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PVF Pro Volleyball Federation

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
December 11, 2023 - Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF)


BASEBALL

Atlantic League: The ownership of the independent Atlantic League's Gastonia (NC) Honey Hunters team, which was removed from the league last month for unpaid debts to the city, has filed for bankruptcy. This is expected to slow down the process by the city and the league to place a new team in Gastonia for the 2024 season.

Major League Baseball Draft League: The former owner of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats team in the Double-A Eastern League is trying to bring an MLB Draft League team to the campus of Rhode Island College in Providence (RI) and is lobbying the state of Rhode Island to finance conversion of a current baseball stadium on the campus to a new 3,500-seat stadium for a future team. The current six-team league plays the first half of the season with amateur draft-eligible players and switches after the MLB draft to players who have exhausted amateur eligibility. The league is reported to be looking to add two teams.

Pioneer Baseball League: The independent Pioneer League, which is a partner league with Major League Baseball, announced its two-part 2024 season schedule will feature 12 teams each playing 84 games from May 21 through September 8, 2024. All ten teams from the 2023 five-team North Division and five-team South Division will return in 2024. The league will also add two new teams called the Oakland Ballers and a yet-to-be-named team listed as Northern California Baseball to a new Pacific West Division.

BASKETBALL

Maritime Women's Basketball Association: The amateur-level MWBA announced one of its six teams called the Windsor Edge (Nova Scotia) is moving to the Dartmouth/Cole Harbour area of Halifax (Nova Scotia) where the team will be renamed the Lake City 56ers for the 2024 season.

Southern Conference Basketball League: The men's semi-pro SCBL, which recently finished its inaugural 2023 regular season with ten teams in the Carolinas and Georgia, recently announced teams called the Bishopville (SC) Devils and Tri-City Suns (Columbia, SC) will be added for the 2024 season. The Bishopville Devils were associated with the East Coast Basketball League for the 2023 season.

FOOTBALL

European League of Football: The American-style football league known as the ELF announced its 2024 season alignment will again feature 17 teams aligned in three conferences. The six-team Western Conference will include all five returning teams plus the new Madrid Bravos team. The Central Conference will have the same six teams as last season. The Eastern Conference is down from six to five teams with the loss of the Leipzig Kings team that dropped out during the 2023 season and did not return.

American Arena League 2: The professional developmental AAL2 announced its 2024 season schedule will feature 13 teams aligned in an eight-team East Division and a new five-team Texas-based West Division with teams playing six to eight games from April 13 through June 7, 2024. Some of the teams' schedules include non-league games. Of the seven participating teams from last season, the returning Jersey Bearcats, Maryland Eagles (Wheaton), Western Maryland Warriors, and Steel City Stampede (Bethlehem, PA) will join the Carolina Predators, Peach State Cats (Suwanee, GA), Delaware Bullsharks (Wilmington), and Wheeling (WV) Miners in the East Division. The new West Division will include the Dallas Falcons, Austin Wolverines, Texas Hotshots (Dallas/Fort Worth), Waco Tornadoes, and West Texas Warriors (El Paso).

HOCKEY

United States Premier Hockey League: The Tier-III junior-level USPHL announced the Richmond (VA) Generals have shut down both their Premier Conference team and their lower-level Elite Conference team for the remainder of the 2023-24 season. The Richmond Generals joined the USPHL for the 2014-15 season. The USPHL hopes the team can return to competition for the 2024-25 season.

Professional Inline Hockey Association: The PIHA is in the middle of its 2023-24 season and again features three levels (Pro, Semi-Pro, and Minor) of teams aligned in regional divisions and playing games through February 2024. The Pro level has a five-team East and a four-team Rocky Mountain; the Semi-Pro has an eight-team Northeast, an eight-team Atlantic, and a six-team Rocky Mountain; and the Minor level has a six-team Northeast, a six-team Atlantic, a four-team Dixie, and a five-team Rocky Mountain.

SOCCER

Major Arena Soccer League 2: The MASL2, which is the second-division league to the Major Arena Soccer League, started its 2023-24 season this week with 13 teams in 3 divisions (East, Midwest, and North) and each team playing 12 games through March 2024. The league had 15 teams last season but lost 7 teams and added 5 expansion teams for the 2023-24 season. The six-team West Division, which included the Empire Jets, Chihuahua Savage II, Club Deportivo de Baja California, Rio Grande Valley Barracudas FC, Turlock Cal Express and San Diego Sockers 2, will not play in the 2023-24 season but plans to return in 2024-25. In the five-team Midwest Division, the Colorado Inferno FC (Colorado Springs) did not return but was replaced by the new El Paso Rhinos FC. In the four-team North Division, the Rochester Lancers moved to the new East Division and were replaced by the new St. Louis Ambush 2. The new four-team East Division includes Rochester and three new teams called the Baltimore Arsenal, United Elite Krajisnik FC (Utica, NY), and Atletico Orlando, which will play only a road schedule this season. The league plans to add the Wisconsin Conquerors (Weston/Wausau) and a new Santa Fe (NM) team for 2024-25.

Major Arena Soccer League 3: The amateur-level MASL3, which is the lowest rung on the MASL's soccer pyramid, started its 2023-24 season this weekend with seven teams aligned in a single-table format and each team playing 12 games through March 23, 2024. All five teams have returned from last season and the league added new teams called the Salisbury (MD) Steaks and DMV Gunners (Westminster, MD).

Women's Premier Soccer League: The elite amateur-level WPSL announced the San Diego-based Rebels Soccer Club has been added as a 2024 expansion team.

USL W-League (United Soccer League): The women's pre-professional W-League announced four Colorado-based teams will comprise a new Mountain Division for the 2024 season. Three newly announced teams called Boulder County United (Longmont), Colorado International Soccer Academy (Parker), and Flatirons FC (Arvada) will join the previously announced Northern Colorado Rain (Windsor) in the new division. Other teams could still be added to the division ahead of the 2024 season.

OTHER

Major League Rugby: After the recent departure of the Toronto Arrows club for the upcoming 2024 season, the professional rugby union (15-player) MLR announced the league's Rugby New York Ironworkers club has also ceased operations ahead of the 2024 season. The New York club joined the MLR for the 2019 season as Rugby United New York, also known as the Roosters, became Rugby New York for the 2022 season, and then the Rugby New York Ironworkers for the 2023 season. Although the MLR is losing 2 of the 12 teams from the 2023 season, it is adding the Miami Sharks expansion team for 2024. The league could be down to ten teams in 2024 if the proposed sale and relocation of the Atlanta-based Rugby ATL to a Los Angeles group is not completed. The MLR season usually starts in February.

Arena Lacrosse League: The Canadian men's developmental box lacrosse ALL has started its 2023-24 season with the same eight Ontario-based teams in the ALL East and the same four British Columbia-based teams in the ALL-West as last season. The ALL-West plays all games at the Langley Events Centre while the ALL-East plays at five different venues since some teams share the same home arena. The men's ALL serves as a minor league to the National Lacrosse League and the season runs through March 17, 2024. The ALL also has a women's division known as the Women's ALL (WALL). The WALL-West started its 2023-24 season last month with the same four teams as last season and again playing all games at the Langley Events Centre through January 20, 2024. The WALL-East will start next month with five newly named teams called the Blazers, Cobras, Firebirds, Sirens, and Sky Hawks replacing the four teams called the 66erz, Snipers, Bears, and RiverWolves from last season. The WALL-East will play all games at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena in Hagersville (Ontario) through March 16, 2024.

Pro Volleyball Federation: The women's professional indoor PVF, which will start its inaugural 2024 season next month with seven teams, announced Indianapolis as the location for its tenth team and the third market for a 2025 expansion team. Dallas and Kansas City (MO) were previously announced as 2025 expansion markets.

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.



Pro Volleyball Federation Stories from December 11, 2023


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.


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