Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
Published on May 25, 2026 under Indoor Football League (IFL)

BASEBALL

Pioneer League: The independent Pioneer League started its 2026 season with 12 teams in a single-table format and each team playing a 96-game schedule through September 6, 2026. The league had 12 teams last season but the Rocky Mountain Vibes (Colorado Springs), Grand Junction (CO) Jackalopes and the league-operated Colorado Springs Sky Sox, which had completed the 2025 schedule of the Northern Colorado Owlz (Windsor) who dropped out during the season, did not return. The league added two California-based expansion teams called the Modesto Roadsters (originally announced as Glow Riders) and the Long Beach Regulators. To keep the league at an even number of 12 teams, the league entered into a partnership with the wireless cell carrier called RedPocket Mobile and added a 2026 travel-only team called the RedPocket Mobiles. This team is considered a placeholder for the Grand Junction Jackalopes whose owner announced plans to relocate the team to another market for a return in the future.

Pecos League: The independent Pecos League started its 2026 season this week with 15 teams aligned in a five-team Pacific Division and five-team Mountain North and Mountain South divisions. The California-based Pacific Division had six teams last season but lost the Monterey Amberjacks and Vallejo Seaweed and added a travel-only team called the Austin Weirdos based out of the Bay Area. Another change occurred in the Mountain North with last season's KC Iola Hormigas, who changed to the Iola (KS) Hormigas in the off-season, dropped out and were replaced by a new team called the Grand Junction (CO) Razorback Suckers (originally listed as the Cliff Hangers). The Pacific Division teams will play 48 games and the Mountain teams will play 54 games through July 26, 2026.

Mid-America League: The summer-collegiate MAL started its 2026 season this week with six teams each playing 62 games through July 29, 2026. The league had six teams last season but lost five teams and added five new teams with the Piney Woods TimberHogs (White Oak, TX) as the only returning team. Last season's Sherman (TX) Shadowcats and Abilene (TX) Flying Bison left for the Texas Collegiate Baseball League, while the Fort Smith (AR) Marshals, Joplin (MO) Outlaws and Texarkana (TX) Rhinos did not return in 2026. The MAL added five new teams called the Beaumont (TX) Oil Barons, Bryan (TX) Yard Dogs, Fort Scott (KS) Dragoons, Meridian (MS) Blues and the Nacogdoches (TX) Niners.

Northwoods League: The Battle Creek (MI) Battle Jacks of the summer-collegiate Northwoods League will play as the Southwest Michigan Thunder Hogs on each Family Day Sunday home game in 2026 to honor the city's aviation history and the A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft, also known as the Warthog. The league's Madison (WI) Mallards will play a game in 2026 as the Madison Right Bowers, named for the most powerful card in the deck for the popular Midwestern card game of Euchre. The Mallards will also play a game in 2026 as "The Dudes", named for the main character (The Dude) in the 1998 Coen Brothers moving "The Big Lebowski".

BASKETBALL

United States Pro Basketball Association: The proposed new men's USPBA is trying to organize for a start in August 2026 with ambitious plans to have teams across various regions in the United States and at three levels-the the USPBA Premier League, USPBA Development League and the USPBA Youth League. The league currently lists 16 teams in 4 regional divisions (Atlantic, Central, Mountain and Pacific) to start in 2026.

Women's Premier Basketball Association: The women's developmental WPBA, which is based in the Oakland (CA) area and assists players looking for opportunities to play overseas, has posted the 2026 season schedule that will feature the same eight teams as last season to include the Alameda Wolves, Bay Area Phoenix, Bay City Blaze, Hayward Reign, Oakland Swish, San Francisco Riptide and Tech City Titans. Each team will play 2 games per 7 weekends for a total of 14 games from June 13 through August 8, 2026. All games each weekend will be played at a facility in Oakland or San Leandro (CA).

Women's American Basketball Association: The semi-pro WABA plans to announce its 2026 schedule next month for a season that will start in early July. The league currently lists 17 teams in three regions (North Lower, South and Midwest). Some of the new teams include the Chocolate City Soul (Washington, DC), Delaware Lady Dawgs (Wilmington), Asheville (NC) Legends and the Edgewood Lady Panthers (Ninety Six, SC). The Mount Vernon (NY) Shamrocks will return after sitting out last season and the West Michigan Elite Stars have been renamed the Michigan Supreme (Detroit area).

FOOTBALL

American Football League-Europe: The new professional AFLE American-style football league started its inaugural 2026 season this week with eight teams each playing 12 games through August 23, 2026. The AFLE will be comprised of four teams from the 2025 European League of Football (ELF) and four new teams. A North/West Conference will feature the new London Warriors, the new Alpine Rams (Biel/Bienne, Switzerland), the new Paris Lights and the Rhein Fire (Dusseldorf, Germany) from the ELF. The South/East Conference will include the new Firenze Red Lions (Florence, Italy) and three former ELF teams called the Berlin Thunder, Vienna Vikings (Austria) and Wroclaw Panthers (Poland).

Arena Football One: A judge ruled in favor of the AF1's Duluth-based Minnesota Monsters in a lawsuit filed by The Arena League (TAL) seeking a restraining order for breach of contract and copyright violations filed against the team, which played in the TAL for the past two season as the Duluth Harbor Monsters before moving to the AF1.

Canadian Football League: A U.S.-based company called Ridgehaven Holdings LLC is working on a proposed privately funded multi-use sports complex with a 27,000-seat football stadium near the airport in Halifax (Nova Scotia) for a potential future CFL expansion team.

Continental Football League: The new eight-team minor professional CoFL has placed the Indianapolis Capitols team on an "operational hiatus" for the 2026 season and hopes to establish an ownership group that will return the team for the 2027 season. With the loss of the Capitols and the recent removal of the Michigan Arrows (Detroit) from a proposed four-team Northern Division, the Cincinnati Dukes and Ohio Valley Ironmen (Wheeling, WV) are the only two remaining teams in the division. After Michigan was removed, the CoFL was planning to use a 2027 expansion team called the Norfolk Neptunes to fill in some 2026 Northern Division road games and now is working on a revised Northern Division schedule after the loss of Indianapolis. There have been no changes to the regular-season schedule for the four-team Texas-based Southern Division. The CoFL now lists the Vegas Gamblers (Las Vegas) as an "ancillary market team". Four teams were scheduled for pre-season games this weekend against non-league opponents with the regular season set to start next weekend.

Indoor Football League: The IFL announced the addition of an expansion team to be based in Athens (GA) for the 2027 season. The team will play at the Akins Ford Center, which is home to the Athens Rock Lobsters hockey team that played the past two seasons (2024-26) in the Federal Prospects Hockey League and recently announced a move to the SPHL for the 2026-27 season. The IFL also announced an expansion team in Austin will be added for 2027.

HOCKEY

American Hockey League: The AHL's new Hamilton (Ontario) team, which was the league's former Bridgeport (CT) Islanders, will be called the Hamilton Hammers when it starts in the 2026-27 season. The National Hockey League's New York Islanders announced plans in March to move their Bridgeport AHL affiliate to Hamilton. Other names said to be under consideration were the Mustangs and the Havoc. Hamilton last had the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs team in the 2014-15 season but it was moved to St. John's (Newfoundland and Labrador).

Professional Women's Hockey League: The eight-team PWHL announced the addition of an expansion team to be based in San Jose for the 2026-27 season. The league is now up to 12 teams with the recent addition of other teams in Detroit, Hamilton (Ontario) and Las Vegas for the 2026-27 season. The league is exploring an alignment into two conferences or multiple divisions for the 12 teams.

ECHL: Some of the ECHL teams announced changes to their National Hockey League and American Hockey League affiliations for the 2026-27 season. The ECHL's Jacksonville Icemen, previously affiliated with the NHL's Buffalo Sabres and AHL's Rochester Americans, signed an affiliation agreement with the NHL's Minnesota Wild and AHL's Iowa Wild (Des Moines). The Wild teams were previously affiliated with the ECHL's Iowa Heartlanders (Coralville) team that is sitting out the 2026-27 season. The ECHL's expansion New Mexico Goatheads will be affiliated with the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and AHL's Colorado Eagles. The Colorado teams were previously affiliated with the ECHL's Utah Grizzlies, who moved to become the Trenton Ironhawks. Trenton will be affiliated with the NHL's New Islanders and AHL's Hamilton Hammers (formerly Bridgeport), who previously had the Worcester Railers as its ECHL affiliate. With uncertainty about the return of the ECHL's Iowa Heartlanders next season, the management of Coralville's Xtream Arena is considering the lower-level SPHL and Federal Prospects Hockey League for a possible future team.

National Collegiate Development Conference: The junior-level United States Premier Hockey League's Tier-II NCDC announced its conference alignment for the 2026-27 season. The league lists 68 teams from the United States and Canada aligned in 8 regional conferences, some of which are further split into divisions. All 33 teams from the end of the 2025-26 season will return and the league added 35 new teams, 29 of which were direct promotions from the Tier-III USPHL Premier Conference. Each NCDC team will be required to operate a team or have a direct affiliation with a team in the USPHL Premier Conference for the 2026-27 season.

SOCCER

Gainbridge Super League: The women's Spokane Zephyr FC of the United Soccer League's Division-I professional GSL announced the recently completed 2025-26 season will be the last for the team that is ceasing operations. The Zephyr FC played in the league's first two seasons (2024-26) but struggled with attendance this season. The club's ownership also operates the Spokane Velocity FC in the men's professional USL League One.

Major Arena Soccer League: The professional MASL's recently announced expansion team to be based in Allentown (PA) will be called the Lehigh Valley Spirits when it starts playing in the 2026-27 season. The ownership of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the American Hockey league will operate the new MASL team. A player draft to stock the team will be held next week.

OTHER

League One Volleyball (LOVB): The LOVB women's indoor professional volleyball league announced Miami will be home to its tenth team for its third season in 2027 and the team will be called LOVB Miami. The LOVB recently completed its 2026 season with six teams in a single-table format and will grow to ten teams in two five-team conferences next season. The Eastern Conference will feature the returning LOVB Atlanta, LOVB Madison (WI) and LOVB Nebraska (Omaha/Grand Island) along with the new LOVB Miami and LOVB Minnesota teams. The Western Conference will have the returning LOVB Austin, LOVB Houston and LOVB Salt Lake City along with the new LOVB Los Angeles and LOVB San Francisco teams.

World Team Tennis: The team-based mixed-gender professional WTT, which has not played since a two-week 2021 season was held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden near Palm Springs (CA) with five teams, has come under new ownership and announced plans to return with a season to be played during the month of December 2026. The league will have city-based teams that will be owned by the WTT.

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.

Indoor Football League Stories from May 25, 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.