Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
August 26, 2024 - Atlantic League (AtL)
BASEBALL
Atlantic League: The independent Atlantic League's Gastonia (NC) team, which has been called the Gastonia Baseball Club this season as it decides on a permanent team name, announced eight potential team names that are up for fan voting through August 30. Seven of the names-the Gastonia Gastronauts, Gastonia Bolognia, Gastonia Galactic Dinos, Gastonia Ghost Peppers, Gastonia Zombees, Gastonia Garden Gnomes and the Gastonia Yarniaks-were tested this season with the team playing under those names as part of seven different "What If?" series. An eighth "What If?" series scheduled for next month was apparently cancelled and the eighth team name up for fan voting is the Gastonia Baseball Club.
California League: After the Low-A California League's Modesto Nuts announced last month that the team would not return in 2025 because it could not come to an agreement on a long-term lease extension with the city and who will pay for local ballpark renovations mandated by Major League Baseball, the city of Modesto is reported to be in discussions with the team's parent club, the Seattle Mariners, about possibly extending the ballpark lease for one more season until a long-term lease can be worked out.
Eastern League: The Double-A Eastern League's Portland (ME) Sea Dogs played a game this week (August 23) as the Maine Lobster Bakes in honor of the state's lobster industry. The league's Manchester-based New Hampshire Fisher Cats played a game this week (August 23) as the New Hampshire Primaries, which is a reference to the state's first-in-the-nation presidential primary. When the team first moved to Manchester for the 2004 season it was originally named the New Hampshire Primaries but was quickly changed to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats due to negative fan reaction.
International League: The Louisville Bats of the Triple-A International League played a game this weekend (August 24) as the Louisville RiverBats to honor the team's previous name that was used for only three seasons (1999-2001) before being shortened to the Bats.
BASKETBALL
American Basketball Association: The semi-pro ABA announced a team called the Erie (PA) Elite has been added for the upcoming 2024-25 season. The league also announced the addition of a team called the ABA Bulldogs GA that will be comprised of deaf players and will start playing in 2025.
BIG3 League: The tour-based 3-on-3 professional BIG3 league held its championship event last weekend to complete a 2024 season that featured 12 teams participating in eight weekend tour stops in Oakland, Tampa, Baltimore, Newark, Anaheim, Portland (OR), Cincinnati, and San Antonio followed by playoff events in Nashville and Boston. Next season, each of the BIG3 teams will be under individual ownership as they transition to representing home markets. Los Angeles, Miami, Houston and Detroit have already been announced for 2025 market-based franchises.
The Basketball League: The minor professional TBL announced a new team called the Halifax Hoopers (Nova Scotia, Canada) has been added for the league's 2025 season. Halifax was most recently home to a professional team called the Halifax Hurricanes that played five seasons (2015-20) in the former National Basketball League of Canada.
National Basketball Association G-League: It looks as though the Milwaukee Bucks' Oshkosh-based NBA G-League affiliate called the Wisconsin Herd is close to signing a new lease agreement with the new operators of the Oshkosh Arena and it should keep the team from having to look for a new home.
FOOTBALL
National Arena League: The NAL announced the Amarillo Dusters team will join the league for the 2025 season. The team played as the Amarillo Venom in the 2024 season of the American Indoor Football (AIF) and was renamed the Amarillo Dusters last month as part of an ownership change. Amarillo becomes the NAL's 11th team and joins three other 2024 AIF teams-the Columbus (GA) Lions, Corpus Christi (TX) Tritons and Harrisburg (PA) Stampede-that switched to the NAL early last month.
Midwest Arena Football League: An outdoor semi-pro team called the Syracuse Smash has been renamed the New York Smash and will play a fall indoor season as a travel-only team in the East Division of the new developmental professional MAFL.
Southern Arena Football Association: The SAFA is another new developmental 8-on-8 indoor football league that is organizing for 2025. The league's current members include four Texas-based teams called the West Texas Grizzlies (Lubbock), El Paso Oryx, Texas Vipers (Texarkana) and Dallas Falcons, who played in the 2024 American Arena Football League 2. The SAFA will be a regional league with teams in Texas and other southern states like Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky.
HOCKEY
United States Premier Hockey League: The Columbia (SC) Infantry, which had teams in the Southeast Division of the USPHL's Junior-A Premier Conference and the Junior-A developmental Elite Conference, has dropped out of the upcoming 2024-25 season. The Nashville Spartans of the Junior-A Premier Conference announced the team is moving just north of Nashville to Clarksville (TN) where the team will be renamed the Red River Spartans starting with the 2024-25 season.
SOCCER
Major League Indoor Soccer: The Chicago Mustangs team in the men's professional MLIS announced it will place a women's team in the new Women's Major League Indoor Soccer (WMLIS) to be started by the MLIS for the 2024-25 season. The Mustangs had a previous women's indoor team as part of the Premier Arena Soccer League. Along with the Mustangs, the WMLIS currently includes teams called the Zoo City FC (Kalamazoo, MI), Brew City Legends (Milwaukee), Summit City United (Fort Wayne) and Colorado Bucks (Denver).
Major Arena Soccer League 2: The MASL2 announced the Oklahoma City Certified Lions team, which won the 2023-24 Men's Pro Division championship in the Premier Arena Soccer League, will join the league for the 2024-25 season. The MASL2 lists three other new teams called the Minnesota Blizzard (Lakeville), the Spice City FC (Danbury, CT), and the previously announced Wisconsin Conquerors (Weston) expansion team. The California-based Empire Jets and Turlock Cal Express teams that sat out the 2023-24 season are currently listed as returning for the 2024-25 season.
Major Arena Soccer League 3: The Salisbury (MD) Steaks team, which played its inaugural 2023-24 season in the MASL3, will move up to the MASL2 for the 2024-25 season. A previously announced team called the Cleveland Samba is listed as replacing Salisbury in the MASL3's current seven-team lineup.
National Women's Soccer League: Groups representing Cincinnati and Denver are reported to have made presentations to the NWSL to become home to the league's next expansion team. The league is expected to announce later this year one more market that would join the league with Boston in the 2026 season. The FC Cincinnati of Major League Soccer and a group called For Denver FC are behind the efforts to obtain an NWSL expansion team.
National Super League: Canada's proposed new six-team women's professional NSL plans to announce the name of its Vancouver-based team on August 26, 2024. The team has trademarked three potential names-the Vancouver Queens, Vancouver Rise and Vancouver Summit.
OTHER
Rugby League America: A possible new U.S.-based league called Rugby League America (RLA), which would be a professional league playing under the 13-player "rugby league" rules, is reported to be organizing for a start in 2025 with ten teams-five in the East and five in the West. Australia's National Rugby League (NRL) is interested in the new league with the potential of U.S. teams being affiliated with Australian teams and the league possibly being called NRL America. Three RLA franchises were reported to have been sold to groups in the Dallas, New York and Las Vegas markets. The Australian NRL held its first two regular-season games in Las Vegas in March of this year.
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.
• Discuss this story on the Atlantic League message board...
Atlantic League Stories from August 26, 2024
- Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report - OSC Original by Dan Krieger
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.
