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IL International League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
February 27, 2023 - International League (IL)


BASEBALL

International League: The ownership of the Indianapolis Indians in the Triple-A International League has decided to keep the "Indians" nickname through the 2023 and 2024 seasons. The team will also be partnering with the Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana to educate fans about the history and culture of the tribe. During the 2023 season, the Indianapolis Indians will also be partnering with the league's Columbus (OH) Clippers and play a series in each city as the Indianapolis ABCs and Columbus Blue Birds to honor two former Negro League teams from those cities.

Eastern League: The Double-A Eastern League's Altoona (PA) Curves will play as the Allegheny Yinzers for all but one of the Sunday home games in the 2023 season, and will play as the Altoona Pizzas for a week of home games in August 2023. The league's Akron RubberDucks will play a 2023 game as the Akron Devil Strips to pay tribute to the city's name for the grassy area between the street and the sidewalk.

California Winter League: The developmental showcase CWL recently finished its 2023 season with nine teams aligned in a four-team American Division and a five-team Canadian Division. Teams played 13-15 games over three weeks and all games were played at a facility in Palm Springs. The CWL is scouted by various independent leagues seeking players for the 2023 summer season.

BASKETBALL

American Basketball Association: The men's semi-pro ABA announced a new team called the Connecticut Surge (New Haven) has been added to the Northeast Division for the 2023-24 season.

Athletes Unlimited - Basketball League: The women's Athletes Unlimited started the second season of its five-week women's professional basketball league this week at the Fair Park Coliseum in Dallas with four teams each playing three games per week 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.

East Coast Basketball League: After playing only its first game in the semi-pro ECBL, the Georgia Kangaroos (Toccoa) team has had its membership revoked by the league for failure to meet league standards. The Kangaroos had joined the ECBL this season from the Universal Basketball Association.

Florida Basketball Association: The semi-pro FBA has approved the addition of a team called the Kissimmee Lambs for the 2023 season.

FOOTBALL

The Arena League: The Texas-based 8-on-8 TAL announced its 2023 season will start next weekend with four teams called the Austin Wolverines, Dallas Outlaws, Waco Tornadoes and Panther City Predators (Fort Worth). All games are to be played at the Mesquite (TX) Arena just east of Dallas.

Great Lakes Arena Alliance: The new indoor football league known as the GLAA lists five teams that will participate in the league's inaugural 2023 season starting on March 4. Teams include the Chicago Power, Southern Michigan Apex (Kalamazoo/Portage), Battle Creek (MI) Smoke, West Michigan Ironmen (Muskegon) and Ohio Blitz (Celina).

HOCKEY

United States Premier Hockey League: The Tier-III junior-level USPHL announced a new franchise called the Bold City Battalion, based in Jacksonville (FL), will join for the 2023-24 season with teams in both the Premier Conference and lower-level Elite Conference.

Western Hockey League: The major-junior WHL approved the relocation of the Kootenay Ice from Cranbrook (British Columbia) to Winnipeg for the 2019-20 season on the condition the owners of the Winnipeg Ice break ground on a new arena within three years. Progress on the new arena has not happened and there is speculation the team could be on the move again. The Winnipeg Ice plays in the league's smallest venue, a 1,600-seat facility on the campus of the University of Manitoba.

SOCCER

Major Arena Soccer League: The 14-team professional MASL announced another Mexican team called the Guadalajara Tequileros will be added for the 2023-24 season. Currently, the MASL has two other Mexican teams called the Monterrey Flash and the Chihuahua Savage. Further expansion into Mexico is expect in the near future.

United Women's Soccer: The women's pro-am UWS recently announced teams called the Maine Footy (Portland), BC United (Broome County, NY), Edgewater Castle FC (Chicago) and the Reno Vikings have been added for the 2023 season. The league's Pittsburgh Hotspurs were renamed the Steel City FC. Also, the second-division UWS League Two has added the Back Mountain SC (Dallas, PA) for 2023.

Major League Soccer: The men's Division-I professional MLS started its 2023 season this week with 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 through October 21, 2023. MLS will suspend league play from July 15 to August 20, as each team will participate in the month-long League Cup tournament with all 18 teams from Mexico's top professional soccer league known as the Liga MX. The MLS commissioner announced Las Vegas and San Diego are the frontrunners for the league's 30th team that should be announced by the end of the year. The commissioner hinted that expansion could go beyond 30 teams and other markets like Phoenix, Detroit, Tampa and Sacramento were also possibilities.

MLS NEXT Pro (Major League Soccer): Major League Soccer's developmental reserve league known as the MLS NEXT Pro has posted the alignment for the 28 teams that will participate in the league's second season in 2023. All 21 teams from last season will return and the four regional divisions now include seven-team Central and Northeast divisions in the Eastern Conference and seven-team Frontier and Pacific divisions in the Western Conference. Of the seven new MLS NEXT Pro teams for 2023, three MLS affiliates called the Atlanta United 2, LA Galaxy II and New York Red Bulls II have switched from the 2022 Division-II professional USL Championship league, while four MLS teams have added new affiliates called the Austin FC II (Austin FC affiliate), LAFC2 (Los Angeles FC affiliate), Huntsville City (Nashville SC affiliate) and Crown Legacy (Charlotte FC affiliate).

National Independent Soccer League: The Division-III professional NISA announced its 2023 season will feature its nine teams aligned in a single-table format with teams playing an unbalanced schedule to minimize travel costs. The 2023 season will run from March 31 through October 14. The City Union club, which is a merger of last season's Rochester-based Flower City Union and the Syracuse Pulse, will play 17 games (7 away and 10 home games in Rochester, NY) as the Flower City Union and 7 games (4 away and 3 home games in Syracuse) under the new Salt City Union name.

League1 BC: Canada's British Columbia-based pro-am Division 3 provincial league known as League1 BC recently announced its 2023 season schedule of doubleheader men's and women's games will run from April 29 through July 23 with eight clubs each operating a team in the Men's Division and the Women's Division. The league operated with seven men's and women's teams in the inaugural 2022 season, but the expansion Harbourside FC (Nanaimo) was added for 2023. The 2022 Vancouver-based Varsity FC was sold in the off-season and is now the Nautsa'mawt FC, which translates to "One Heart, One Mind".

OTHER

Premier Ultimate League: The women's professional ultimate frisbee PUL has posted its 2023 season schedule that will again feature 12 teams. All teams will return from last season except for the Medellin (Colombia) Revolution, which has left the league and will be replaced by the new Philadelphia Surge. Teams will play four to seven games from April 1 through June 11, 2023 followed by playoffs.

Western Ultimate League: With the recent addition of an eighth team called the Colorado Alpenglow, the women's professional ultimate frisbee WUL will align into a four-team Northwest and Southwest conferences for 2023. The Oregon Onyx (Portland), Seattle Tempest, Utah Wild (Salt Lake City) and Colorado will comprise the Northwest Conference, while the San Francisco Falcons, Los Angeles Astra, Arizona Sidewinders (Mesa) and the San Diego Super Bloom will comprise the Southwest Conference. Each team will play an eight-game schedule from March 11 through May 14, 2023.

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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