Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
February 6, 2023 - MLS NEXT Pro (MLS NEXT Pro)
BASEBALL
Atlantic League: The new 2023 Atlantic League expansion team to be based in Frederick (MD) will hold a press conference next week to announce five finalists for the team's name as selected from over 1,500 fan submissions. Fans will then be allowed to vote on these five names through February 17.
Texas League: After coming under new ownership in the off-season, the Wichita Wind Surge of the Double-A Texas League will not be changing its team name at this time, even though many fans do not approve of the name. The team will change to the Wichita Monrovians for a game on August 5, 2023 to honor the city's former 1920s semi-pro barnstorming team that consisted of all African-American players.
Major League Baseball: The city of Portland (OR) with the Portland Diamond Project and the city of Nashville with the proposed Nashville Stars are still working to become MLB's next expansion teams. MLB has expressed interest in expanding from 30 to 32 teams, but stated expansion will not be considered until ballpark situations, or possible relocation, are resolved with the Tampa Bay Rays and Oakland A's.
BASKETBALL
Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacifico (CIBACOPA): The Mexican men's professional CIBACOPA, or Pacific Coast Basketball League, has posted its 2023 season schedule that will feature the same eight teams as last season with each team playing a 34-schedule from March 8 through May 13, 2023. Teams will include the Astros de Jalisco (Guadalajara, Jalisco), Caballeros de Culiacan (Sinaloa), Halcones de Ciudad Obregon (Sonora), Ostioneros de Guaymas (Sonora), Pioneros de Los Mochis (Sinaloa), Rayos de Hermosillo (Sonora), Venados de Mazatlan (Sinaloa) and Zonkeys de Tijuana (Baja California).
The Basketball League: The men's minor professional TBL held a draft combine this weekend for its 2023 season that will have most teams starting play later this month and in early March. Last season, the TBL operated with 44 teams in six regional divisions and currently lists 49 teams from the United States and Canada aligned in the same six regional divisions (Central, Upper Midwest, Lower Midwest, Southeast, Northeast and West) as last season. Nine TBL teams are scheduled to play 2023 games against teams from the four-team Ontario-based National Basketball League of Canada with those games counting in the standings. The TBL's Newfoundland Rogues (St. John's) have already started its 2023 schedule with three games against NBL-Canada teams and a couple of games against the TBL's Raleigh Firebirds.
FOOTBALL
Arena Football League: A new investment group purchased the rights to the AFL, which last operated from 2010 through 2019 before filing for bankruptcy, and announced plans for a new version of the AFL that will start play in March 2024 with 16 teams each playing a ten-game schedule. The original version of the AFL played from 1987 through the 2008 season before shutting down and filing for bankruptcy. The new AFL plans to be a mix of new and previous markets with teams to be announced throughout 2023.
The Arena League: The new lower-level TAL announced a team called the Las Vegas Fuego will not be part of the league's inaugural 2023 "bubble season," which is to feature some games played next month at the Mesquite Arena in the Dallas area. As of now, the TAL has three Texas-based teams called the Austin Wolverines, Panther City Predators and the Dallas Outlaws, which was briefly listed as a 2023 member of the American Indoor Football Alliance, as participating teams next month. The TAL is planning to start its first full season in 2024 with up to eight teams.
HOCKEY
American Hockey League: A part of an ¬ÅIce-O-Topes Night ¬Â promotion, the AHL's Springfield (MA) Thunderbirds played a game this weekend as the Springfield Ice-O-Topes, which was the fictitious name of a hockey team in ¬ÅThe Simpsons ¬Â animated TV series that took place in a city called Springfield.
Federal Prospects Hockey League: The FPHL's Danbury (CT) Hat Tricks played a game this weekend as the New Haven Nighthawks in a tribute to the former American Hockey League team that played 20 seasons (1972-92) under that name. New Haven (CT) is about 35 miles southeast of Danbury.
Ontario Hockey League: The Hamilton Bulldogs of the major-junior OHL could be playing the next three seasons in Brantford (Ontario), about 25 miles west of Hamilton, while renovations are undertaken on Hamilton's FirstOntario Centre. The city of Brantford will hold a meeting next week to decide whether to host the Bulldogs at the Brantford Civic Centre where the team would play as the Brantford Bulldogs. The city of Brantford has a current Junior-A team called the Brantford 99ers that plays in a different arena as part of the Ontario Provincial Hockey League.
SOCCER
Canadian Premier League: Canada's Division-II professional CPL announced the 2023 schedule for its fifth season will again feature eight teams aligned in a single-table format. The FC Edmonton ¬ÅEddies ¬Â franchise was terminated in November 2022, but the league has added an expansion team called Vancouver FC for the 2023 season. Each team will play a 28-game schedule from April 14 through October 7, 2023.
MLS NEXT Pro (Major League Soccer): Major League Soccer's Charlotte FC announced its new team in the developmental professional league known as MLS NEXT Pro will be called the Crown Legacy FC when it starts play as part of the league's second season in 2023. The Crown Legacy will play at a 5,000-seat stadium in suburban Matthews (NC).
National Independent Soccer Association: The men's Division-III professional NISA announced its 2023 season will start on March 31 and feature nine teams aligned in a single-table format. The league started the 2022 season with ten teams but lost the Bay Cities FC (Redwood, CA) and Valley Vipers FC (Phoenix) during the season. Of the eight remaining teams, the Cal United Strikers FC will not return, while the Flower City Union (Rochester, NY) and the Syracuse Pulse have merged and are now listed as the City Union, which will play home games in Rochester as the Flower City Union and home games in Syracuse as the Salt City Union. The five other remaining 2022 teams will return and the league added three expansion teams called the Club de Lyon (Orlando), Gold Star FC Detroit and Savannah (GA) Clovers FC. The full 2023 season schedule is still to be announced.
National Premier Soccer League: The men's elite-level NPSL recently announced the Pittsburgh Hotspurs team has been renamed the Steel City FC for the 2023 season. Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union will operate the Philadelphia Union Development Squad as a 2023 NPSL expansion team. Other new NPSL teams announced for 2023 include the Knoxville-based 865 Alliance, Greenville (SC) United FC, Iowa Raptors (Cedar Rapids), Des Moines United and Ehtar Belleville (IL) FC.
OTHER
Professional Box Lacrosse Association: The new nine-team minor indoor PBLA reported it has lost its source of funding, so the league shut down operations for the remainder of its inaugural 2022-23 season. Teams had played three to four games of planned 14-game schedules that were to run from December 29, 2022 through April 15, 2023. The PBLA hopes to reorganize and return next season.
Pro Volleyball Federation: The organization known as West Michigan Professional Volleyball, which will operate the Grand Rapids (MI) franchise in the proposed new women's indoor volleyball league known as the PVF, has opened up a name-the-team contest. The PVF plans to start its inaugural season in February 2024 with eight to ten teams.
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.
MLS NEXT Pro Stories from February 6, 2023
- Huntsville City FC Continues Roster Construction with the Addition of 10 Players Signed - Huntsville City Football Club
- New York Red Bulls II Name Ibrahim Sekagya as Head Coach - New York Red Bulls II
- 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.
