Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report
by Dan Krieger
Published on February 16, 2026 under UPSHOT League (UPSHOT)
BASEBALL
American Association: A group called the North Texas Nine PAC is trying to develop a public-private partnership between the city of Denton (TX), the University of North Texas and the independent American Association to bring a new ballpark to Denton. The ballpark would become home to the University of North Texas Mean Green baseball team and a new American Association team.
Carolina League: The Lynchburg (VA) Hillcats of the Single-A Carolina League announced the team has changed its name to the Hill City Howlers, which was inspired by the cemetery across the street from team's home at City Stadium. Lynchburg has been home to various affiliated teams over the past 100-plus years and the team has been called the Hillcats since the 1995 season.
Pioneer League: The Yuba-Sutter High Wheelers (Marysville, CA) of the independent Pioneer League announced the team has been renamed the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds ahead of the 2026 season. The team joined the league in 2024 based in Davis (CA) as the Yolo High Wheelers but moved to Marysville last season and changed to the Yuba-Sutter High Wheelers. The Freebirds were named for being fun and fearless but still competitive.
Eastern League: The Binghamton (NY) Rumble Ponies of the Double-A Eastern League will play a three-game series in the 2026 season as the Southern Tier Scoop Scoundrels in reference to an obscure law that makes it illegal for a person to carry an ice cream cone in their back pocket on Sundays. The league's Erie (PA) Seawolves will play two three-game series as the Flagship City Kitties during the 2026 season to honor the city as home to the historic flagship U.S. Brig Niagara and to celebrate 25 years of the team being the Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.
Midwest League: The Fort Wayne TinCaps of the High-A Midwest League will play 11 games during the 2026 season as the Fort Wayne PufferBellies in a tribute to the area's railroad history and the nickname given to steam-powered locomotives that would "puff" steam from the boilers in the "belly" of the train's engine.
South Atlantic League: The Hub City Spartanburgers (Spartanburg, SC) of the High-A SAL will celebrate 100 years of baseball in their hometown by playing six games during the 2026 season as the Spartanburg Pastimes.
BASKETBALL
Upshot League: The proposed new women's professional basketball league known as the Upshot League has posted the 2026 schedules for its four teams called the Charlotte Crown, Greensboro (NC) Groove, Jacksonville Waves and the Savannah Steel. Each team will play 34 games from May 15 through August 27, 2026, as part of the league's inaugural season. The league announced tryouts in Greensboro (March 1) and Jacksonville (March 15) will be held next month. The league announced an expansion team in Baltimore will be added for the 2027 season.
Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacifico (CIBACOPA): The Mexican men's professional CIBACOPA, or Pacific Coast Basketball League, started its 2026 season this weekend with 11 teams aligned in a single-table format. Each team will play 36 games through May 9, 2026, followed by playoffs. All ten teams from last season have returned and the league added a new team called the Toros Laguna, based in Torreón, Coahuila. Other teams include the Angeles de la Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico City), Astros de Jalisco (Guadalajara, Jalisco), Caballeros de Culiacan (Sinaloa), Frayles de Guasave (Sinaloa), Halcones de Ciudad Obregon (Sonora), Ostioneros de Guaymas (Sonora), Pioneros de Los Mochis (Sinaloa), Rayos de Hermosillo (Sonora), Venados de Mazatlan, (Sinaloa) and the Zonkeys de Tijuana (Baja California).
Women's American Basketball Association: The semi-pro WABA announced a team called the Chocolate City Soul (Washington, DC) has been added for the 2026 season.
FOOTBALL
American Football League Europe: The new professional American-style football league called the AFLE, also referred to as The League Europe, announced its new Paris team will be called the Paris Lights when the league starts the inaugural season in 2026. Of the AFLE's current six teams, the Berlin Thunder, Rhein Fire (Düsseldorf), Vienna Vikings and Wroclaw Panthers (Poland) joined from the 2025 European League of Football (ELF), while the Alpine Rams (Switzerland) and Paris Lights are new teams. The AFLE is also trying to start new teams in England, Italy and Monaco. The new Paris Lights will be competing with the Paris Musketeers team that also left the ELF after the 2025 season but has joined the new European Football Alliance for 2026.
Midwest Arena Football Federation: The owner of the Pittsburgh Chiefs (Cheswick, PA), formerly the Brownsville Chiefs, is organizing the new MAFF for a start in October 2026. In addition to the Chiefs, the Great Lakes Roughriders, Michigan Eagles, Morenci (MI) Slayers and NW Ohio Warlocks are listed as members.
HOCKEY
Federal Prospects Hockey League: The minor professional FPHL officially announced last month the addition of the new Minnesota Northern Lights (Thief River Falls) team to the league for the 2026-27 season. The FPHL will play two regular-season games between the Indiana Sentinels (Columbus) and the Topeka Scarecrows in Thief River Falls on March 27 and March 28, 2026. These games were originally scheduled to be played in Columbus (IN).
Western Hockey League: The commissioner of the major-junior WHL stated this week that the addition of an expansion team in Chilliwack (British Columbia) is on schedule for a start in the 2027-28 season and the league continues to negotiate with an ownership group. The WHL added the British Columbia-based Penticton Vees this season as the 23rd team and the Chilliwack team was originally supposed to join next season as the 24th team.
SOCCER
MLS Next Pro: Major League Soccer's D.C. United is pursuing plans to build a 12,000-seat soccer stadium in Baltimore for an affiliated men's team in the Division-III MLS Next Pro league but a new professional women's soccer team, most likely in the United Soccer League's Gainbridge Super League (GSL), would be the main tenant. The women's team would be owned separately by another investor since the D.C. United has a current women's GSL team called the DC Power FC. The D.C. United is one of only three MLS teams that does not currently have an affiliated team in the MLS Next Pro. Funding still needs to be allocated to finance the project that will be a public-private partnership.
Major League Soccer: Plans to build a new soccer stadium for a potential MLS team on the site of a current heliport in Indianapolis is facing funding problems and the sale of the heliport site to the city is being challenged. A part-owner of the Indy Eleven from the United Soccer League Championship league is behind the effort to save the heliport while the Indianapolis mayor has supported the heliport site for an MLS stadium. The Indy Eleven had tried to become a possible MLS expansion team with a proposed soccer stadium at another Indianapolis location but the mayor supported the heliport site and sidelined the Indy Eleven's effort.
Ontario Premier League: With the recent renaming of Canada's pro-am League1 Ontario to the Ontario Premier League (OPL) as part of the League1 Canada system becoming the Premier Soccer Leagues Canada under the Canadian Premier League, the OPL has renamed its competition levels for the 2026 season. The top League1 Ontario Premier level is now the OPL 1 with 12 men's teams and 10 women's teams in single-table formats. The second-level League1 Ontario Championship is now the OPL 2 with 12 men's teams and 10 women's teams in single-table formats. The third-level League2 Ontario is now the OPL 3 with 28 men's teams and 25 women's teams aligned in 3 regional conferences. The OPL 1 and OPL 2 engage in promotion and relegation between levels.
Prairies Premier League: Central Canada's new pro-am PPL, which was called the League1 Prairies as one of several leagues under the League1 Canada system that recently changed to the Premier Soccer Leagues Canada in a partnership with the Canadian Premier League, will start in May 2026 with seven teams playing through mid-July 2026. The league will include three Saskatchewan teams called the Queen City United SC (Regina), Saskatchewan EXCEL Program (Saskatoon) and the Forza Soccer Academy (Saskatoon); three teams in Winnipeg (Manitoba) called the FC Manitoba, Bonivital Flames and Winnipeg Lucania FC; and one Ontario team called the Thunder Bay Chill. The men's FC Manitoba and the Thunder Bay Chill last played in the United Soccer League's League Two in 2023 and 2024, respectively. The PPL will start a six-team men's division and a six-team women's division in 2026 with Forza fielding only a men's team and Lucania fielding only a women's team.
USL League One: The group called Riverside Pro Soccer continues to pursue professional men's and women's teams in the USL along with a proposed expandable 5,000-seat soccer stadium in downtown Riverside (CA). The head of the effort confirmed the men's team is planning to take the field in 2028 as part of the Division-III professional USL League One.
OTHER
Volleyball League of America: The tour-based VLA, which recently announced a collaboration with USA Volleyball, started its 2026 season last month with 14 regional events across the United States from January 3 through May 30, 2026. Events feature a mixture of teams from men's teams in Tier 1 and Tier 2 divisions and teams in a Women's Division. The men's Tier 1 features 12 teams in 4 three-team regional divisions; the Tier 2 has 24 teams in 4 regional divisions; and the Women's Division has 39 teams in 4 regional divisions.
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.
UPSHOT League Stories from February 16, 2026
- 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.
