Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
Published on January 9, 2023 under Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL)
BASEBALL
Atlantic League: The ownership of the independent Atlantic League's 2023 yet-to-be-named Frederick (MD) expansion team has hired a manager and next week plans to provide a team update, possibly with a team name. The ownership also operates the Frederick Keys team in the Major League Baseball Draft League. Frederick was added as a tenth team for the 2023 Atlantic League season after the new ownership of the league's Lexington (KY) Legends decided not to continue operating a second Lexington-based team called the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes.
California Winter League: The developmental showcase CWL, which is the official winter league of the independent Frontier League and is also scouted by other independent summer leagues, announced its 2023 season will feature ten teams playing all games at the Palm Springs (CA) Stadium complex from January 26 through February 14, 2023 followed by playoffs. The American Division will feature the Palm Springs POWER, Palm Springs Chill, Washington Blue Sox, Oregon Lumberjacks, and Coachella Valley Snowbirds. The Canadian Division will feature the Canada A's, British Columbia Bombers, Alberta Grizzly, Toronto Rush, and Manitoba North Stars.
BASKETBALL
National Basketball League - United States: The semi-pro NBL-US announced the addition of a Gulf Coast Conference for its fourth season starting in March 2023. The conference will feature six Louisiana-based teams in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Acadiana, Jeff Davis Parish, Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana. The league operated with only six Texas-based teams in 2022 and it has also been trying to organize a Florida-based Eastern Conference for 2023.
The Basketball League: The president of the minor professional TBL recently stated the league wants to expand further into eastern Canada and a long-term goal is to have 64 teams in the United States and 24 in Canada. The league is considering the Ontario markets of Thunder Bay and Sault Ste Marie, along with possible teams in Canada's Maritimes region to include Cape Breton Island and Halifax in Nova Scotia, Moncton and Saint John in New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. The TBL currently has 50 teams set to start its 2023 season in March, with three of those teams located in Canada-the Newfoundland Rogues (St. John's), Montreal Tundra (Quebec) and Academie D'Alma (Quebec). The league envisions its New England-based teams eventually playing the Maritimes teams to minimize travel costs. For the second season in a row, select TBL teams will play regular-season games against the four Ontario-based teams that comprise the 2023 National Basketball League of Canada (NBL-Canada). For eight seasons (2012-20), the NBL-Canada had a separate Atlantic Division comprised of four or five teams based in the Maritimes region, but those teams either folded, left the league, or are inactive.
FOOTBALL
XFL: The outdoor XFL announced the schedule for the league's return in 2023 will feature eight teams each playing a ten-game schedule from February 18 through April 23, 2023. The XFL will be aligned in a North Division with the D.C. Defenders (Washington, DC), Seattle Sea Dragons, St. Louis Battlehawks, and Vegas Vipers (Las Vegas), and a South Division with the Arlington (TX) Renegades, Houston Roughnecks, Orlando Guardians and San Antonio Brahmas.
American Indoor Football Alliance: The AIFA recently announced the addition of the Wichita Force and a travel-only team called the Dallas Falcons for the 2023 season. The Wichita Force is a former member of Championship Indoor Football (2015-21) and the Arena Football Association (2022).
HOCKEY
Federal Prospects Hockey League: The FPHL played the last of three well-attended neutral-site regular-season games this week in Baton Rouge (LA), which is under consideration for a 2023-24 FPHL expansion team. The city's most recent professional hockey team was the Baton Rouge Kingfish that played seven seasons (1996-2003) in the ECHL before relocating to Victoria (British Columbia).
American Hockey League: The AHL's Springfield (MA) Thunderbirds played as the Springfield Falcons for a ¬ÅThrowback Night ¬Â game this weekend to pay tribute to the city's previous AHL team that relocated to become the Tucson Roadrunners for the 2016-17 season. The Springfield Thunderbirds started play in the AHL's 2016-17 season with the relocation of the Portland (ME) Pirates to Springfield.
North American Hockey League: The Tier-II junior-level NAHL announced the Greeley-based Colorado Grit has been accepted as a 2023-24 expansion team. The Colorado Grit will be added as a ninth team to the league's South Division.
SOCCER
National Premier Soccer League: The men's elite-level NPSL announced the San Ramon FC (California), which was part of the NPSL's 2019 season, is returning to the NPSL for the 2023 season.
Premier Arena Soccer League: The amateur-level PASL has started its 2022-23 season and again has both men's and women's divisions. Teams are located in the Midwest and Texas. The Men's Division has 20 teams playing January 7 through March 2023, while the Women's Division has 17 teams playing from November 11, 2022 through March 2023. The Wichita Selection, State Line Falcons (Rockford), Chicago Mustangs, Springfield (MO) Demize, Austin Emerald and Houston Bolt of the men's pro Major League Indoor Soccer (MLIS) each have an affiliated men's PASL team, while the MLIS's Cincinnati Swerve has four men's PASL affiliates (Vahalia FC, Northern Kentucky Nitro, Cincy SC and Atletico Cincinnati).
Western Indoor Soccer League: The Northwest-based elite-level men's WISL is in the middle of its 2022-23 season, which features seven teams - six from the state of Washington and one from Oregon. All six teams from last season have returned and the league added the Everett (WA) City FC for the 2022-23 season. Each team is playing a 12-game schedule from November 5, 2022 through February 25, 2023.
OTHER
Premier Lacrosse League: The PLL, which is a tour-based professional field lacrosse league, announced the 2023 season will include ten regular-season weekend events to be held in Albany (NY), Columbus (OH), Charlotte, Minneapolis, Fairfield (CT), Dallas, Baltimore, Denver, Tacoma and Salt Lake City from June 2 through August 27, 2023. The PLL will have the same eight teams as last season and each weekend event will feature all eight teams playing once per weekend. The league will also host an All-Star weekend in July with a date and venue to be announced. The playoffs will include three post-season weekends to be held in Boston, Long Island (NY) and Philadelphia in September. The PLL started play in the 2019 season and the former professional field lacrosse league known as Major League Lacrosse, which had operated with traditional city-based franchises since the 2001 season, was merged into the PLL in December 2020.
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.
Federal Prospects Hockey League Stories from January 9, 2023
- Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report - OSC Original by Dan Krieger
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.
