Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
August 5, 2024 - National Arena League (NAL)

BASEBALL

Appalachian League: The future home of the summer-collegiate Appalachian League's Bristol State Liners is uncertain after the team played the entire season outside its home in the twin cities of Bristol (TN) and Bristol (VA). Plans fell through earlier this year for a new ballpark in Bristol (TN) and the team decided not to play at its aging DeVault Stadium in Bristol (VA). The team was based on the campus of Tusculum University in Greeneville (TN), home of the league's Greeneville Flyboys, during the season. Of the team's 48-game schedule, only 12 games (6 considered as home games) were played in Greenville and the rest were played on the road at other league ballparks.

California League: The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the Low-A California League played the second of three games this season as the Rancho Cucamonga BBQs in a tribute to the tradition of the California BBQ parties.

Pacific Coast League: The Albuquerque Isotopes of the Triple-A PCL hosted a ‚¬Å“Food Fight! ‚¬Â night last weekend and played as the Albuquerque Green Chile Cheeseburgers while their opponent, the Round Rock Express, played as the Round Rock Donuts.

Texas League: It looks like the city of San Antonio is ready to commit funding toward a new ballpark that should keep the Double-A Texas League's San Antonio Missions team in the city. The team's ownership is facing a deadline from Major League Baseball to bring its aging ballpark up to new standards or risk losing its affiliation.

BASKETBALL

The Basketball League: The minor professional TBL announced a new Canadian team called the Port City Power, based in Saint John, Brunswick, will join the league for the 2025 season. The city was home to teams called the Saint John Mill Rats (2011-16) and Saint John Riptide (2016-19) in the former National Basketball League of Canada.

Maritime Women's Basketball Association: The amateur-level MWBA recently completed its third season that ran from May 4 through June 16, 2024, followed by playoffs. The league had seven teams aligned in a single-table format with each team playing a ten-game schedule. All six teams from last season returned with the Windsor Edge (Nova Scotia) changing to the Lake City 56ers in a move to the Dartmouth/Cole Harbour area of Halifax (Nova Scotia). The league added an expansion team called the Miramichi Her-icanes (New Brunswick) for the 2024 season. The other MWBA teams included the Halifax Thunder, Halifax Hornets and the New Brunswick-based Fredericton Freeze, Moncton Mystics and Port City Fog (Saint John).

FOOTBALL

American 7s Football League: After playing two seasons in the A7FL, which plays outdoor full-contact 7-on-7 football with players wearing no helmets or hard pads, the Cincinnati-based Cin City Chaos has ceased operations for the 2025 season.

National Arena League: A new team called the Shreveport Rouxgaroux reports it will be joining the NAL for the 2025 season with an official announcement to come later this month. A rouxgarou, or rougarou, is a legendary Louisiana werewolf-type creature from Cajun folklore.

HOCKEY

American Hockey League: The owner of the AHL's Tucson Roadrunners is involved in a new arena project in Reno (NV) and there is speculation the team will eventually move to Reno. The arena is expected to break ground in early 2025 and open in 2027. The Roadrunners' owner, who recently sold the National Hockey League's Tempe-based Arizona Coyotes franchise and recently pulled out of any plans to build a new arena in the Phoenix area for a possible new future Coyotes NHL franchise, had talked of moving the Roadrunners to Tempe but the team recently signed a lease agreement to keep the team in Tucson through the 2026-27 season.

Federal Prospects Hockey League: The lower-level minor professional FPHL officially terminated its Delaware Thunder (Harrington) franchise in a recent league meeting. The Delaware Thunder, which had joined the league for the 2019-20 season, lost the lease at its home arena prior to the 2023-24 season so the team decided to go dormant, but apparently did not keep up with the FPHL franchise fees. The owner of the Delaware Thunder had been trying to build a new arena for the team in Dover (DE) and prior to dormancy considered relocating the team for the 2023-24 season.

United States Premier Hockey League - Premier Conference: The junior-level USPHL announced the 2024-25 schedule and alignment for its Tier-III USPHL Premier Conference, which will grow from 61 teams in 9 divisions to 74 teams in 10 divisions. The Premier Conference had 61 teams last season but lost the Richmond Generals and added 14 new teams. Five of the new teams include new Canadian teams called the College Universel Sherbrooke, Montreal Black Vees, Hawkesbury Knights, Kingson Wranglers and the Somang Laurentides Lenaudiere HC that will join last season's College Universel Gatineau (Quebec) in a new Canada Division. Other new teams include the Bremerton (WA) Sockeyes, Colorado Fighting Elk (Craig), Ventura (CA) Vikings, Red Bank (NJ) Generals, Mercer (NJ) Chiefs, West Chester (PA) Wolves, Thunder Hockey Club (Exeter, NH), Boston Jr. Rangers and Railers Junior Hockey Club (Worcester, MA). The Casper Roughnecks moved to become the Iron County (UT) Yeti; the Minnesota Moose moved from Blaine to Spooner (WI) as the Northwest Express; the Las Vegas Thunderbirds are now the Henderson (NV) Force; the Buffalo Stampede moved to Holland (MI) as the Fresh Coast Freeze; and the Long Beach Shredders are now the Long Beach Bombers.

United States Premier Hockey League - Elite Conference: The junior-level USPHL announced the 2024-25 schedule and alignment for its Tier-III USPHL Elite Conference that acts as a feeder league to the USPHL Premier Conference. The Elite Conference had 28 teams last season in 5 divisions but lost the Richmond Generals and Boston Jr. Bruins and added the South Shore Kings, Hershey Cubs and the Boston Jr. Bulldogs, who will play only a partials schedule in its first season. As it did last season, the Elite Conference will feature a division of teams from the North Am Prep Hockey League and these teams will participate in select Elite Conference showcases during the 2024-25 season.

SOCCER

National Women's Soccer League: The Cleveland Soccer Group, which applied in June for an NWSL expansion franchise and plans to operate a men's team in Major League Soccer's MLS Next Pro league, has submitted a purchase offer for a site that would serve as the headquarters and training facility for both teams. The group plans to use private and public funds to build a proposed a 12,500-seat soccer stadium that would become the home for both the men's and women's teams.

Major League Soccer: An antitrust lawsuit filed by the former North American Soccer League (NASL) against MLS and the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) is expected to go to trial next month. The NASL operated from 2011 through the 2017 season and was a Division-II professional league until the USSF denied the NASL's Division-II status for the 2018 season and the NASL disbanded. The NASL contends the USSF used this denial to the benefit of MLS, which is a USSF business partner.

OTHER

Athletes Unlimited - Pro Softball: The women's Athletes Unlimited - Pro Softball started its 2024 competition last month with four teams playing in a five-week season through August 25, 2024, with all games again held at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont (IL).

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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