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CFL Canadian Football League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
July 18, 2022 - Canadian Football League (CFL)


BASEBALL

Northern League: The new independent pre-professional Northern League, which previously operated as the summer-collegiate Midwest Collegiate League since the 2011 season, started its 2022 season in late May with six teams located in the Chicago area and northern Indiana. The Chicago American Giants, Joliet Generals, Crestwood Panthers, Northwest Indiana Oilmen (Whiting, IN) and Southland Vikings (Hammond, IN) returned from last season, while a new team called the Lake County Corn Dogs (Crown Point, IN) replaced the MCL Minutemen, which was a league-operated team for the past two seasons.

Western Canadian Baseball League: After playing with only 5 teams last season, the summer-collegiate WCBL started its 2022 season in late May with 11 teams based in Alberta and Saskatchewan, and aligned in a five-team East Division and a six-team West Division. The seven teams that sat out the 2021 season due to coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions have all returned for 2022. All teams from last season have returned, but the Okotoks Dawgs Red and Okotoks Dawgs Black split teams from 2021 have been merged back into one team for 2022.

Intercounty Baseball League: Canada's Intercounty Baseball League, which is an amateur league consisting of college players and former professional players, started its 2022 season in mid-May with eight teams based in southern Ontario. All seven teams from last season have returned along with the Guelph Royals team that had sat out the 2021 season.

BASKETBALL

Maximum Basketball League: The ownership of the Mississippi Raiders (Jackson) of the American Indoor Football Alliance is starting a basketball team called the Mississippi Knights (Jackson) in the semi-pro MBL's 2022-23 season. The MBL also announced the Grand Rapids Fusion will be part of the 2022-23 season. The Fusion was part of the 2021-22 National Professional Basketball Association and was one of four teams this summer in The Basketball League of Michigan.

National Basketball League - United States: The semi-pro NBL-US announced it will be adding a six-team Northeast Division that will start play in December 2022 for the league's 2022-23 season. The team names will be announced in the near future.

Women's National Basketball Association: The WNBA is considering expansion by two teams, possibly for a 2024 start. The list of cities being considered is at 15 with Philadelphia recently mentioned as one.

FOOTBALL

Extreme Football League (X League): The women's 7-on-7 indoor X League started its 2022 season on June 10 with eight teams aligned in a single-table format. Each team was scheduled to play two games (one home and one away) through August 13, but a game scheduled this weekend with the Kansas City Force at the Arizona Red Devils was postponed, so those teams will only play one game this season. After a 2019 season, the Legends Football League (formerly the Lingerie Football League) morphed into the X League, which kept the LFL markets and rebranded the team names. The X League then cancelled both the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Since the X League was formed, the Nashville Knights team was relocated to become the Kansas City Force and the Omaha Red Devils team moved to Scottsdale to become the Arizona Red Devils.

National Arena League: The NAL announced a 2023 expansion team based in Fayetteville (NC) will become the league's seventh team starting with the 2023 season. A team name will be announced in the near future.

Canadian Football League: With the CFL playing a regular-season game in Nova Scotia this weekend as part of its "Touchdown Atlantic" promotion of the CFL game in Canada's Maritime provinces, the CFL commissioner stated the league is still looking to add a tenth team that would become part of the now four-team East Division. The league announced tentative plans in 2018 to add a tenth team to be called the Atlantic Schooners in Halifax (Nova Scotia) and have the team play in Moncton (New Brunswick) while a new stadium was being built in Halifax. The Schooners' potential ownership group had secured some stadium financing but the coronavirus (COVID-19) caused that to be cancelled. The Schooners' ownership group is still working on new stadium financing. A new stadium is the biggest hurdle for a CFL expansion team and the league could consider another potential expansion market like Quebec City, London or Windsor ahead of Halifax, if a solid stadium plan came forward.

HOCKEY

ECHL: Although not yet officially announced, an ownership group announced plans to bring an ECHL team called the Raptors to Rio Rancho (NM) in suburban Albuquerque for the 2023-24 season.

Premier Hockey Federation: The women's professional league known as the PHF announced it will add an expansion team in Montreal as the league's seventh team for the 2022-23 season. The Montreal team name will be announced in the coming weeks. Montreal was a longtime member of the former Canadian Women's Hockey League, which ceased operations after the 2018-19 season, with teams called the Montreal Stars (2007-15) and the renamed Les Canadiennes de Montreal (2015-19).

Southern Professional Hockey League: The minor professional SPHL announced its 2022-23 schedule that will feature the same 11 teams from last season and again aligned in a single-table format. Each team will play a 56-game schedule from October 20, 2022 through April 8, 2023.

SOCCER

MLS NEXT Pro: Major League Soccer's Nashville SC announced it will launch a team based in Huntsville (AL) as part of the 2023 season in the MLS NEXT Pro, which is currently playing its inaugural 2022 season with 21 teams. MLS NEXT Pro teams serve as developmental and reserve teams for the MLS. Huntsville's Joe Davis Stadium will undergo renovations and seat 6,000 fans for soccer games.

National Indoor Soccer League: The NISL announced the addition of the Tampa Bay Strikers as the league's fifth team for the 2022-23 season. The NISL operated with four teams in its inaugural 2021-22 season with each club operating teams in a men's division and a women's division. Tampa Bay will also operate men's and women's teams, and all four first-season teams will return for 2022-23. The NISL is hoping to announce a sixth team next month for the 2022-23 season. The league would like to have 8 to 12 teams nationwide by its third season.

USL Championship (United Soccer League): The USL announced it has entered into a partnership with a group called USL NOLA, which wants to bring a Division-II professional USL Championship team to New Orleans by the 2025 season. The group also plans to add a women's team in the new Division-II professional USL Super League that will start play in 2023.

USL League One (United Soccer League): The Division-III professional USL League One announced a new team called the Santa Barbara Sky FC will join as a 2024 expansion team. The club will also provide details in the near future about a new women's team it will be operating.

OTHER

U.S. Association of Rugby League: The USARL, which is associated with the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the United States, started its 2022 season last month with a four-team South Conference (Jacksonville Axemen, Tampa Mayhem, South Florida Speed and Southwest Florida Mayhem) and a three-team North Conference (Delaware Black Foxes, Boston 13s and Brooklyn Kings).

North American Rugby League: The proposed new professional NARL, which plays under the 13-man "rugby league" rules and postponed the start of its inaugural season from 2021 to 2022, has yet to start play in its 2022 season. The league's Toronto Wolfpack reports the league will have a soft launch this season with other participating teams in Atlanta, New York and Washington (DC). In November 2021, the NARL stated the 2022 season would include teams in Atlanta, Cleveland, New York, Washington (DC) and Toronto all playing weekly games at one host city. The NARL also stated at that time that it would expand by an additional six teams and add a women's league after the 2022 season.

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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