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Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
Published on March 28, 2022 under MLS NEXT Pro (MLS NEXT Pro)


BASEBALL

Northern League: The new independent pre-professional Northern League, which previously operated as the summer-collegiate Midwest Collegiate League since the 2011 season, will play with six teams in the 2022 season. Five of the six teams from 2021 will return and the new Lake County Corn Dogs (Crown Point, IN) will replace the MCL Minutemen, which was a league-operated team for the past two seasons.

Minor League Baseball: Minor League Baseball (MiLB) plans to return for a fifth season of its Copa de la Diversión, or Fun Cup, during the 2022 season. This event will include 85 of the 120 MiLB teams adopting Hispanic team names for select games during the season as a tribute to their Hispanic/Latino communities. The Copa de la Diversión started in the 2017 season and similar tributes were held during the 2018, 2019 and 2021 seasons.

BASKETBALL

Evolution Basketball Association: The semi-pro EVA announced a team called the Dallas Seawolves has been added to the South Division for the 2022 season. Also, a team called the Dallas Magic has replaced last season's Oklahoma City Bulldogs in the North Division. The EVA currently lists eight teams-two from the Denver area and six from Dallas/Fort Worth area-aligned in four-team North and South divisions. The EVA's inaugural 2021 season ran from August to December.

Women's Basketball Development Association: The semi-pro WBDA recently announced the addition of the Tampa Surge and Mississippi Lady Lakers (Jackson) for its 2022 season, which will start on May 14. The league currently lists an 11-team Eastern Conference and a 13-team Western Conference. New Nation Basketball Association: The semi-pro NNBA started its 2022 Spring Season this weekend with six of its seven teams playing a total of six games at one location in Memphis. The NNBA's inaugural 2021 Fall Season consisted of four teams playing games on three weekend events with each event at a different location. The 2022 Spring Season lists four weekend events, each with six participating teams and six games per event. The Henderson (KY) Hornets did not return from 2021, but the league added the Indiana Generals, Nashville Hornets, Memphis Showstoppers and Owensboro (KY) Cobras. Other teams include the returning Memphis Rail Runners, St. Louis Trotters and Tennessee Sting (Nashville area).

FOOTBALL

American Indoor Football Alliance: Although it has yet to post a complete 2022 season schedule, the new five-team AIFA held its 1st Annual AIFA Kick-off Classic game this weekend in Jackson (MS) between the Carolina Predators (Fayetteville, NC) and the Jackson-based Mississippi Raiders.

Elite Indoor Football: The semi-pro EIF announced a travel-only team called the United Fire Power, based in Indian Trail (NC), has been added for the 2022 season.

Fan Controlled Football: The 7-on-7 indoor fan-interactive FCF posted the schedule for its second season that will feature eight teams each playing seven games over seven weeks starting on April 16, 2022. All games will be played at a state-of-the-art studio in Atlanta. The FCF played its first season with four teams and added four new teams for 2022.

HOCKEY

Eastern Hockey League - Premier: The Tier-III junior level EHL announced its Premier Division will add three new teams called the Union Thunder (West Union, NJ), Adirondack Jr. Thunder (Glens Falls, NY) and Pennsylvania Huntsmen (Exton) have been added for the 2022-23 season.

Professional Women's Hockey Players Association: The tour-based PWHPA held a regional game this weekend in Peterborough (Ontario) featuring Team Sonnet (Toronto) and Team Harvey's (Montreal). The game was sponsored by the Peterborough Petes of the major-junior Ontario Hockey League. Also, the PWHPA announced the fifth and final stop on its 2021-22 tour will be held in Montreal next weekend.

Premier Hockey Federation: Representatives from the PHF, the tour-based Professional Women's Hockey Players Association and the National Hockey League met this week to try to get the PHF and PWHPA to work together toward a unified league. The PWHPA has boycotted the PHF (formerly the National Women's Hockey League) as it tries to develop a sustainable women's league, preferably with the help of the NHL. The six-team PHF, which plans to expand to eight teams, feels it currently offers what the PWHPA is looking for. The NHL says it will not consider involvement in a women's league under its umbrella while there are two competing women's leagues.

Federal Prospects Hockey League: The FPHL has now posted the logo and link to information about its newest member, which will be the Biloxi-based Mississippi Sea Wolves. Earlier this season, the FPHL played three well-attended regular-season games in Biloxi. Biloxi was home to the former Mississippi Sea Wolves that played 11 seasons (1996-2005 and 2007-09) in the ECHL and the former Mississippi Surge that played five seasons (2009-14) in the Southern Professional Hockey League.

SOCCER

Major Arena Soccer League: The MASL announced the Monterrey Flash (Nuevo Leon, Mexico) team will return for the 2022-23 season after voluntarily sitting idle the past two seasons due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

MLS NEXT Pro (Major League Soccer): Major League Soccer's new pro-am Division-III MLS NEXT Pro league started its inaugural 2022 season this weekend with 21 teams aligned in an Eastern Conference with a five-team Central Division and a five-team Northeast Division, and a Western Conference with a six-team Frontier Division and a five-team Western Division. All teams, except the Rochester New York FC, are operated by and serve as developmental/reserve teams for 20 different MLS clubs. The league's Sporting KC II, (MLS's Sporting KC), Real Monarchs (Real Salt Lake), and Tacoma Defiance (Seattle Sounders FC) joined from the 2021 Division-II USL Championship. The North Texas SC (FC Dallas), New England Revolution II (New England Revolution), Toronto FC II (Toronto FC) and Inter Miami CF II (Inter Miami CF), formerly the Fort Lauderdale CF, were part of the 2021 Division-III USL League One. The league's Portland Timbers2 (Portland Timbers FC) and Philadelphia Union II (Philadelphia Union) last played in the 2020 USL Championship, while the Orlando City B (Orlando City SC) last played in the 2020 USL League One. The independent Rochester (NY) team evolved from the Rochester Rhinos team that last played in the 2017 USL Championship. The remaining 10 teams are new affiliates operated by MLS clubs. These include the Chicago Fire II (Chicago Fire FC), Columbus Crew 2 (Columbus Crew FC), FC Cincinnati 2 (FC Cincinnati), New York City FC II (New York City FC), Colorado Rapids 2 (Colorado Rapids), Houston Dynamo 2 (Houston Dynamo FC), MNUFC 2 (Minnesota United FC), St. Louis CITY2 (2023 MLS expansion St. Louis City SC), San Jose Earthquakes II (San Jose Earthquakes) and Whitecaps FC 2 (Vancouver Whitecaps FC). Each team will play 24 games through September 18, 2022.

Liga de Balompie Mexicano: Mexico's independent professional LBM (Mexican Football League) announced two teams called the Inter Amecameca FC (State of Mexico) and the Mezcaleros de Oaxaca have been added for the league's third season that is scheduled to start next month.

National Independent Soccer Association: The Division-III professional NISA started its 2022 season this weekend with ten teams aligned in a single table and each team playing 18 games from March 16 to October 15, 2022. The league has done away with separate Fall and Spring seasons this year. The NISA had ten teams in its most recent Fall Season, but lost four teams. The Detroit City FC left for the USL Championship; the New Amsterdam FC and Chicago House AC left after a dispute with the league; and the Stumptown AC (Charlotte) is voluntarily sitting out the 2022 season. The league added four new teams call the AC Syracuse Pulse (New York), Flower City Union (Rochester, NY), Bay Cities FC (Redwood City, CA) and the Valley United FC (Phoenix) for the 2022 season. The league's San Diego-based 1904 FC was renamed Albion San Diego for 2022 after a merger with the Albion SC. The NISA's New York Cosmos team, which last played in the 2020 Fall Season, is again sitting idle for the 2022 season.

USL League One (United Soccer League): The Division-III USL League One's expansion team to be based in Lexington (KY) announced the team will be called the Lexington Sporting Club, or Lexington SC, when the team starts play in the 2023 season.

OTHER

Western Ultimate League: The women's professional ultimate frisbee WUL started its 2022 season this month with seven teams called the San Francisco Falcons, San Diego Super Bloom, Los Angeles Astra, Arizona Sidewinders (Mesa), Oregon Onyx (Portland), Seattle Tempest and Utah Wild (Salt Lake City). Each team will play six games in the 2022 season, which will be a mix of traditional home versus away games along with some four-team weekend special events.

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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MLS NEXT Pro Stories from March 28, 2022


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