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Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
April 17, 2023 - United States Football League (USFL)


BASEBALL

Pecos League: The independent Pecos League finalized its 2023 schedule and has made a change to the eight-team California-based Pacific Division. The league's Santa Rosa Scuba Divers team was unable to obtain a license to sell beer for the 2023 season, so the team has been relocated to Dublin (CA) where the team will operate as the Dublin Leprechauns for the 2023 season. The Pecos League's eight-team Mountain Division remains unchanged. The 2023 season starts on May 25.

Carolina League: A proposed new ballpark in Leland (NC), just west of Wilmington (NC), could become home to an independent baseball team, but there is also speculation the Down East Wood Ducks (Kinston, NC) of the low Class-A Carolina League could be under consideration. The team is an affiliate of the Texas Rangers and officials from the REV Entertainment group spearheading the ballpark are also officials with the Texas Rangers. If approved, the ballpark is being targeted for completion in 2026.

International League: The Norfolk Tides of the Triple-A International League held a Filipino-American Heritage Day last weekend to celebrate the area's Filipino-American culture and played a game as the Norfolk Lumpia in honor of the Filipino version of fried spring rolls. The team also announced it will play a game in June as the Norfolk Red Stockings to honor the city's former Negro League team by that name.

Major League Baseball: A group called Big League Utah is trying to bring an MLB expansion team to Salt Lake City and it has selected a possible ballpark site. The MLB commissioner previously stated expansion to 32 teams would not be considered until the ballpark situations are settled with the Oakland A's and Tampa Bay Rays. The Salt Lake Bees currently play in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.

Western Canada Baseball League: The summer-collegiate WCBL recently awarded an expansion team to Saskatoon (Saskatchewan) and the team is expected to start play in 2024. The WCBL will operate with ten teams located in the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan for the 2023 season.

BASKETBALL

American Basketball Association: The semi-pro ABA announced an expansion team called the Port Huron (MI) Cougars has been added for the 2023-24 season.

Basketball Super League: The minor professional The Basketball League (TBL) officially announced the new Basketball Super League (BSL), which will be a higher-level premier professional league for markets outside those covered by the National Basketball Association and the NBA G-League. The BSL will have 10 to 12 teams throughout the United States (New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan) and Canada (Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and The Maritimes). The BSL will include some current TBL teams, potential new teams, and possibly teams from the Ontario-based National Basketball League of Canada, which currently plays inter-league games against some TBL teams. The BSL is targeting venues with a minimum seating capacity of 2,500 and its season would run from late December to May.

National Basketball Association Gatorade League (G-League): The NBA's Orlando Magic announced its NBA G-League affiliate called the Lakeland (FL) Magic will be moved to Kissimmee (FL) in Osceola County where the team will become the Osceola Magic starting with the 2023-24 season. Kissimmee was the other market under consideration when the Magic purchased its Erie (PA) BayHawks affiliate and moved the team to Lakeland for the 2017-18 season.

East Coast Basketball League: The men's semi-pro ECBL announced the Hub City Hogs team, based in Hagerstown (MD), has relinquished its league membership and has been dropped for the remainder of the 2023 season. The team had a 4-1 record. The Hub City Hogs joined the ECBL from the American Basketball Association for the 2021 season.

FOOTBALL

American 7-Man Football League: The men's semi-pro A7FL, which is a 7-on-7 full-contact outdoor football league with players not wearing wear hard pads or helmets, recently started its 2023 season with 26 teams across the United States. The Eastern Conference features an eight-team North East and a three-team Florida division. The Western Conference includes a four-team Ohio division, a three-team California division and an eight-team Nevada division. The 2023 regular-season runs through May 21.

The Arena League: The proposed new six-on-six indoor TAL announced its second team will be located in Duluth (MN) when the league starts play with four teams in June 2024. Last month, the league announced Springfield (MO) as the location for its first team. Duluth was home to an indoor football team called the Duluth-Superior Lumberjacks that played in the only two seasons (1999 and 2000) of the former Indoor Football League. The remaining two TAL teams will be announced in May and June.

United States Football League: The eight-team professional springtime USFL started its second season this weekend with each of the eight teams playing ten games through June 18, 2023. The league had eight teams last season, but the Memphis Showboats replaced the Tampa Bay Bandits in the South Division for 2023. The North Division features the New Jersey Generals and Pittsburgh Maulers playing home games in Canton (OH), and the Michigan Panthers and Philadelphia Stars playing home games in Detroit. The South Division has the Birmingham Stallions and New Orleans Breakers playing home games in Birmingham, and the Houston Gamblers and the Memphis Showboats playing home games in Memphis. Last season, all USFL games were played in Birmingham.

HOCKEY

Federal Prospects Hockey League: The minor A-level FPHL announced the city of Baton Rouge (LA) has been awarded an FPHL expansion franchise and a new team will start play in the 2023-24 season. Fans will be allowed to submit suggestions for team names next week and several will be selected for fan voting. The FPHL held three well-attended regular-season games in Baton Rouge during the 2022-23 season.

North American 3 Hockey League: The Tier-III junior-level NA3HL, which is affiliated with the Tier-II NAHL, has approved the sale and relocation of the league's New Ulm (MN) Steel franchise, which will become the Wisconsin Woodsmen (Tomah) starting with the 2023-24 season.

United States Premier Hockey League: The USPHL announced its Tier-III junior-level USPHL Elite Conference will add a six-team Midwest Division for the 2023-24 season. Six teams (Chicago Cougars, Chicago Crush, Decatur Blaze, Metro Jets, Motor City Gamblers and Fort Wayne Spacemen) from the higher-level Tier-III USPHL Premier Conference's Mid West East Division will add teams to create the new USPHL Elite Conference Midwest Division. The USPHL Elite Conference had 23 teams aligned in four regional divisions (North, Florida, Mid Atlantic and South East) for the 2022-23 season.

SOCCER

Canadian Premier League: Canada's Division-II professional CPL started its 2023 season this week and it again features eight teams aligned in a single-table format. The CPL had eight teams last season, but the FC Edmonton "Eddies" franchise was terminated in November 2022. The league added an expansion team called Vancouver FC (Langley, British Columbia) for the 2023 season. Each team will play a 28-game schedule through October 7, 2023.

United Women's Soccer: The pro-am UWS announced teams called the Cincinnati Sirens FC and Michigan Burn (Detroit area) have joined the league for the upcoming 2023 season. The Baltimore Blast men's indoor soccer team in the Major Arena Soccer League announced the creation of a women's soccer team that will compete in the lower-level UWS League Two starting with the 2023 season.

National Futsal Premier League: The amateur-level NFPL started the playoff round this week to complete its 2022-23 season, which included a 12-team Men's group with teams aligned in four-team regional divisions, a four-team Women's group, and a Rising Stars division with four under-19 teams. The NFPL was launched in 2018.

OTHER

Pro Volleyball Federation: The proposed PVF, which will be an indoor women's professional volleyball league starting in early 2024, announced the Columbus (OH) team will be called the Columbus Fury and the Grand Rapids (MI) team will be called the Grand Rapids Rise. The PVF plans to start play with eight to ten teams. Omaha and Atlanta have also been awarded PVF franchises.

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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