Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
October 16, 2023 - Arena Football One (AF1)
BASEBALL
Frontier League: The independent Frontier League announced its 2024 season schedule that will again feature 14 teams aligned in eight-team East and West divisions. Teams will play a 96-game schedule from May 9 through August 31. The only change is the addition of a yet-to-be-named New England team based in Brockton (MA) to the East Division. This team will replace the Empire State Greys travel-only team, which was operated by the independent developmental Empire State League and filled in as the league's 16th team for the past two seasons.
American Association: Sioux City (IA) will move forward on ballpark lease negotiations with the Sioux City (IA) Explorers of the independent American Association. The city had put the ballpark lease up for bid and the Explorers won out over a bid for a proposed expansion team from the summer-collegiate Northwoods League. The American Association's 2022 champion Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks won the inaugural four-team Baseball Champions League Americas tournament, which featured champions from the Colombian Professional Baseball League, the Mexican Baseball League, and the Cuban National Series. The 2023 champion Kansas City Monarchs will participate in the tournament next year.
Appalachian Summer-Collegiate League: The Pulaski (WV) WhistlePigs of the ten-team summer-collegiate Appalachian League, which operates under the Major League Baseball and USA Baseball Prospect Development Pipeline, announced the 2023 season would be the team's final season in the league.
Major League Baseball Draft League: The MLB Draft League announced its 2024 split-season schedule that will feature the same six teams as last season and again aligned in a single-table format. The first part is for amateurs leading up to the MLB draft with teams playing 35 games from June 4 through July 13. After the MLB draft, the second part will feature players who have exhausted their amateur eligibility with teams playing 45 games from July 18 through September 4.
Northwoods League: The summer-collegiate Northwoods League announced the addition of the Badlands Big Sticks (Dickinson, ND) team for the 2024 season. The Big Sticks played the past two seasons in the summer-collegiate Independent League Baseball. This is the league's third team based in North Dakota.
BASKETBALL
Basketball Super League: The new minor professional BSL held a press conference this week and announced the league will start play on December 28, 2023, with six teams playing through May 1, 2024. The BSL will include the four Ontario-based teams-Sudbury Five, London Lightning, Windsor Express, and Kitchener-Waterloo Titans-that comprised the 2023 season of the National Basketball League of Canada, plus the Newfoundland Rogues (St. John's) and Montreal Toundra teams that were part of the 2023 season in The Basketball League (TBL). Each team will play 12 home and 12 away games against BSL teams and each team will play additional home games against select visiting TBL teams. Next season, the BSL plans to add 6 more teams from the United States and Canada and eventually grow to 24 teams. Future promotion and relegation of teams involving the TBL is possible.
American Basketball Association: The semi-pro ABA plans to expand with its ABA Europe after acquiring a league known as NBL Europe. Teams from the Netherlands, United Kingdom, France, and Spain will be part of a 2024-25 ABA Europe season. The ABA plans to send four different ABA teams from the United States to play some games in Europe. The ABA also announced the Richmond (VA) Ram Chargers and the NKY Stones (Covington, KY) will start play in the league's 2024-25 season.
Women's National Basketball Association: The group trying to bring a WNBA expansion team to the city of Oakland was informed by the league that even though an expansion team was granted to nearby San Francisco, Oakland would be in the running for a team in the next round of expansion set to begin around 2026. The WNBA is expected to add San Francisco and one other team for the 2025 season.
FOOTBALL
Arena Football League: The proposed Everett (WA) team in the 2024 rebirth of the AFL is allowing fans to vote on the team's name. The team will use Washington in its name with Night Howlers, Werewolves, Wolfpack, and Cascades as nickname options for voting through October 16. The AFL officially announced its new Iowa Rampage team, based in Council Bluffs, for the 2024 season. Council Bluffs was home to the Iowa Blackhawks (2004-11) and Council Bluffs Express (2012) in the former pro-am indoor league called the American Professional Football League. A Council Bluffs-based team called the River City Rage was previously announced to be part of the 2024 American Indoor Football (AIF) but that team has since moved to Coralville (IA) for a start in the AIF's 2025 season.
United States Football League: The springtime USFL and XFL have agreed to merger terms and those have been submitted for review by the Department of Justice. This review will take a minimum of 30 days.
HOCKEY
American Hockey League: The top minor professional AHL started its 2023-24 season this week with the same 32 teams as last season with each team playing a 72-game schedule through April 21, 2024. The 32 teams will again be aligned in a 15-team Eastern Conference with an 8-team Atlantic Division and a 7-team North Division, and a 17-team Western Conference with a 7-team Central Division and a 10-team Pacific Division. The AHL's Chicago Wolves dropped their affiliation with the National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes and are playing as an unaffiliated independent team for the 2023-24 season. Carolina is the only one of 32 NHL teams that does not have its own AHL affiliate for the 2023-24 season.
Federal Prospects Hockey League: The lower-level professional FPHL started its 2023-24 season this week with 11 teams aligned in a 6-team Continental Division and a 5-team Empire Division with each team playing a 56-game schedule through April 13, 2024. Of the ten teams from last season, the Delaware Thunder (Harrington) did not return but the league added the new Blue Ridge Bobcats (Wytheville, VA) and Baton Rouge (LA) Zydeco. The Elmira (NY) Mammoth came under new management and changed their name to the Elmira River Sharks for the 2023-24 season.
National Hockey League: The NHL started its 2023-24 season this week with the same 32 teams as last season and again aligned in an Eastern Conference with 8-team Atlantic and Metropolitan divisions and a Western Conference with 8-team Central and Pacific divisions. Each team plays an 82-game schedule through April 18, 2024.
SOCCER
Major Arena Soccer League: The men's professional MASL announced its 2023-24 season schedule will feature 13 teams aligned in a 7-team Eastern Conference and a 6-team Western Conference. Each team will play 24 games from November 24, 2023, through March 31, 2024. The league had 14 teams last season but the Orlando Tropics suspended operations in the off-season. The Monterrey Flash (Nuevo Leon, Mexico) team was moved from the Western to the Eastern Conference. Also, the Mesquite (TX) Outlaws changed their named to the Texas Outlaws. A proposed new Guadalajara (Jalisco, Mexico) team announced in February 2023 was unable to meet league requirements to join for 2023-24 and has the option to reapply for next season.
USL W-League (United Soccer League): The group that operates the Future Legends Complex in Windsor (CO) and owns the Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC men's team in the Tier-III professional USL League One, announced its new women's team in the pre-professional USL W-League will be called the Northern Colorado Rain FC when it starts play at the complex in 2024. The Rain is supposed to be part of a new five-team Mountain Division.
USL League Two (United Soccer League): The men's pre-professional USL League Two announced the River Light FC, based in Aurora (IL), has been added for the 2024 season. The club will also add a women's team in the pre-professional USL W-League starting with the 2024 season.
OTHER
Pro Volleyball Federation: The proposed indoor women's professional volleyball league called the PVF announced Las Vegas will be home to the league's seventh team when the league starts play in February 2024 with seven teams. A team name will be announced soon. Las Vegas will join the Atlanta Beat, Columbus (OH) Fury, Grand Rapids (MI) Rise, Omaha Supernovas, Orlando Valkyries, and a yet-to-be-named San Diego team in 2024. A team in Dallas has already been announced and will start in 2025.
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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