Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
Published on September 22, 2025 under California League (CalL)
BASEBALL
California League: The Ontario (CA) Tower Buzzers will be the name of the Single-A California League team that is replacing the Modesto Nuts as part of a three-team movement of California League affiliates for the 2026 season. Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners are moving their Modesto Nuts affiliate to San Bernardino and it will take the Inland Empire 66ers name; the Los Angeles Angels are moving their current Inland Empire 66ers affiliate to Rancho Cucamonga as a new version of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes; and the Los Angeles Dodgers are moving their Rancho Cucamonga Quakes affiliate to the new ONT Field in Ontario. The Tower Buzzers is an aviation-themed name derived from the "ONT" three-letter airport code for the Ontario International Airport in the name of the new 6,500-seat ballpark and a "buzz the tower" line from the aviation-themed "Top Gun" movie.
Carolina League: The Salem (VA) Red Sox of the Single-A Carolina League will be renamed ahead of the 2026 season and scheduled a "Rebrand Launch Party" for November 8, 2025, to announce the name.
Pioneer League: The independent Pioneer League officially announced the addition of a 2026 expansion team for Modesto (CA), which is losing the Modesto Nuts of the Single-A California League to San Bernardino for the 2026 season. Next month, the new Modesto ownership will start soliciting potential team names and narrow the list to five names for fan voting. The "Nuts" nickname will not be considered.
BASKETBALL
Global League: The National Basketball Association's LeBron James and his agent are advocating a proposed new professional global basketball league that could start in the fall of 2026. The unnamed league would operate under a global touring format with six men's teams and six women's teams traveling to eight different international locations during the season.
Women's National Basketball Association: The saga surrounding the sale and relocation of the WNBA's Connecticut Sun (Uncasville) continues after the league shot down two proposed purchase and relocation attempts from groups in Boston and Hartford, two cities that were not on the league's list of potential expansion applicants. The WNBA then offered to purchase the Sun and move the team to one of the cities, such as Houston, which applied for an expansion team. The WNBA is facing backlash for getting involved in the sale but the league justified its involvement once the purchase offers involved relocation. The mayor of Hartford, about 45 miles from Uncasville, stated the city is within the Sun's marketing territory so there was no reason to apply for an expansion team and the Suns' move to Hartford should not be considered a relocation. The state of Connecticut has proposed a bid that would have the state take a minority interest in the team and keep the team in Connecticut with home games split between Hartford and Uncasville.
FOOTBALL
National Arena League: The NAL is undergoing several changes for the 2026 season. The league's Shreveport Rouxgaroux team is moving across the Red River to nearby Bossier City (LA) and the team has been renamed the Louisiana Rouxgaroux. The Salina (KA) Liberty and Southwest Kansas Storm (Dodge City) have left the Arena Football One to join the NAL. The NAL's Idaho Horsemen (Nampa) team, which was rumored to be moving to an unspecified location in Arizona as the Arizona Horsemen, will be inactive for the 2026 season as ownership works on relocating the team for the 2027 season. The Carolina Cobras (Greensboro, NC) dropped out of the NAL midway through the 2025 season currently are not listed as an NAL team.
Arena Football One: With the AF1 losing the Salina Liberty and Southwest Kansas Storm to the National Arena League (NAL), the league plans to add the Beaumont (TX) Renegades from the NAL, the Kentucky Barrels (Highland Heights, KY) expansion team and a yet-to-be-named Michigan-based expansion team for the 2026 season. The AF1 operated with eight teams in 2025 prior to the loss of the two teams to the NAL.
Indoor Football League: The IFL's San Jose-based Bay Area Panthers announced the team will sit out the 2026 season due to increased operational costs and other expenses as its future is reassessed. The team has been part of the league for the past four seasons (2022-25).
Continental Football League: The proposed new outdoor minor professional CoFL announced the Austin-based Texas Syndicate will be the league's second team and the first of four teams in the league's Southern Division when it starts playing in 2026. The Ohio Valley Ironmen (Wheeling, WV) was the first CoFL team announced as part of the four-team Northern Division. Originally, the proposed new Professional Independent Football League listed the Texas Syndicate as a first-season member for 2026.
United States Arena League: After the first week of its inaugural 2025 fall season, the four-team USAL announced the Michigan Island Boyz will be replaced by the Ohio Boom (Lima) from the United Indoor Football Association (UIFA) for the remainder of the season due to the Michigan coach's health issues. The UIFA, which recently started its 2025 season with four teams, is down to three full-schedule teams.
HOCKEY
American Hockey League: The Loveland-based Colorado Eagles, the AHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's Colorado Avalanche, announced plans to move Greeley (CO) where a new 8,000-seat arena is to be built for the team in time for the 2028-29 season. The Eagles will continue playing at Loveland's Blue Arena through the 2027-28 season.
SPHL: The minor professional SPHL announced an expansion team based in Mobile (AL) will be added for the 2027-28 season. The team will play at a new 10,000-seat downtown arena currently under construction. Mobile was home to the Mobile Mysticks for seven seasons (1995-2002) in the ECHL.
Ontario Hockey League: The major-junior OHL started its 2025-26 season this week with the same 20 teams as last season and each team playing a 68-game schedule through March 22, 2026. The OHL alignment again features an Eastern Conference with five-team East and Central divisions and a Western Conference with five-team Midwest and West divisions. The OHL also announced the 23-team Junior-B Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League will now serve as the OHL's first official development league.
Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League: The major-junior QMJHL started its 2025-26 season this week and again features 18 teams with each team playing 64 games through March 21, 2026. The league's Acadie-Bathurst Titan (New Brunswick) relocated to St. John's (Newfoundland) as the Newfoundland Regiment for the 2025-26 season. The QMJHL eliminated the two divisions in each conference this season and it is aligned in a ten-team Eastern Conference and an eight-team Western Conference. Two QMJHL teams will play a couple of interleague games against Ontario Hockey League teams in the 2025-26 season.
Western Hockey League: The major-junior WHL started its 2025-26 season this week with 23 teams each playing 68 games through March 22, 2026. The league had 22 teams last season but added the Penticton Vees expansion team to the British Columbia Division. That was the only change in the league alignment that features an Eastern Conference with a five-team Central Division and a six-team East Division and a Western Conference with six-team British Columbia and United States divisions. The WHL is planning to add a team in Chilliwack (British Columbia) for the 2026-27 season.
United States Hockey League: The Midwest-based Tier-I junior-level USHL started its 2025-26 season this week and features the same 16 teams aligned in 8-team Eastern and Western conferences. Each team will play a 62-game schedule through April 4, 2026.
SOCCER
National Women's Soccer League: As the Chicago Stars FC of the NWSL try to build a new home stadium, the team announced it will move from SeatGeek Stadium in suburban Bridgeview to Northwestern University's Martin Stadium in Evanston (IL) for the 2026 season. The team has played at SeatGeek Stadium, which served as the home to Major League Soccer's Chicago Fire FC through the 2019 season, since joining the league in 2013 but the team's lease expires after this season.
Major Arena Soccer League 3: The MASL's amateur-level MASL3 announced the Cumberland Valley SC, based in Hagerstown (MD), has been added to the league's Atlantic Division for the 2025-26 season.
USL League Two (United Soccer League): The men's pre-professional USL League Two announced an expansion team called the Memphis Football Club (Memphis FC) will join for the 2026 season. During the USL League Two's prior years as the Premier Development League (PDL), the PDL had a team called the Memphis Express for four seasons (2002-05) and the Memphis City FC for the 2018 season. The Memphis City FC served as a development team for the expansion Memphis 901 FC that joined the Division-I professional USL Championship for the 2019 season. The Memphis 901 FC played five seasons (2019, 2021-24) in the USL Championship until the franchise was transferred after the 2024 season to the Santa Barbara Sky FC, which is set to join the USL Championship for the 2026 season.
USL League One (United Soccer League): The USL and the city of Brownsville (TX) will enter into exclusive negotiations over the next year to fund renovations to the city's Brownsville Sports Park for a men's professional soccer team, most likely in the USL League One, and a women's professional team.
OTHER
National Lacrosse League: The indoor NLL announced its 2025-26 season schedule that will again feature 14 teams aligned in a single-table format. Each team will play an 18-game schedule from November 28, 2025, through April 18, 2026. Last season's Albany (NY) FireWolves moved to Canada as the Oshawa (Ontario) FireWolves for the 2025-26 season. This move gives the league seven teams based in Canada and seven teams based in the United States. The Albany FireWolves lasted only four seasons (2021-25) in the league after moving from Uncasville (CT) where the team was called the New England Black Wolves. The NLL's Toronto Rock is moving back to its home in Hamilton (Ontario) for the 2025-26 season after playing last season in Mississauga (Ontario) due to renovations at the Hamilton arena. After the 2024-25 season, the ownership of the NLL's Rochester (NY) Knighthawks decided to step away from operating the team but a new ownership group stepped in to purchase the team and keep it in the same market as the Rochester Knighthawks.
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.
California League Stories from September 22, 2025
- 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.
