 ahead of its start in 2017. Charleston was affiliated with the MLS's Houston Dynamo in the 2015 season. After terminating the ownership of the Rochester Rhinos last week, the USL has identified potential new owners for the franchise.

North American Soccer League: The Division-II men's NASL announced the 2016 schedules for both its Spring and Fall seasons. The league also announced the Atlanta Silverbacks and San Antonio Scorpions will not be part of the 2016 season. The NASL will remain at 11 teams for the Spring Season with the addition of new teams called the Miami FC and Rayo OKC (Oklahoma City) and will grow to 12 teams for the Fall Season when the new Puerto Rico FC starts play. The NASL operated the Atlanta Silverbacks for the 2015 season and with a new Major League Soccer team set to start play in 2017, it was unable to find new ownership for the team The Silverbacks began play as the Atlanta Ruckus in 1995, were renamed the Silverbacks under new ownership for the 1999 season and became part of the NASL's first season in 2011. The San Antonio Scorpions joined the NASL as a 2012 expansion team. Their owner recently sold the team's home field and new ownership is bringing a United Soccer League team to the city for the 2016 season. Also, the president of the league's Indy Eleven team in Indianapolis has stepped down and plans to develop a new Chicago-based NASL team that could start play in 2017, possibly as the Chicago Sting.

United Soccer Leagues "" Premier Development League: The new PDL expansion team to be based in Kokomo (IN) will be called the Kokomo Mantis FC when it starts play in the 2016 season.

National Premier Soccer League: The Minnesota United FC of the Division-II North American Soccer League is moving its developmental Minnesota United Reserves team out of the men's elite-level NPSL after two seasons in the league. The Minnesota United Reserves will become a 2016 expansion team in the amateur Premier League of America, which operated as the Great Lakes Premier League in 2015.

Northwest Women's Premier League: The proposed new NWPL elite-level amateur soccer league based in Washington State announced its first four teams will be the Olympic Force (Bremerton), South Sound FC (Tacoma), Spokane Shadow and Fuerza FC (Marysville). The NWPL is modeled after the men's amateur elite-level soccer league known as the Evergreen Premier League of Washington that started play in 2014.

OTHER

World TeamTennis: The WTT has terminated the Sacramento-based franchise called the California Dream for failing to meet league obligations. The Dream played only the 2015 season in the WTT after the Texas Wild (Irving) moved to Sacramento for the 2015 season. The WTT had a former long-time member called the Sacramento Capitals that was part of the league from 1986 through the 2013 season. With the loss of the Dream, the league is down to six teams for the 2016 season.

National Lacrosse League: The new NLL commissioner recently announced he wants to grow the league from 9 to 16 teams as soon as possible. There has been talk that two new franchises could enter the league for the 2017 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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ECHL Stories from January 18, 2016


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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