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IL International League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
April 12, 2021 - International League (IL)


BASEBALL

Triple-A East: With Major League Baseball's Toronto Blue Jays considering a return to Buffalo for some of its 2021 home schedule, home games for the Buffalo Bisons of the Triple-A East league will be moved to the stadium of the Trenton (NJ) Thunder, which lost its Major League affiliation after the 2020 season and is part of the new short-season 2021 MLB Draft League. The Blue Jays played their entire 2020 home schedule in Buffalo due to cross-border travel restrictions. The team is expected to play its first 22 home game at its spring training complex in Dunedin (FL) and then move home games to Buffalo until it is allowed to return to Toronto.

United Shore Professional Baseball League: The four-team independent developmental USPBL, which plays all games out of its stadium in Utica (MI), recently announced its 2021 season will feature a total of 62 games from May 28 to September 4, 2021. The same four teams return with the Utica Unicorns and Eastside Diamond Hoppers in the East and Westside Woolly Mammoths and Birmingham Bloomfield Beavers in the West. The USPBL started play in the 2016 season.

BASKETBALL

National Basketball Association G-League: The Erie (PA) BayHawks of the NBA G-League announced the team is ceasing operations after 13 seasons because it no longer has an affiliation with an NBA team. The Erie BayHawks started in the 2008-09 season and had a hybrid affiliation with various NBA teams until the NBA's Orlando Magic purchased the franchise and moved it to Lakeland (FL) after the 2016-17 season. The Erie BayHawks were reborn for the 2017-18 season when the NBA's Atlanta Hawks used the team as its affiliate for two seasons while a permanent home for its own G-League affiliate was being built in College Park (GA). For the past two seasons (2019-21), the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans used the Erie BayHawks as its G-League affiliate until the permanent home of its own G-League affiliate was ready in Birmingham (AL) for the 2021-22 season.

The Basketball League: After playing a shortened 2020 season with 12 teams, the minor professional TBL started its fourth season this week with 29 teams aligned in a nine-team Central, a nine-team East, a four-team West and a seven-team Midwest division. The TBL was planning for 35 teams in 2021 with the 12 returning teams and 23 expansion teams, but last season's Albany (NY) Patroons are sitting out this season and only 18 of the 23 expansion teams will start play this season. Previously announced 2021 expansion teams called the Avon (IN) Aces, Portland (OR) Storm, Salem (OR) Capitals and Temecula (CA) Eagles are listed as 2022 teams, while the Fresno Fire has disappeared. The TBL recently announced two additional 2022 expansion teams called the Reading (PA) Rebels and Lansing (MI) Pharaohs. The 2021 TBL season runs through June.

Women's American Basketball Association: The WABA recently added an expansion team called the Tennessee Conductors (Cleveland) based in the Chattanooga area. The league lists April 30, 2021 as the deadline for expansion teams to join for the 2021 season. American Basketball Association: The semi-pro men's ABA announced a team called the Rockford (IL) Redblacks has been added to the league for the 2021-22 season. A proposed Rockford-based team called the Rock River Fury was to play in the 2007-08 ABA season but moved to the Premier Basketball League for its inaugural 2008 season. A proposed ABA team called the Rockford Riverhawks was announced for the 2010-11 season, but switched to the Independent Basketball Association for its inaugural 2011 season.

FOOTBALL

National Football League: With the NFL expanding its regular season from 16 to 17 games, the league plans to expand its international schedule. The league will schedule up to four neutral site games per year outside the United States with focus on Canada, Europe, Mexico, South America and the United Kingdom. This will ensure all 32 teams will play internationally at least once every 8 years.

United Arena League: The three teams that comprise the semi-pro UAL, which had to postpone its inaugural 2020 season due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), will each play one 2021 regular-season game against the Southern Steam of the Elite Indoor Football league. The UAL's Palmetto Colts (Anderson, SC) announced the team will not be playing any 2021 games at its home arena due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), but the team plans to complete its 2021 road schedule.

National Arena League: The NAL's expansion team called the Albany (NY) Empire officially announced it will be part of the 2021 season after being allowed to have a limited number of fans in attendance for its four scheduled home games. Due to the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19), the seven-team NAL pushed back the start of its 2021 season to May 22, and shortened each team's schedule from 14 to 8 games.

HOCKEY

American Hockey League: In conjunction with planned renovations to the home arena of the AHL's Rockford (IL) IceHogs, the National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks announced plans to purchase the Rockford AHL franchise, which has been the Blackhawks' AHL affiliate since the 2007-08 season.

British Columbia Hockey League: The Junior-A Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) announced the 18-team BCHL submitted a notice to withdraw its membership from the CJHL effective March 24, 2021. The BCHL was one of ten Canadian Junior-A leagues under the CJHL organization.

SOCCER

National Women's Soccer League: The professional NWSL's Sky Blue FC, which was a charter member of the league in 2013, announced a rebranding of the team to the NJ/NY Gotham FC for the 2021 season. The team was formed in 2006 and was known as the Jersey Sky Blue for its first two seasons. The ten-team NWSL started its 2021 season this week with its month-long Challenge Cup tournament. Other changes for the 2021 season include the addition of a tenth team called the Racing Louisville FC and the replacement of the Utah Royals FC by a Kansas City NWSL team that will announce its name in the future.

National Independent Soccer Association: The men's Division-III professional NISA announced its fifth amateur league affiliation with the California-based SoCal Premier league. Similar affiliations were set up with the Gulf Coast Premier League, Eastern Premier Soccer League (EPSL), Mountain Premier League and Midwest Premier League. The NISA's new year-round amateur path-to-professional NISA Nation league has partnered with the EPSL for some of its top teams to be part of the NISA Nation's Northeast Region, which will feature annual relegation and promotion of teams between the leagues.

Women's Independent Soccer League: The new Division-II professional WISL was announced this week with plans to start play in the 2022 season. The league will consist of independent teams and operate as an open system without franchises and territorial rights. It hopes to fill the gap between some of the lower-level women's leagues and the Division-I National Women's Soccer League. Apparently, the WISL is affiliated with the men's National Independent Soccer Association, which at one time was working with the pro-am United Women's Soccer to create a Division-II pro league until that partnership recently ended.

Major Arena Soccer League 3: The amateur-level MASL3 completed its 2020-21 season in February. Participating teams for this season included the Sunflower State FC (Kansas City, KS), Omaha Kings, Wichita Wings and Springfield (MO) Demize in the Central Conference, and two Michigan-based teams called the Grand Rapids Wanderers and Muskegon Risers in an Eastern North Conference.

Premier Arena Soccer League: The men's and women's divisions of the amateur PASL completed their 2020-21 seasons that ran from January through March. The men had an eight-team Great Lakes Division, a six-team Midwest/Rocky Mountain Division and a four-team South Central Division, while the women had a five-team Great Lakes Division and a four-team Southwest Division.

USL League One (United Soccer League): The professional Division-III USL League One started its 2021 season this week with 12 teams. The league operated a shortened 2020 season with 11 teams and the Orlando City B dropped out after the 2020 season. The league added the North Carolina FC (Cary) from the Division-II USL Championship and the Toronto FC II returned after sitting out last season.

OTHER

National Pro Fastpitch: Although the NPF is not playing a 2021 season, the league's Marion-based Canadian Wild of Southern Illinois team, which is comprised of players from the Canadian National Team, will play a 16-game schedule at its home in Marion in May and June as it prepares for the Tokyo Olympics.

Major League Rugby: The San Diego Legion of the professional MLR is returning home to San Diego after spending the first few weeks of the 2021 season in Las Vegas due to coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions. The Legion was training in Las Vegas and played its first home game/season opener in Las Vegas on March 20 with its next home game scheduled for April 17 in San Diego.

Dan Krieger is the creator of the Weekly Sports League & Franchise Report, which has been tracking changes in the sports world's leagues, teams and nicknames since April 2007.

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