Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
December 26, 2022 - SPHL (SPHL)
BASEBALL
Prospect League: The summer-collegiate Prospect League recently announced its 2023 season schedule that will feature 17 teams aligned in an Eastern Conference with a four-team Ohio Valley Division and a four-team Wabash River Division, and a Western Conference with a four-team Great River Division and a five-team Prairie Land Division. The league operated with 16 teams in 2022, but the West Virginia Miners will sit out the 2023 season and expansion teams called the Jackson (TN) Rockabillys and a yet-to-be-named Marion-based Southern Illinois team have been added for 2023. The Southern Illinois team will choose among the Angry Beavers, Fungi, Monkey Rats, Swamp Foxes and Thrillbillies as its nickname based on fan voting that ends next week.
United Shore Professional Baseball League: The organizer of the four-team independent developmental USPBL, which plays all games at a ballpark in Utica (MI), announced earlier this year the league hopes to expand by securing a ballpark in another city by 2024 and adding at least two more teams to play games at that location. The USPBL's plans to add more ballparks and teams were slowed by the coronavirus.
BASKETBALL
American Basketball Association: The semi-pro ABA announced three teams called the SoCal Sea Turtles, New Jersey Soldiers and Upstate Trojans (Syracuse) have been added as 2023-24 expansion teams. No specific markets were announced for the SoCal and New Jersey teams.
Athletes Unlimited - Basketball: The women's professional Athletes Unlimited announced the second season of its five-week women's pro basketball league will move from Las Vegas to Fair Park Coliseum in Dallas where the four teams will play 30 games from February 26 through March 26, 2023. Each week, players are scored through individual and team statistics and the top four performers become captains and select teams for the following week with one player selected as champion for the season. This basketball league follows the same format for similar Athletes Unlimited women's leagues in volleyball, field lacrosse and softball.
FOOTBALL
American West Football Conference: The indoor AWFC, which is down to only three teams as it heads into its fourth season in 2023, has signed a partnership with the American Indoor Football Alliance (AIFA) to play cross-over games for the 2023 season. The AIFA will be playing its second season in 2023 and played one cross-over game with the AWFC last season.
Canadian Football League: The CFL announced it will continue with its "Touchdown Atlantic" series in 2023 with a regular-season game to be played in Halifax (Nova Scotia) as a means of promoting the CFL game in the Atlantic Canada region. The CFL has been trying to add a proposed Atlantic Canada team in Halifax to be called the Atlantic Schooners, which would be the league's tenth team and fifth in the East Division. The big hurdle for the potential team is financing construction of a suitable CFL stadium.
National Arena League: The NAL announced the Columbus (GA) Lions team has been removed from the league, which will now move forward with a revised schedule for seven teams in the 2023 season. The Columbus Lions announced the team has left the NAL and accepted an invitation to play in the American Indoor Football Alliance for that league's second season in 2023. The Columbus Lions started play in the 2007 season and played in several different indoor leagues until joining the NAL for the 2017 season.
Liga de Futbol Americano Profesional : Mexico's top professional American-style outdoor football league known as the LFA announced it will compete with ten teams in its 2023 season starting in February. All seven teams from the 2022 season will return and the league has added three teams called the Caudillos de Chihuahua, Jefes de Ciudad Juarez and Rojos (Reds) de Ciudad de Mexico from another league called the Futbol Americano de Mexico (FAM), which ceased operations after its 2022 season. A former FAM expansion team called the Raramuris de Chihuahua, which has yet to start play, will not be joining the LFA as planned for the 2023 season.
HOCKEY
North American Hockey League: The city of Watertown (SD) is hoping to acquire a Tier-II junior-level NAHL team for a new 1,500-seat arena that is under construction and expected to be ready next fall.
Southern Professional Hockey League: Fans of the SPHL's Peoria Rivermen have started an online petition to try to force the city to help fund repairs to the ice plant at the team's home arena. The team's arena lease expires after this season and the future of the team is uncertain without the arena repairs.
SOCCER
Major Arena Soccer League 3: The amateur-level MASL3, which is affiliated with the professional Major Arena Soccer League (MASL), announced its 2023 season schedule that will feature only five East Division teams. Last season featured a five-team East Division and a four-team Midwest Division. The Skyline City CF (Frederick, MD) will not return to the East Division, while the Northern Virginia FC (Leesburg), Philadelphia Spartans, Baltimore Kings and Fredericksburg (VA) Fire are returning and joined by the new Virginia Marauders (Virginia Beach). The four Midwest Division teams called the Des Moines United, Springfield (MO) Demize, Sunflower State FC (Kansas City, KS) and Wichita Wings II will not return in 2023. The Des Moines United moved up to the MASL2 as the Iowa Demon Hawks, while the Springfield (MO) Demize moved to the new professional Major League Indoor Soccer. Each of the five MASL3 teams will play a ten-game schedule from January 1 through March 25, 2023.
Major League Soccer: MLS announced its 2023 season schedule that will feature 29 teams aligned in a 15-team Eastern Conference and a 14-team Western Conference. The league had 28 teams aligned in 14-team conferences last season, but the expansion St. Louis City SC has been added to the Western Conference with the Nashville SC moving to the Eastern Conference in 2023. Each team will play a 34-game regular season from February 25 through October 21, 2023. MLS will suspend league play from July 15 to August 20, as all 29 MLS teams and all 18 teams from Mexico's top professional soccer league known as the Liga MX will participate in the month-long League Cup tournament.
National Premier Soccer League: The men's elite-level NPSL announced three teams called the California Odyssey (Stockton), West Texas FC (Midland) and Virginia Dream (Arlington) have been added for the 2023 season.
USL Championship (United Soccer League): The Division-II professional USL Championship announced its 2023 season alignment that will feature 24 teams aligned in 12-team Eastern and Western conferences. Each team will play a 34-game schedule from mid-March to mid-October 2023. The league had 28 teams last season, but the Oklahoma City Energy FC will not return due to the lack of a suitable home stadium, and the league's Major League Soccer (MLS) affiliated teams called the Atlanta United 2, Los Angeles Galaxy II and New York Red Bulls II are moving to the MLS NEXT Pro league for the 2023 season. One other MLS affiliate called the Loudoun United FC (Leesburg, VA), which is the affiliate of the D.C. United, planned to move to the MLS NEXT Pro but will remain in the USL Championship for the 2023 season due to the terms of its stadium lease.
OTHER
Athletes Unlimited - Volleyball: The Athletes Unlimited announced it is moving the third season of its women's indoor professional volleyball league to a fall schedule (October-November) in 2023. In the 2021 season, the volleyball league played a February-March schedule and this past season played a March-April schedule. Athletes Unlimited announced an Athletes Unlimited Volleyball Exhibition Tour will take place from late March through April 2023 with a 15-player Athletes Unlimited team playing exhibition games against nine different major university volleyball programs in the United States.
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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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.
