Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
August 28, 2023 - Pecos League (Pecos)

BASEBALL

Carolina League: As part of a Dinosaur Night promotion, the Myrtle Beach (SC) Pelicans of the Low-A Carolina League played a game this week as the Myrtle Beach Pelisaurus Rex, a distant relative of the modern pelican.

Eastern League: As part of the team's "Erie-est Weekend" promotion, the Erie (PA) SeaWolves of the Double-A Eastern League were rebranded for a couple of games earlier this month as the Erie Pepperoni Balls to celebrate a popular local snack.

Major League Baseball: MLB's Oakland A's submitted their application for relocation to Las Vegas and it will be reviewed by the relocation committee. Eventually, three-fourths of the 30 owners need to approve the move for it to be official.

Pecos League: The independent Pecos League stated the ballpark for its 2023 expansion team called the Lancaster (CA) Sound Breakers will be converted to a soccer field so the team is without a home after only one season in the league. Similarly, the league lost its High Desert Yardbirds team after the 2019 season when the city of Adelanto (CA) decided to convert the ballpark to a soccer field. The league stated the Tucson Saguaros will likely be moved to the Pacific Division next season with one or two expansion teams in the Central Time Zone to be added to the Mountain Division.

Western League: The independent Pecos League recently announced the schedule for its winter showcase and prospect exposure league known as the Western League. The league will have four teams playing from November 21 through December 18, 2023, with all games held at a complex in Houston. The Western League played the 2019, 2020 and 2021 seasons in Bakersfield (CA) but did not play in 2022. The four teams are listed as the Austin Weirdos, Weimar Hormigas, Colorado Snow Sox, and Houston Apollos.

BASKETBALL

East Coast Basketball League: The men's semi-pro ECBL announced two of its 2023 teams called the Virginia Dream (Martinsville) and Bishopville (NC) Devils have been removed from the league and will not be part of the 2024 season. The league announced the addition of the Kingdom Life Basketball Club (Union County, NC) and the Seven Cities Vets (Norfolk, VA) for the 2024 season. The Vets were most recently part of the Professional Basketball Association and prior to that played the 2019-20 season as the Virginia Vets (Veterans) in the American Basketball Association.

National Basketball Association: The NBA announced its 2023-24 season schedule will start on October 24, 2023, and will include a new NBA In-Season Tournament, which will include group-play in November followed by quarterfinals, semifinals, and a championship in December. The 30 teams will be aligned in six five-team groups for group-play with eight teams moving to the quarterfinals. Tournament games will count toward each teams' regular season record and 82-game season schedule.

The Basketball League: The minor professional TBL announced the addition of a new team to be based in Frederick (MD) for the 2024 season. The team has announced a name-the-team contest with four potential nicknames-Flying Cows, Drache, Brew Bears and Howling Dwayyo-posted for fan voting. The winning name will be announced on September 9. The TBL is evaluating nine markets in the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick (5), Nova Scotia (3) and Prince Edward Island (1) for possible expansion in 2024.

FOOTBALL

American Indoor Football: The Amarillo Venom, which last played in the 2021 Texas-based Lone Star Series, has come under new ownership, and was announced as the seventh team for the relaunch of the AIF in the 2024 season.

Arena Football League: The Odessa-based West Texas Warbirds team, which was part of the 2023 National Arena League and announced it would be moving to the new version of the Arena Football League starting in 2024, has changed its name to the West Texas Desert Hawks.

Indoor Football League: The IFL announced the Jacksonville Sharks team has joined the league for the 2024 season. The Sharks played their past six seasons (2017-19 and 2021-23) as part of the National Arena League. Prior to that the team played seven seasons (2010-16) in the second Arena Football League.

United Indoor Football League: The new pro developmental UIFL recently announced its inaugural 2023-24 season schedule that will feature eight teams each playing eight games from October 28 through December 23, 2023, followed by playoffs. The scheduled teams are the Pittsburgh Outlaws, Ohio Boom (Dayton), Ohio Blitz (Celina/Lima), Ohio Extreme (Toledo), The Pack Gang (Columbus, OH), Kentucky Herd Kings (Louisville), Indianapolis Enforcers, and The Rage (Baltimore area). The Pack Gang, Extreme and The Rage are all scheduled for road games in 2023. The Ohio Blitz was part of the 2023 Great Lakes Arena Alliance. The Rage appears to be the Eastern Shore Rage from the 2023 American Arena League 2.

The Arena League: The Duluth (MN) franchise in the proposed new six-on-six indoor TAL announced the team will be called the Duluth Harbor Monsters when the league starts play with four teams in June 2024. Lakers, Sasquatch and Norsemen were the three other team nicknames for van voting, while Twin Ports, Lake Superior and Minnesota were the other potential names for the team's market. The other TAL teams will be the Kansas City (MO) Goats, Waterloo (IA) Woo, and Ozarks Lunkers (Springfield, MO).

HOCKEY

North American 3 Hockey League: The Butte Cobras of the Tier-III junior-level NA3HL announced the team has changed its name to the Butte Irish ahead of the 2023-24 season.

ECHL: The ECHL's Norfolk Admirals have entered an into an affiliation agreement with the National Hockey League's Winnipeg Jets and their American Hockey League affiliate the Manitoba Moose for the 2023-24 season. This is the team's fifth different affiliation since joining the ECHL in the 2015-16 season.

SOCCER

Major Arena Soccer League: The MASL's Mesquite (TX) Outlaws announced a name change to the Texas Outlaws ahead of the 2023-24 season as the team expands its marketing beyond North Texas to across the entire state. The Mesquite Outlaws joined the MASL as a 2019-20 expansion team.

Major Arena Soccer League 2: The Major Arena Soccer League's Baltimore Blast announced a new team called the Baltimore Arsenal will be the Blast's affiliate in the MASL2 starting with the 2023-24 season. The Blast, which also has a developmental team called the Baltimore Kings in the MASL3, is the only MASL team with teams at all three levels of the MASL pyramid. The MASL2 stated teams in Wisconsin, which will be the Wisconsin Conquerors (Weston), and Santa Fe have been approved for the 2024-25 season. The Santa Fe team was announced in January 2023 for a proposed start in the 2023-24 season, but the team was put on hold in March due to a dispute over use of the local city-owned ice rink and issues with funding needed for soccer equipment, turf, and storage required to convert the ice rink to an indoor soccer field.

National Women's Soccer League: The NWSL is reported to be eliminating the Challenge Cup tournament in 2024. The Challenge Cup was started in 2020 and was the league's entire 2020 season, which was shortened due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The 2020 month-long tournament consisted of games played in one location without fans. For the 2021 and 2022 seasons, the league held the Challenge Cup tournament prior to the start of the regular-season schedule. This season the Challenge Cup tournament games were played throughout the regular season. The NWSL is expected to start the 2024 season with a one-game showcase between the winner of the 2023 NWSL Championship and the 2023 NWSL Shield, which would be the team with the best regular-season record.

USL Championship (United Soccer League): After only four seasons, the owner of the San Diego Loyal SC in the Division-II professional USL Championship announced the team will cease operations after the 2023 season. The team has been unable to find a suitable location for a new soccer stadium and training facility. In addition, a Major League Soccer expansion team is coming to San Diego in 2025. The USL will provide more information about the future transfer of the San Diego franchise rights.

OTHER

League One Volleyball (LOVB): The proposed women's professional indoor volleyball league to be operated by LOVB recently announced Omaha (NE) as the fifth location for a team when play starts in November 2024. Atlanta, Houston, Madison (WI), and Salt Lake City were previously announced as locations for LOVB professional teams. The single-entity LOVB hopes to start with six teams. Another professional women's volleyball team called the Omaha Supernovas was recently announced as part of the new Pro Volleyball Federation, which plans to start play in February 2024 with individually owned franchises.

National Cycle League: The ten-team professional NCL recently completed its inaugural 2023 NCL Cup Series, which consisted of three events in Miami (April 7-8), Denver (August 13) and Atlanta (August 20). Each co-ed team consisted of a men's team and a women's team competing in separate races for each event. Five of the NCL teams had their own men's and women's teams, while the five other teams consisted of a separate men's team paired with a separate women's team for the series events. Each of the ten teams was awarded cup points based on where they finished in the races. The Miami Nights Cycling Club earned the most points over the three events and was declared the series champion.

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.

Pecos League Stories from August 28, 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.