Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
May 27, 2024 - Arena Football League (AFL3)

BASEBALL

Atlantic League: The Gastonia (NC) Baseball Club of the independent Atlantic League played a five-game series last week (May 14-19) as the Gastonia Gastronauts. This is one of eight potential names the team will use for games this season to test fan reaction as it selects a permanent name for the 2025 season. The club lists the dates for the next seven “What If” series throughout the season. The next two test names will be the Gastonia Bolognia (June 6-9) and the Gastonia Galactic Dinos (July 26-28).

Northwest League: The future of the Eugene (OR) Emeralds in the city is uncertain after voters failed to approve an additional bond to help fund a new ballpark. The team's current ballpark does not meet new ballpark standards established by Major League Baseball for its affiliates in Minor League Baseball.

Pecos League: The independent Pecos League started its 2024 season this week with a six-team California-based Pacific Division and a ten-team Mountain Division, which is further aligned in a five-team Mountain North and a five-team Mountain South. Teams will play a 54-game schedule through July. The league had 16 teams in eight-team Pacific and Mountain divisions last season, but the Lancaster (CA) Sound Breakers and Monterey (CA) Amberjacks did not return to the Pacific Division, while the Mountain Division added expansion teams called the Pecos (TX) Bills and North Platte (NE) 80s.

Pioneer League: The independent Pioneer League started its 2024 season this week with 12 teams aligned in a single-table format and each team playing a 96-game schedule in a split season through September 8. Last season, the league had ten teams aligned in five-team North and South divisions with teams located in Montana, Colorado, Utah and Idaho. The league added two new California-based teams called the Oakland Ballers (Oakland B's) and the Yolo High Wheelers (Davis) and eliminated the divisions for 2024.

Eastern League: The Reading (PA) Fightin Phils of the Double-A Eastern League are playing as the Reading Keystones on Thursday home games this season as part of a “Throwback Thursday” promotion to honor the city's former baseball team called the Reading Keystones in the 1920s and 1930s.

Carolina League: The Salem (VA) Red Sox of the Low-A Carolina League played a game this week as the Salem BeerMongers. This annual tribute to the craft beer industry is part of a Thirsty Thursdays promotion for 12 Thursday home games this season.

BASKETBALL

Canadian Elite Basketball League: The spring-summer minor professional CEBL started its sixth season this week with the same ten teams as last season and again aligned in five-team Eastern and Western conferences. Each team will play a 20-game schedule through July 29, 2024.

National Basketball Association Gatorade League (G-League): The NBA's Phoenix Suns announced its new G-League affiliate will be called the Valley Suns when the team starts play in the 2024-25 season. With the addition of this team, each of the 30 NBA teams now has an affiliated team in the G-League. The new team will play at the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe. The Phoenix Suns had a previous G-League team called the Northern Arizona Suns that was based in Prescott Valley for four seasons (2016-20). That franchise was sold to the Detroit Pistons and relocated to the Detroit area as the G-League's Motor City Cruise for the 2021-22 season.

Women's National Basketball Association: The 12-team professional WNBA announced the addition of a 14th team to be based in Toronto and it will start play in the 2026 season. The league's 13th team called the Golden State Valkyries (San Francisco Bay Area) will start play in 2025. The WNBA would like to grow to 16 teams by 2028 and the markets of Nashville, Portland (OR), Philadelphia, Denver, Charlotte and South Florida are reported to be under consideration as possible expansion options.

FOOTBALL

Arena Football League: The AFL lost another team this week as the Rapid City (SD) Marshals announced the team was ceasing operations effective immediately. The Marshals were unable to field a team for a scheduled road game against the Washington Wolfpack (Everett) and a local semi-pro team served as a fill-in for the Marshals. With this forfeit, the Marshals ended with an 0-3 record. The AFL now lists Rapid City as one of six inactive teams and lists ten active teams from its original 16-team lineup. In the standings, the league has eliminated the four regional divisions and all ten teams are aligned in a single-table format. The AFL's Oregon Blackbears (Salem) forfeited a game against the Southwest Kansas Storm (Dodge City) so the Cedar Rapids (IA) River Kings team from the American Indoor Football filled in as the Storm's opponent in a non-league game this weekend.

European League of Football: The American-style football league known as the ELF started its 2024 season this weekend and again features 17 teams from 9 countries aligned in three conferences. The six-team Western Conference has all five returning teams plus the new Madrid Bravos team. The Central Conference again has six teams but Switzerland's Helvetic Guards folded and were replaced by the new Helvetic Mercenaries team. 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. Each team plays a 12-game schedule through August.

HOCKEY

Federal Prospects Hockey League: The minor professional FPHL announced a new team called the Hudson Valley Venom (Poughkeepsie, NY) will be part of the league's 2024-25 season. The owner of a team called the Hudson Valley Vipers, which was the champion in the inaugural 2023-24 season of the senior-level American Premier Hockey League, purchased the FPHL's Elmira (NY) River Sharks franchise that lost its arena lease to a junior-level team after playing only the 2023-24 season in the league.

National Collegiate Development Conference: The United States Premier Hockey League's Tier-II junior-level NCDC announced its new Casper (WY) team, which was sold and relocated after playing last season as the Provo (UT) Predators, will be called the Casper Warbirds when the team starts play in the 2024-25 season. The NCDC also announced the Twin City Thunder, based in the Lewiston/Auburn (ME) market, is moving to Exeter (NH) for the 2024-25 season. The relocated Thunder Hockey Club will also start a team in the USPHL's Tier-III Premier Conference for the 2024-25 season.

SOCCER

USL Super League (United Soccer League): The new women's Division-I professional USL Super League announced its Washington (DC) team will be called the DC Power Football Club (DC Power FC) when the league starts play with eight teams on August 17, 2024. The USL Super League season will run until spring 2025 with a winter break. The seven other teams for the inaugural 2024 season include the Brooklyn FC (Brooklyn, NY), Carolina Ascent FC (Charlotte), Dallas Trinity FC, Fort Lauderdale United FC, Lexington SC (Lexington, KY), Spokane Zephyr FC and Tampa Bay Sun FC. The league currently lists Chattanooga (TN), Indianapolis, Jacksonville (Sporting Club Jacksonville/Sporting Jax), Madison (WI), Oakland, Palm Beach (FL), Phoenix and Tucson as potential future expansion markets.

USL Championship (United Soccer League): The city of Indianapolis has offered to purchase the site where the Indy Eleven of the Division-II USL Championship wants to build a new soccer stadium. The city is proposing a new soccer stadium at another downtown site for a possible Major League Soccer team.

OTHER

Major League Cricket: The professional MLC recently announced the 2024 schedule for its second season. All six teams will return from last season with each team playing seven matches from July 5 through July 23, 2024, followed by playoffs. 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. All 2024 matches will be held at two cricket-specific venues in Grand Prairie (TX) and Morrisville (NC).

Major Series Lacrosse: Canada's Ontario-based summertime indoor Senior-A MSL started its 2024 season this week with seven teams aligned in a single-table format and each team playing a 12-game schedule through July 15. Last season's five teams called the Brooklin Lacrosse Club, Cobourg Kodiaks, Peterborough Lakers, Six Nations Chiefs (Hagersville) and Brampton Excelsiors have all returned. The status of the Owen Sound North Stars was settled and the team has joined the MSL after sitting out the 2023 season. Also, the league's Oakville Rock returned after sitting out the past two seasons. The MSL champion plays the champion of the British Columbia-based Western Lacrosse Association for the Senior-A championship called the Mann Cup.

Western Lacrosse Association: The British Columbia-based summertime indoor Senior-A WLA started its 2024 season this week with the same seven teams called the Burnaby Lakers, Coquitlam Adanacs, Langley Thunder, Maple Ridge Burrards, Nanaimo Timbermen, New Westminster Salmonbellies and Victoria Shamrocks. Each team plays an 18-game schedule through August 1. The WLA champion plays the champion of the Ontario-based Major Series Lacrosse in the Senior-A Mann Cup championship.

Women's Elite Rugby: The proposed new WER recently announced plans to become America's first professional women's rugby league. The WER will play the 15-a-side rugby union style and wants to start in 2025 with six to eight teams. The WER is talking with teams from the elite amateur-level Women's Premier League Rugby (WPL), which is currently playing its 2024 season with seven teams called the Beantown RFC (Boston), Berkeley (CA) All Blues, Chicago North Shore, Colorado Grey Wolves (Denver), Life West Gladiatrix (Hayward, CA), New York Rugby Club (New York City) and the Twin Cities Amazons (Minneapolis). The WER wants to build on the WPL foundation but it is not clear which of the WPL teams would join the new league. The WER expects to finalize its teams by January 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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