Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
May 8, 2023 - Premier Lacrosse League (PLL)
BASEBALL
Independent League Baseball: After breaking away from the Expedition League and playing its inaugural 2022 season with ten teams, the summer-collegiate ILB will be playing its 2023 season with eight teams. Since last season, the Casper (WY) Horseheads folded and the Gem City Bison (Laramie, WY) announced the team will sit out the 2023 season, while the North Platte (NE) Plainsmen and the Western Nebraska Pioneers (Gering) will play independent schedules in 2023 to minimize travel costs. The league added the new Oahe Zap (Pierre, SD) along with an unaffiliated Boise-based travel-only team called the Sawtooth Sockeyes to give the league an even eight teams. Also, the Canyon County Spuds team has relocated from Caldwell (ID) to become the Casper Spuds for the 2023 season.
International League: The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Allentown, PA) of the Triple-A International League announced the team will play as the Lehigh Valley Hoagies in a game next month as part of the team's annual ¬ÅSalute to Philly ¬Â night.
Eastern League: The Altoona (PA) Curve of the Double-A Eastern League announced the team will play as the Altoona Pizzas for a week of games in August to honor the city's specific Altoona-style pizza.
Texas League: The Corpus Christi Hooks of the Double-A Texas League will be renamed the Corpus Christi Blue Ghosts over the Memorial Day weekend as part of its annual Military Appreciation Weekend to honor the USS Lexington aircraft carrier, which was called "The Blue Ghost" during World War II and is docked in Corpus Christi.
Major League Baseball: A group called Orlando City Baseball Dreamers LLC has proposed plans to build a new 45,000-seat covered ballpark in Orlando for a relocated or expansion MLB team that would be called the Orlando Dreamers. Orlando could be considered as a relocation candidate for the Tampa Bay Rays if they cannot build a new ballpark, but it is doubtful MLB teams would be located in both markets.
BASKETBALL
American Basketball Association: The semi-pro ABA recently announced teams called the Pontiac (MI) Pilots, Shreveport/Bossier Knights, Coney Island Thunder (New York City) and Texas Outlaws (Pasadena-Clear Lake) have been added as 2023-24 expansion teams.
National Basketball Association Gatorade League (G-League): The president of the NBA G-League recently stated he expects all 30 NBA teams to have a G-League affiliated team by the 2024-25 season. With the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers recent announcement to establish a G-League team for the 2023-24 season, only the NBA's Phoenix Suns will not have a G-League affiliate. The Phoenix Suns came under new ownership in February and it has expressed interest in establishing a G-League team in the future.
FOOTBALL
United Football League: The proposed eight-man outdoor UFL, which was supposed to start its inaugural 2023 season on May 13 with 14 teams each playing 12 games through July, has pushed back the start of the season until June 24, 2023 with each team now playing only 6 games through July. The UFL was organized in 2021 from the failed National Gridiron League and cancelled its planned start in 2022. The UFL also announced the Virginia Beach Destroyers team has found a home venue in Williamsburg (VA), about 60 miles northwest of Virginia Beach.
The Arena League: The proposed new six-on-six indoor TAL announced its third team will be located in Waterloo (IA) when the league starts play with four teams in June 2024. Springfield (MO) and Duluth (MN) were previously announced as locations for TAL teams and the fourth team will be announced next month.
HOCKEY
British Columbia Hockey League: The 18-team junior-level BCHL, which dropped out of the Tier-II/Junior A Canadian Junior Hockey League after the 2020-21 season, has broken away from Hockey Canada and will operate as an independent league starting June 1, 2023. The BCHL wants to become a higher-level free-to-play Tier-I league similar to the Tier-I United States Hockey League.
Southern Professional Hockey League: Since the Danville-based Vermilion County (IL) Bobcats team folding during the 2022-23 season of the minor SPHL, the owner of the former Danville Dashers team from the Federal Prospects Hockey League has submitted a bid for the lease and operation of a hockey team at the city's David S. Palmer Arena. The city cancelled the Danville Dashers' lease and went with an SPHL team ahead of the 2021-22 season.
Greater Metro Hockey League: Canada's independent junior-level GMHL has suspended the ownership of the South Muskoka Shield (Gravenhurst, Ontario) and the franchise will be dormant for the 2023-24 season. The current ownership has been granted a window until February 1, 2024 to sell the franchise. The league hopes to return to the market under new ownership for the 2024-25 season.
SOCCER
National Women's Soccer League: The OL Groupe, which is the parent company of the French soccer club called Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon) and has operated the NWSL's Seattle-based OL Reign since December 2019, is reported to be looking to sell its interest in the NWSL team. If a sale takes place, a team name change would most likely be in order. The Boston Unity group, which is working to bring an NWSL expansion team to Boston, possibly by the 2025 season, is seeking to renovate Boston's 10,000-seat White Stadium as the team's possible home. Proposals for the renovation project are due next month.
USL W-League (United Soccer League): The women's pre-professional USL W-League started its 2023 season this weekend and has grown to 65 teams from the 44 teams that were part of the inaugural 2022 season. The league has grown from 7 to 10 divisions with the addition of the NorCal, Northwest and Valley divisions for 2023. The W-League regular season runs through July 2, 2023.
League1 British Columbia: Canada's Division 3 provincial league known as League1 BC recently started its 2023 season schedule of doubleheader men's and women's games that will run through July 23, 2023 with eight clubs each operating a team in the Men's Division and the Women's Division. The league operated with seven teams per division in the inaugural 2022 season, but the expansion Harbourside FC (Nanaimo) was added. The 2022 Vancouver-based Varsity FC was sold in the off-season and is now the Nautsa'mawt FC.
OTHER
Premier Lacrosse League: The tour-based men's professional field lacrosse PLL is reported to be considering a switch to teams being geographically affiliated to a city, state or region, possibly after the upcoming 2023 season. The PLL currently operates with eight teams (Atlas, Cannons, Chrome, Whipsnakes, Archers, Chaos, Redwoods and Waterdogs) with no affiliation to specific locations. The PLL will make a decision on the future home markets and team names over the next few months. Initially, the selected markets could serve as tour stops until a full switch to the location-based model.
Women's Professional Fastpitch: The WPF recently announced its previously unnamed Texas team, which was originally planned for Dallas, will be called the Texas Smoke and based in Austin when the league starts its second season next month. The WPF played a 2022 exhibition season with two league teams called the USSSA (United States Specialty Sports Association) Pride, based in Viera (FL), and the SIS (Smash It Sports) Vipers, based out of Rochester (NY). The league has since added the Texas Smoke and the Oklahoma City Spark, and the SIS Vipers will be based out of Oxford (AL) for the 2023 season.
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.
Premier Lacrosse League Stories from May 8, 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.
