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EL Eastern League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
January 22, 2024 - Eastern League (EL)


BASEBALL

Eastern League: As part of its "Only in Akron" promotion, the Double-A Eastern League's Akron (OH) RubberDucks will be rebranded as the Barberton Fried Chicken and Hot Rice for a game in June of the 2024 season to honor a special dish popular in Northeast Ohio. The league's Reading (PA) Fightin Phils will play its annual morning game in July of the 2024 season as the Cream Chipped Beef in a tribute to a regional delicacy.

Major League Baseball: With MLB's Oakland A's planning to move to a new stadium in Las Vegas for the 2028 season, the team is looking at potential sites to serve as a temporary home after the 2024 season when its lease expires at the Oakland Coliseum. This week the team toured ballparks in two Triple-A Pacific Coast League markets-Sutter Health Park, home of the PCL's Sacramento River Cats, and the new ballpark under construction for the PCL's Salt Lake Bees that should be ready for the 2025 season. PCL ballparks in Reno and Las Vegas are also under consideration.

Northwest League: The Hillsboro (OR) Hops of the high Class-A Northwest League have been granted an extension until March 15, 2024, by Major League Baseball to complete funding for a new ballpark to meet new minor league ballpark standards. If funding is not secured, the team will have to consider other options including possible relocation.

Sunbelt Baseball League: The ownership of the Columbus Chatt-a-Hoots and Chattahoochee Monsters, two teams that have played at Golden Park in Columbus (GA) as part of the summer collegiate SBL, have suspended all baseball operations. The Double-A Southern League's Mississippi Braves are relocating to Columbus (GA) for the 2025 season and Golden Park will undergo renovations to accommodate the team.

BASKETBALL

East Coast Basketball League: The semi-pro ECBL recently announced its 2024 season will feature 18 teams each playing a 14-game schedule from late February to early June. Teams will be aligned in a Northern Conference with a four-team Northeast Division and a five-team Northwest Division, and a Southern Conference with a four-team Southeast Division and a five-team Southwest Division.

Unrivaled Basketball League: The proposed Unrivaled women's professional basketball league is working toward a start in January 2025 to provide an off-season alternative for players in the Women's National Basketball Association. The league will have 30 players and 6 teams playing 3-on-3 and 1-on1 formats with all games played at a single location in Miami.

FOOTBALL

American 7s Football League: The indoor 8-on-8 Arena Football League (AFL) has entered into a partnership with the outdoor full-contact 7-on-7 A7FL, whose players do not wear hard pads or helmets, to develop future talent for the AFL and allow players to move between leagues. The reborn AFL will start its inaugural 2024 season on April 27 with 16 teams aligned in 4 four-team regional divisions (East, Central, South, and West). The A7FL will start its tenth season on March 24, 2024, with 30 teams aligned in an Eastern Conference with an eight-team North East Division and a four-team Florida Division, and a Western Conference with a seven-team Midwest Division, a three-team California Division and an eight-team Nevada Division.

American Indoor Football: The ownership of the new Beaumont (TX) Renegades has confirmed the team will be part of the AIF starting with the 2025 season. The AIF is being restarted for the 2024 season with seven teams and currently lists one other proposed 2025 team called the River City Rage, based in Coralville (IA).

HOCKEY

British Columbia Hockey League: The independent Junior-A BCHL announced five Alberta-based teams (Blackfalds Bulldogs, Brooks Bandits, Okotoks Oilers, Sherwood Park Crusaders and Spruce Grove Saints) from the Junior-A Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), which is one of nine member leagues in the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) and is affiliated with Hockey Canada, have committed to terms to join the BCHL for the 2024-25 season. The AJHL has suspended these five teams and games involving those teams were cancelled this weekend. The 17-team BCHL withdrew from the CJHL and the governance of Hockey Canada after the 2020-21 season mainly because of player recruiting and roster restrictions enforced by Hockey Canada.

ECHL: The minor professional ECHL has awarded an expansion team to Bloomington (IL) and it will start play in the 2024-25 season. The unnamed team will be operated by the owners of the league's Indy Fuel (Indianapolis) and the new Fishers (IN) Freight team in the Indoor Football League. The Bloomington market has had previous minor professional teams, most recently the Bloomington Thunder in the 2013-14 season of the SPHL, and former Tier-I junior-level teams in the United States Hockey League called the Bloomington Thunder (2014-17) and the Central Illinois Flying Aces (2017-19). With the addition of Bloomington and the Lake Tahoe Knight Monsters, the ECHL will grow to 30 teams in 2024-25.

SPHL: The Quad City Storm (Moline, IL) of the lower-level minor professional SPHL, formerly the Southern Professional Hockey League, became the Quad City Ice Gators for two games this weekend as part of its "Rebrand Weekend" promotion.

SOCCER

MLS Next Pro (Major League Soccer): The city of Fort Myers (FL) plans to enter into negotiations with a developer to convert the City of Palms Park, a former Major League Baseball spring training complex, into a soccer facility for a proposed team in Major League Soccer's Division-III professional reserve league known as MLS Next Pro. The hope is to start work this year and have a team begin play in 2025.

National Independent Soccer Association: The Division-III professional NISA announced the Conyers-based Georgia Lions FC has been added to the league for the 2024 season. The team previously played as the East Atlanta FC (2021 and 2022) and East Atlanta Dutch Lions FC (2023) in the pre-professional USL League Two. The league also announced the Las Vegas Legends team from the NISA's amateur-level NISA Nation league will be promoted to the professional NISA starting with the 2025 season.

USL League One: The Division-III professional USL League One has granted a franchise to Naples (FL) and the USL Naples team will start play at the 5,000-seat Paradise Coast Sports Complex starting with the 2025 season. The name and logo for the USL Naples team will be announced in the near future.

OTHER

Northwoods League Softball: The Mankato (MN) Habaneros will be the name of one of the four teams in the new women's summer-collegiate Northwoods League Softball, which will be operated by the men's summer-collegiate baseball league known as the Northwoods League and start play in June 2024. The three other yet-to-be-named teams will be located in Minot (SD), Madison (WI) and La Crosse (WI).

Major League Rugby: In conjunction with World Rugby and USA Rugby, the professional rugby union (15-player) MLR has added the Charlotte-based Anthem Rugby Carolina (Anthem RC) as a 12th team for the upcoming 2024 season. With this addition, the league will revert back to a two-conference (Eastern and Western) alignment after previously announcing its 2024 schedule for 11 teams in a single-table format. The new Anthem RC will serve as the development pipeline for the USA Eagles, the national men's rugby team of the United States, in advance of qualifying for the 2031 Rugby World Cup in 2027. The team's roster will feature players who are eligible to participate on behalf of the United States in international competition.

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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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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