Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
May 29, 2023 - Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL)

BASEBALL

Carolina League: Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers have sold its low Class-A Carolina League affiliate called the Down East Wood Ducks, based in Kinston (NC), and eventually the team will be relocated to Spartanburg (SC) where a new ballpark is being planned and could be ready for the 2025 season. The team will continue to be an affiliate of the Rangers under the new ownership group.

Mavericks League: The independent Mavericks League recently started its 2023 season with the same four teams as last season and each playing a 48-game schedule through August. Teams include the Salem-Keizer (OR) Volcanoes, Campesinos de Salem-Keizer, Salem Senators and Portland Mavericks. All games will again be played at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer (OR). The league was organized for the 2021 season by the Salem-Keizer (OR) Volcanoes, a former affiliated short-season Class-A Northwest League team that was not awarded a Major League affiliation after the 2020 restructuring of Minor League Baseball.

Pioneer Baseball League: The independent Pioneer League, which is a Major League Baseball Partner League, started its 2023 season this week with ten teams aligned in five-team North and South divisions. The only change from last season was the new ownership of the Grand Junction (CO) Rockies rebranding the team as the Grand Junction Jackalopes for the 2023 season. The season runs through September 9.

Pecos League: The independent Pecos League started its 2023 season this week with an eight-team Pacific Division including all California-based teams and an eight-team Mountain Division with teams in New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Kansas, Arizona and Oklahoma. The league had 16 teams in two divisions last season, but it underwent some changes in the off-season. In the Pacific Division, the Wasco (CA) Reserve did not return and the Tucson Saguaros were moved to the Mountain Division, but the league added the new Lancaster Sound Breakers and Marysville Drakes. Also in the Pacific Division, the Santa Rosa Scuba Divers team was relocated to become the Dublin Leprechauns, while the Santa Cruz Seaweed was moved to become the Vallejo Seaweed for the 2023 season. In the Mountain Division, the Weimar (TX) Hormigas and Colorado Springs SnowSox did not return, but the league added the new Blackwell (OK) Flycatchers team and the Tucson Saguaros from the Pacific Division. The Pecos League season runs through July.

BASKETBALL

Canadian Elite Basketball League: The men's minor professional CEBL started its 2023 season this week with ten teams aligned in five-team Eastern and Western conferences and each team playing a 20-game schedule through July. Last season, the CEBL had ten teams aligned in a single-table format, but the Newfoundland Growlers (St. John's) suspended operations after only one season due to an inadequate home arena, and an expansion team called the Winnipeg Sea Bears was added. Other changes for the 2023 season included the Hamilton Honey Badgers (Ontario) relocating to become the Brampton Honey Badgers (Ontario); the Guelph Nighthawks (Ontario) relocating to become the Calgary Surge; and the Fraser Valley Bandits (British Columbia) rebranding as the Vancouver Bandits. The Eastern Conference features the Montreal Alliance and four Ontario-based teams called the Scarborough Shooting Stars, Ottawa BlackJacks, Niagara River Lions (St. Catharines) and Brampton Honey Badgers. The Western Conference includes the Calgary Surge, Edmonton Stingers, Saskatchewan Rattlers (Saskatoon), Vancouver Bandits and Winnipeg Sea Bears.

American Basketball Association: The semi-pro ABA announced a team called the Tri-City Warriors, based in the Dallas area, will be part of the league's 2023-24 season starting in November.

Maritimes Women's Basketball Association: The amateur-level MWBA has returned for a second season that started earlier this month with the same six teams as last season. These include three Nova Scotia-based teams called the Halifax Hornets, Halifax Thunder and Windsor Edge, and three New Brunswick-based teams called the Port City Fog (Saint John), Fredericton Freeze and Moncton Mystics. Each team plays an eight-game schedule through June 11, 2023.

FOOTBALL

Major League Football: Not much has been heard about a 2023 spring season from the proposed developmental MLFB, which failed to start a four-team condensed season last August due to funding issues. In March, the MLFB stated it was working on a broadcast deal for a 2023 season that would include a training camp in May and games played in June and July. The MLFB also stated it was in discussions about a possible merger or joint venture with a group of investors trying to form another league with more fan ownership in the franchises.

HOCKEY

ECHL: The minor AA-level professional ECHL announced its 2023-24 season schedule, which will feature the same 28 teams as last season with seven-team North and South divisions in an Eastern Conference and seven-team Central and Mountain divisions in a Western Conference. Each team will play a 72-game schedule from October 19, 2023 through April 14, 2024. Each of the ECHL teams has an affiliation with 28 of the 32 teams in the National Hockey League.

Federal Prospects Hockey League: As the minor A-level FPHL plans to add expansion teams in Baton Rouge (LA) and Wytheville (VA) for the 2023-24 season, the league announced the protected players lists from nine of the ten teams that participated in the 2022-23 season. Last season's Delaware Thunder (Harrington) is listed as inactive since the team was unable to renew its home arena lease. The FPHL expansion draft is scheduled for next week. The new Baton Rouge and Virginia expansion teams have yet to announce names. The status of the league's Elmira (NY) Mammoth might be in doubt, as the owner of the team's home arena has started the process to terminate its lease agreement with the Mammoth.

SOCCER

Major Arena Soccer League 2: The St. Louis Ambush of the Major Arena Soccer League announced it will launch a developmental team called the St. Louis Ambush 2 in the MASL2, or M2, starting with the 2023-24 season. The MASL2, which operated with 15 teams across North, Midwest and West divisions during the 2022-23 season, recently announced another new team called Atletico Orlando has been added for the 2023-24 season as the league tries to expand into the Southeast. The Atletico Orlando, which operates an outdoor team in the amateur-level United Premier Soccer League, will play all games on the road next season as it builds an indoor facility for the team. The MASL2 plans to announce additional new teams for the 2023-24 season.

National Independent Soccer Association: The men's Division-III professional NISA has approved the application from the Irvine Zeta FC (California) to become a 2024 expansion team. The nine-team NISA has two other California-based teams-the Los Angeles Force and Albion San Diego.

National Women's Soccer League: The owner of the NWSL's Washington (DC) Spirit has purchased a majority interest (52 percent) in the Lyon (France) women's club called Olympique Lyonnaise (OL). The French club's parent company called the OL Groupe will hold a 48 percent stake in the women's club and continue to control the men's club. The OL Groupe has owned the NWSL's Seattle-based OL Reign since December 2019, but it is now selling that NWSL team, which will most likely undergo a name change. Neither the Washington Spirit nor the women's OL club in France are expected to undergo any type of name change as a result of this ownership arrangement.

OTHER

Premier Lacrosse League: The tour-based men's field lacrosse PLL announced it will assign each of its eight league-operated teams to home cities starting with the 2024 season. The tour-based model will still be used with all eight teams playing a two-day weekend event in each of the eight markets and the home team playing a doubleheader when the league stops in its market. The 2024 schedule will feature ten weekend events with the two other events to be held at neutral sites. Starting next week, the PLL will allow fans to vote on possible team locations and those will be announced in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Pro Volleyball Federation: The proposed PVF, which will be an indoor women's professional volleyball league starting in early 2024, announced teams in Orlando and San Diego have been added. This gives the PVF six teams with the previous announcements of the Columbus (OH) Fury, Grand Rapids (MI) Rise, and unnamed teams in Atlanta and Omaha. The PVF plans to start play 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.

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