Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
IFL Indoor Football League

Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
Published on February 9, 2026 under Indoor Football League (IFL)


BASEBALL

Pioneer League: In a partnership with the wireless cell carrier called RedPocket Mobile, the independent Pioneer League has named its 2026 travel-only team the RedPocket Mobiles that is scheduled to play 48 road games. Due to off-season changes dropping the league from 12 to 11 teams, the league decided to add the travel-only team to keep an even number of 12 teams. Of the 12 teams from 2025, the Rocky Mountain Vibes (Colorado Springs), Colorado Springs Sky Sox, which was an in-season league-operated replacement for the folded Northern Colorado Owlz (Windsor), and the Grand Junction (CO) Jackalopes dropped out for 2026. Grand Junction is planning a future move to a new market. The league added the Long Beach Coast and Modesto Roadsters as 2026 expansion teams.

Pecos League: The independent Pecos League officially announced a team in Grand Junction (CO) will be added for the 2026 season and a name-the-team contest has started. When the Grand Junction market was first proposed back in October for the 2026 season, the league listed the team under the Grand Junction Cliff Hangers name. The new Grand Junction team will play 18 home games out of the 54-game season. The league has also added back the Monterey Amberjacks team to the Pacific Division, which again has six California-based teams. The Iola (KS) Hormigas team has disappeared from the Mountain Division, which again has ten teams including Grand Junction.

Eastern League: The Altoona (PA) Curve of the Double-A Eastern League will play a home series (June 12-14) in the 2026 season as the Altoona Mud Turtles to honor the city's late 19th century minor league team by that name. The league's Hartford Yard Goats will play two games (May 28-29) in the 2026 season as the Hartford Rock Cats to honor the New Britain (CT) Rock Cats, which was the team's name prior to moving to Hartford for the 2016 season.

Midwest League: The Great Lakes Loons (Midland, MI) of the High-A Midwest League will play select games in the 2026 season as the Michigan Dogmen to honor the Michigan wilderness and the legend of a half-man half-dog known as the Michigan Dogman that is said to periodically appear across Michigan since 1887.

South Atlantic League: In a promotion with the local White Squirrel Brewery, the Bowling Green (KY) Hot Rods of the High-A SAL will play selected games in the 2026 season as the Bowling Green White Squirrels named for the area's white squirrels that are a variation of the eastern grey squirrel.

Texas League: The Wichita Wind Surge of the Double-A Texas League will play four games during the 2026 season as the Wichita Honkers in a tribute to the local Canada geese known as honkers that play havoc with traffic.

BASKETBALL

Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball: The women's 5-on-5 AU Pro Basketball competition started its 2026 season this week with four teams called the Eclipse, Glow, Gold Rush and Rhythm. The four-week 2026 season is played at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium through March 1, 2026, with teams playing three games each week. This is the first season each team has its own identity. In the past, teams were named after their team captain, who was selected based on points earned the previous week and resulted in team name changes each week. The league will continue its scoring system that counts points for each athlete's team and individual performance throughout the season with the top point-getter winning the championship. The AU Pro Basketball is an off-season opportunity for players from the Women's National Basketball Association along with college prospects and other elite players.

Canadian Elite Basketball League: After recently coming under new ownership, the Saskatoon-based Saskatchewan Rattlers of the men's professional CEBL announced the team has been rebranded as the Saskatoon Mamba ahead of the league's 2026 season. The Saskatchewan Rattlers joined the CEBL as a charter member for the league's inaugural 2019 season.

Liga Mexicana de Baloncesto Profesional Femenil: The Mexican women's professional LMBPF, also known as La Liga de Mexico, recently started its 2026 season with five teams each playing 16 games from January 24 through March 29, 2026. Of the nine teams from last season, only four teams called the Dragonas (Mexico City), Mieleras de Guanajuato, Mineras Zacatecas and Toritas de Celaya returned along with a new team called the Estrellas de Puebla. Five teams called the Avispa de Guerrero, City Penguins (Mexico City), Husky's de Queretaro, Libelulas (Mexico City) and Universidad Modelo (Merida, Yucatan) did not return for the 2026 season.

National Basketball Association Gatorade League (G-League): The NBA's New Orleans Pelicans plan to move their Birmingham Squadron G-League affiliate closer to home to the New Orleans suburb of Kenner for the 2026-27 season. The Kenner City Council approved support this week for relocating the team to the Kenner Pontchartrain Convention & Civic Center. The Pelicans started operating their own G-League affiliate temporarily as the Erie (PA) BayHawks for two seasons (2019-21) while renovations were made to an arena in Birmingham. The team was then moved to become the Birmingham Squadron starting with the G-League's 2021-22 season.

FOOTBALL

European Football Alliance: The new EFA American-style football league, which was created with teams that broke away from the established European League of Football (ELF) after the 2025 season, announced it will play its inaugural 2026 season with seven teams each playing a 12-game schedule that will be announced in the near future. The EFA includes the Munich Ravens, Frankfurt Galaxy, Paris Musketeers, Madrid Bravos, Prague Lions (Czech Republic), Nordic Storm (Copenhagen) and Raiders Tirol (Austria) representing 7 of the 16 teams from the 2025 ELF. The ELF also lost four of its 2025 teams called the Berlin Thunder, Rhein Fire (Dusseldorf), Vienna Vikings and Wroclaw Panthers (Poland) to the new American Football League Europe and the Fehervar Enthroners (Hungary) to the Austrian Football League. Even with all of its losses, the ELF recently stated the league plans to operate in 2026 and will announce a schedule by the end of this month.

Indoor Football League: The IFL announced it will host a mid-season tournament called the American Dream IFL Cup that will involve 4 of the league's 14 teams playing at the Arena at the American Dream Mall in East Rutherford (NJ). On May 18, 2026, the Vegas Knight Hawks will play the Orlando Pirates and the Arizona Rattlers will play the New Mexico Chupacabras. The losers will play in a Consolation Match and the winners will play in the IFL Cup Championship on May 25, 2026.

United Football League: The co-owner and head of business operations for the eight-team spring-season UFL stated this week that the league will expand and add two new teams in 2028.

HOCKEY

ECHL: The ECHL's Atlanta Gladiators announced a Hockey Heritage Weekend when the team will play one game (March 27) as the Atlanta Knights, a former minor league team that played 4 seasons (1992-96) in the former International Hockey League, and one game (March 28) as the Atlanta Thrashers, the city's former National Hockey League team that played 12 seasons (1999-2011) before becoming the Winnipeg Jets. The efforts of a group called "Bring Pro Hockey to Maryland," which was trying to bring an ECHL team to Frederick (MD), have been put on hold for now. The ECHL will grow to 32 teams, the same as the National Hockey League, with new teams in Augusta (GA) and New Mexico (Rio Rancho) added in the next two seasons. A Maryland team would have to come through relocation of an ECHL team or another minor league, but the biggest hurdle is building a suitable arena.

USA Hockey Development League: The National Governing Body of hockey known as USA Hockey recently announced the creation of the USA Hockey Development League (DL) to provide a framework of youth hockey programs across the United States and enhance the national development pathway for elite 14- to 17-year-old players transitioning into Tier-I (United States Hockey League) and Tier-II (North American Hockey League) junior hockey. The league will have two distinct age divisions, a 15-and-under DL and a 17-and-under DL, and every approved organization must have teams in both divisions. The league plans to start in the 2027-28 season

SOCCER

Canadian Premier League: The men's professional CPL announced its 2026 season schedule will again feature eight teams in a single-table format with each team playing a 28-game schedule from April 4 through October 25, 2026. Since last season, the Winnipeg-based Valour FC suspended operations due to poor attendance and financial losses but an expansion team called the FC Supra du Quebec (Greater Montreal Area) was added to keep the league at eight teams. Also, the York United FC, representing the Greater Toronto Area and known as The Nine Stripes, was renamed the Inter Toronto FC in the off-season.

Kings League: The Kings League, which plays seven-a-side indoor soccer without dasher boards along with other customized rules, audience interaction and social media personalities, is looking to start a league in the United States this year with its headquarters in New York. The Kings League has established leagues in other countries like Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Italy, Germany and France.

Major League Soccer: MLS and the ownership of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC are not optimistic about the team's future in Vancouver without a dedicated home stadium. The club's revenue has been affected by constraints around scheduling and venue access to its home at BC Place. The club has been up for sale since December 2024 and securing a new stadium is considered a key to attracting a buyer or investor to keep the club in the city.

Northern Super League: The Canadian women's professional NSL announced its 2026 season schedule will feature the same six teams from the inaugural 2025 season with each team playing 25 games from April 24 through October 26, 2026, followed by playoffs. Teams include the AFC Toronto, Calgary Wild FC, Halifax Tides FC, Montreal Roses FC (Les Roses de Montreal), Ottawa Rapid FC and Vancouver Rise FC.

OTHER

LIV Golf: The men's tour-based professional LIV Golf League started its 2026 season this week in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) with each event now extended from 3 to 4 days and from 54 holes to 72 holes. The league again has 13 teams but the Stinger GC was rebranded as the Southern Guards GC and the Iron Heads GC was rebranded as the Korean Golf Club for the 2026 season. As of now, the schedule features 12 regular-season events from February 4 through August 23, 2026, followed by the Team Championship (August 27-30) at the Cardinal at St. John's in Plymouth (MI). In addition to Saudi Arabia, the regular season will include seven other international events in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mexico City, Spain, South Africa and the United Kingdom along with four U.S. events in Virginia, Louisiana, New York (Bedminster, NJ) and Indianapolis. One other event being planned for Korea is still unconfirmed for the 2026 season.

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.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Indoor Football League Stories from February 9, 2026


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.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central