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IL International League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
July 3, 2023 - International League (IL)


BASEBALL

Coastal Plain League: The Macon (GA) Bacon of the summer-collegiate CPL stated the team will not be changing its nickname after recent targeting by a Georgia physicians' group for the team's glorification of bacon. The Macon Bacon started playing in the 2018 season.

International League: The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Allentown, PA) of the Triple-A International League will become the Lehigh Valley IronHorses for a game in September as part of its Salute to the Lehigh Valley and to honor the area's rich railroad tradition.

BASKETBALL

National Basketball Association Gatorade League (G-League): The NBA's Portland Trail Blazers announced their new developmental NBA G-League team will be called the Rip City Remix when the team starts play in the 2023-24 season. The team's home will be the Chiles Center on the campus of the University of Portland in North Portland. The G-League now has 31 teams, which includes 29 teams with one-to-one affiliations with NBA teams and 2 unaffiliated teams-the G-League Ignite and the Capitanes de Mexico City. Of the 30 NBA teams, only the Phoenix Suns do not currently have a G-League affiliate.

Professional Basketball Association: The semi-pro PBA started its Spring-Summer League early last month with five-team South, Northwest, and Southeast divisions. The schedule runs through August with playoffs in September. The PBA also operates a Fall-Winter League that runs from November to March.

FOOTBALL

The Arena League: The Waterloo (IA) franchise of the proposed six-on-six indoor TAL announced the team will be called the Waterloo Woo when the league starts play with four teams in June 2024. The other teams will be based in Duluth (MN), Kansas City (MO) and Springfield (MO), which recently announced the Ozarks Lunkers as the team's name.

National Arena League: After recently terminating the membership of the Albany (NY) Empire franchise, the NAL announced a revised 2023 schedule, which also does not include the Fayetteville (NC) Mustangs team that has dropped out due to a lack of funding. This reduces the league to only five teams to finish the season. The Fayetteville Mustangs joined as a 2023 expansion team and played 8 of 14 scheduled games with a 4-4 record. The NAL stated it will explore options in Fayetteville for 2024.

HOCKEY

3ICE League: The independent eight-team tour-based 3ICE professional hockey league started its second season of 3-on-3 hockey this week with its first stop in Pittsburgh. The regular season will feature five other tour stops in Hershey (PA), Grand Rapids (MI), Newark, Boston, and Clarksville (TN) followed by playoffs in Philadelphia. Each team is named after its coach and former National Hockey League players: Team Fuhr, Team Johnston, Team LeClair, Team Mullen, Team Carbonneau, Team Patrick, Team Bourque and Team Murphy. Each event features two games involving four of the eight teams. Each team plays with three skaters and a goalie. The 3ICE had six teams last season, but Team Trottier did not return, and Team Patrick, Team Johnston and Team Bourque were added this season. Eventually, the league plans to have teams named after locations instead of coaches.

Federal Prospects Hockey League: The lower-level minor FPHL announced its 2023 season schedule that will feature 11 teams each playing a 56-game schedule from October 13, 2023, through April 13, 2024. Of the ten teams from last season, the Delaware Thunder (Harrington) will sit out the 2023-24 season and the Elmira (NY) Mammoth came under new management and will undergo a name change. The FPHL added two new yet-to-be-named teams in Baton Rouge (LA) and Wytheville (VA) for the 2023-24 season.

Professional Women's Hockey Players Association: Investors who have been trying to move the tour-based PWHPA into a full-fledged professional women's hockey league have purchased the rival Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), which is a seven-team women's professional league that started play in 2015 when it was known as the National Women's Hockey League. The PHF is expected to cease operations and one new North American league will emerge with PHF and PWHPA players. The new league is reported to be starting play in January 2024 with six teams-three in the United States and three in Canada.

Kootenay International Junior Hockey League: With the Junior-A British Columbia Hockey League leaving Hockey Canada to become an independent league, the mostly British Columbia-based Junior-B KIJHL has filed an application with Hockey Canada to be reclassified as a Junior-A league for the 2023-24 season. The KIJHL had all 19 teams based in British Columbia the past three seasons and announced its only non-British Columbia team called the Spokane Braves, which sat out the past three seasons due to coronavirus (COVID-19) cross-border travel restrictions, will return as a 20th team for the 2023-24 season.

North American Hockey League: The Tier-II junior-level NAHL announced its 2023-24 season schedule will feature 32 teams aligned in four divisions-a nine-team South, an eight-team Midwest, a nine-team East and a six-team Central. Each team will play 60 games from September 8, 2023, through April 13, 2024. All 29 teams will return from last season and the league added three new teams called the Colorado Grit (Greeley), the Rochester (NY) Junior Americans and the New Hampshire Mountain Kings (Hooksett).

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League: The major-junior QMJHL recently announced its 2023-24 season schedule that will again feature 18 teams aligned in an Eastern Conference with a four-team East Division and a six-team Maritimes Division, and a Western Conference with a four-team Central Division and a four-team West Division. Each team will play 68 games from September 22, 2023, through March 23, 2024. The QMJHL is one of three members of the Canadian Hockey League, which also includes the Ontario Hockey League and the Western Hockey League.

Ontario Hockey League: The major-junior OHL announced its 2023-24 season schedule, which will again feature 20 teams aligned in an Eastern Conference with five-team East and Central divisions, and a Western Conference with five-team Midwest and West divisions. The only change is the move of the Hamilton Bulldogs to Brantford as the Brantford Bulldogs due to arena construction in Hamilton. Each team will play a 68-game schedule from September 29, 2023, through March 24, 2024.

Western Hockey League: The major-junior WHL announced its 2023-24 season schedule that will feature 22 teams each playing 68 games from September 24, 2023, through March 24, 2024. The only change from last season was the sale and relocation of the Winnipeg ICE to become the Wenatchee (WA) Wild for the 2023-24 season. The team has moved from the Eastern Conference East Division to the Western Conference United States Division. The 2023-24 alignment will feature an 11-team Western Conference with a six-team U.S. Division and a five-team British Columbia Division, and an Eastern Conference with a six-team Central Division and a five-team East Division.

SOCCER

Major Arena Soccer League 3: The amateur-level MASL3, which is affiliated with the professional Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) and operated with five teams in the 2022-23 season, announced a new team called the DMV Gunners (Westminster, MD) and a yet-to-be-named team in Salisbury (MD) will be added for the 2023-24 season. The owner of the league's Baltimore Kings will own the Salisbury team.

League1 Prairies: League1 Canada, which oversees the League1 Ontario, League1 BC (British Columbia) and Ligue1 Quebec as provincial Division-3 pro-am leagues with both men's and women's divisions, is working with soccer association officials in Saskatchewan and Manitoba to organize a new League1 Prairies league for a proposed start in the spring of 2025. League1 Canada is also trying to establish similar leagues in Alberta (League1 Alberta) and Atlantic Canada (League1 Atlantic).

OTHER

League One Volleyball: The proposed women's professional indoor volleyball league to be operated by LOVB recently announced Salt Lake City as the fourth location for a team when play starts in late 2024. Atlanta, Houston, and Madison (WI) were previously announced as locations for LOVB professional teams. The single-entity LOVB hopes to start play with six teams.

Women's Professional Fastpitch: The WPF started its 2023 season about two weeks ago with four teams called the Texas Smoke (Austin), USSSA (United States Specialty Sports Association) Pride (Viera, FL), Oklahoma Spark (Oklahoma City) and the SIS (Smash It Sports) Vipers (Oxford, AL). Each team will play a 36-game schedule through August 7, 2023. The SIS Vipers and the USSSA Pride participated in the league's inaugural 2022 "exhibition season" with the Texas Smoke and Oklahoma Spark added for 2023.

Dan Krieger is the creator of the Weekly Sports League & Franchise Report, which has been tracking the changes in the sports world's leagues, teams and nicknames since April 2007.

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