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UFL United Football League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
January 1, 2024 - United Football League (UFL)


BASEBALL

Pecos League: The independent Pecos League teams have posted their schedules for the 2024 season, which will feature a six-team California-based Pacific Division and a ten-team Mountain Division. Each team will play a 54-game schedule through July 28, 2024, with the Pacific starting on May 22 and the Mountain on May 27. The league had 16 teams in eight-team divisions last season, but the Lancaster (CA) Sound Breakers and Monterey (CA) Amberjacks will not return to the Pacific Division, while the Mountain Division added expansion teams called the Pecos (TX) Bills and North Platte (NE) 80s for the 2024 season.

Cape Code Baseball League: The summer-collegiate Cape Cod league announced its 2024 season schedule will feature the same ten teams as last season and again aligned in five-team East and West divisions. Teams will each play a 40-game schedule from June 15 through August 4, 2024.

Northwoods League: The summer-collegiate Northwoods League has posted the schedule for the 2024 season, which will feature 26 teams aligned in a seven-team Great Lakes East, a six-team Great Lakes West, a seven-team Great Plains East and a six-team Great Plains West. Teams will play 70 games from May 27 through August 10, 2024, except the league-operated Minnesota Mud Puppies team that plays a 36-game travel-only schedule. The league has grown from 24 teams with the addition of two existing teams for the 2024 season. The Badlands Big Sticks (Dickinson, NE) joined from the Independence League Baseball, while the Royal Oaks (MI) Leprechauns joined from the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League.

Southern League: The city of Columbus (GA) is trying to develop funding for renovations to the city's ballpark to bring it up to Minor League Baseball (MiLB) standards and attract an affiliated team, possibly in the Double-A Southern League. The Southern League's Mississippi Braves (Jackson area), whose lease expires after the 2024 season, are reported to be the frontrunner for possible relocation. Mississippi is the only MiLB affiliate of Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves that is not located in Georgia.

BASKETBALL

Basketball Super League: The new men's professional BSL started its inaugural 2023-24 season this week with six Canadian teams playing through May 1, 2024. The BSL includes the four Ontario-based teams-Sudbury Five, London Lightning, Windsor Express, and Kitchener-Waterloo Titans-that comprised the 2023 season of the now-defunct 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 affiliated lower-level The Basketball League (TBL). Each team will play 12 home and 12 away games against BSL teams and also play additional home games against select TBL teams. A Quebec City team called the Pionniers de Quebec (Quebec Pioneers), which played in the 2023 TBL season as the Alma (Quebec) Academy, was announced as a 2023-24 BSL team but ownership could not find a home arena and the team is no longer active. Next season, the league plans to add 6 more teams from the United States and Canada and eventually grow to 24 teams. Future promotion and relegation of teams between the BSL and TBL is being considered.

FOOTBALL

Liga de Futbol Americano Profesional: Mexico's top professional American-style outdoor football league known as the LFA announced all ten teams from last season will return in 2024 with a player draft to be held next month. LFA teams play a ten-game season from March through May.

Great Lakes Arena Football: The lower-tier professional GLAF, which started out last season as the Great Lakes Arena Alliance and finished with only four teams, is organizing for a return in 2024. So far, the league lists the West Michigan Ironmen (Muskegon) as the only returning team along with the Wisconsin Aviators (Milwaukee), Detroit Dark Knights, and the Dayton-based Ohio Boom, which competed as a travel-only team in the 2023 fall season of the United Indoor Football League.

United Football League: The springtime United States Football League (USFL) and the XFL officially announced the merger of the two leagues under the United Football League (UFL) name with the inaugural season starting on March 30, 2024. The UFL team lineup was not announced but is expected to include the D.C. Defenders, Houston Roughnecks, San Antonio Brahmas, St. Louis Battlehawks and Arlington Renegades from the XFL and the Birmingham Stallions, Memphis Showboats and Michigan Panthers (Detroit) from the USFL.

HOCKEY

National Ringette League: The Canadian women's NRL halfway through its 2023-24 season that features 13 teams (6 in western Canada and 7 in eastern Canada) aligned in a single-table format. Teams play an 18-game schedule from September 30, 2023, through March 24, 2024. Ringette is of Canadian origin and is a team sport similar to ice hockey in equipment and playing surface. Players use straight sticks to control and pass a rubber ring instead of a puck. The game is centered more around skating and passing rather than puck handling and involves catching or ‚¬Å“stabbing ‚¬Â the ring. The NRL started play in 2004 and is the showcase league for ringette in Canada and part of the Ringette Canada organization.

ECHL: The commissioner of the minor professional ECHL, which is the third tier of hockey below the 32-team National Hockey League (NHL) and the 32-team American Hockey League (AHL), recently stated the league will expand to 32 teams over the next few seasons. This summer, the ECHL voted to increase the league's maximum membership from 30 to 32 teams to match those of the NHL and AHL. The ECHL is currently playing with 28 teams and recently announced the addition of the Lake Tahoe Knight Monsters (Stateline, NV) as the 29th team for the 2024-25 season. Arenas in Rio Rancho (NM), Athens (GA), and Clarksville (TN) have been reported as possible locations for future ECHL teams. The league's Reading (PA) Royals announced the team will honor the local Reading School District and take the district's Reading Red Knights nickname for a game in March 2024.

SOCCER

Premier Arena Soccer League: The new men's PASL professional division recently started its 2023-24 season with a six-team Heartland Pro Conference. Teams include the Houston Bolt, Austin Emerald, Wichita Selection, and Springfield (MO) Demize from last season's Major League Indoor Soccer, along with the San Antonio Eagles and Certified Lions FC (Oklahoma City). Each team plays a ten-game schedule through March 2024. The PASL also announced a new women's professional division will start play next month with a six-team Heartland Pro Conference.

MLS Next Pro (Major League Soccer): The head of the Major League Soccer's Division-III professional reserve league known as MLS Next Pro stated the MLS wants to expand its presence in the lower divisions of American soccer and into markets without a professional soccer team. Since most MLS teams operate their reserve team in or near their MLS market, the MLS is encouraging teams to consider moving their current MLS Next Pro team to markets other than those occupied by their parent MLS team and expand their fan base. The MLS's Nashville SC has been successful in operating its new MLS Next Pro team called the Huntsville City FC out of the Huntsville (AL) market. In addition to moving reserve teams, the MLS Next Pro plans to add more independent teams in new markets and is considering the possibility of having two lower-level divisions below the Division-I MLS in the future.

USL League Two (United Soccer League): The men's pre-professional USL League Two announced teams called the Almaden FC (San Jose) and Midlakes United (Bellevue, WA) have been added to the league for the 2024 season.

USL W-League (United Soccer League): The women's pre-professional W-League recently announced teams called the Lancaster (PA) Inferno and the San Antonio Athenians have joined for the league's 2024 season. Both teams were members of the United Women's Soccer in the 2023 season.

OTHER

Major League Pickleball: The tour-based professional co-ed MLP will return in 2024 with the same 24 teams as last season with a top 12-team Premier Level and a 12-team Challenger Level. Seven teams from last season's Premier Level were relegated to the Challenger Level while seven Challenger Level teams were promoted to the Premier Level. The 2024 MLP regular season schedule will feature 15 Premier Level or Challenger Level events from February through October 2024. The top four Challenger Level teams will be promoted to the Premier Level in 2025. With the recent merger of the MLP and the Carvana PPA Tour, which features amateur and professional single players and doubles teams earning points leading to a year-end championship tournament, MLP players will also participate in separate 2024 PPA Tour events scheduled across the country. Some of the league based MLP regular season matches will coincide with certain PPA Tour events during 2024.

Major League Cricket: The professional MLC announced all six teams from its inaugural 2023 season will return for the league's second season starting on July 4, 2024. Teams include the Texas Super Kings (Dallas), San Francisco Unicorns, Los Angeles Knight Riders, Seattle Orcas, Washington (DC) Freedom, and MI New York operated by the Mumbai Indians club. The 2023 season was held this past July with six games played at a cricket venue in Grand Prairie (TX) and seven games at a cricket venue in Morrisville (NC). The 2024 venues and schedule are still to be announced.

Women's Professional Fastpitch: The Oklahoma City Spark, which was one of four teams in the 2023 season of the WPF, announced it is leaving the league after one season and will play an independent schedule in 2024.

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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