Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report

by Dan Krieger
Published on June 1, 2026 under Major League Volleyball (MLV)

BASEBALL

Atlantic League: The York (PA) Revolution of the independent Atlantic League played a game this weekend as the Big Dills in honor of the neighboring town of Dillsburg (PA) and its association with dill pickles, even though the town was named after Captain Matthew Dill who had connection to pickles. The league's Lancaster (PA) Stormers played a series this weekend as the Lebanon Ironmasters to honor the iron industry of nearby Lebanon (PA).

Diamond Baseball League: The new summer-collegiate DBL started its inaugural 2026 season this week with six Midwestern teams each playing a 50-game schedule through August 1, 2026. Four new teams called the Grand Island (NE) Fightin' Cranes, Jefferson City (MO) Renegades, Salina (KS) Sliders and Sedalia (MO) Steamers are joined by the Fremont (NE) Moo and Hastings (NE) Sodbusters from last season's Independence League Baseball. Certain teams will also play some games against non-league teams during the season.

Empire Baseball League: The independent developmental Empire League announced the addition of an affiliated four-team Western Division in California called the LA Zone with teams currently listed as the Los Angeles Bullies, the Grinders, the California Wiseguys and the Zona Flow. The Los Angeles Bullies were a travel-only team in the Empire League's 2025 season and served as a fifth team along with the league's four teams located in the Adirondacks of Upstate New York. All four New York teams will return as part of the Empire East Division and the champions of each division will meet in a National Championship in October.

Northwoods League: The summer-collegiate Northwoods League started its 2026 season this week and features 26 teams aligned in four divisions called the Great Lakes East, Great Lakes West, Great Plains East and Great Plains South. The league had 24 teams last season and added an expansion team called the Richmond (IN) Flying Mummies for 2026. To keep an even number of teams, the league's Minnesota Mud Puppies travel-only team, which was used by the league for four previous seasons (2021-24), returned in 2026. The Mud Puppies will be based out of a training facility in Savage (MN), south of Minneapolis, and will play 36 road games while all other teams will play a 72-game schedule through August 8, 2026.

Prospect League: The summer-collegiate Prospect League started its 2026 season this week with 20 teams aligned in an Eastern Conference with five-team Northeast and Central divisions and a Western Conference with five-team Northwest and South divisions. Each team is scheduled for 56 games through August 1, 2026. The league had 18 teams last season but added the new Kokomo Creek (IN) Chubs and Decatur (IL) Bean Ballers for 2026. Also, the league's Champion City Kings (Springfield, OH) were sold and renamed the Champion City Half Trax for 2026.

West Coast League: The summer-collegiate WCL started its 2026 season this week with 16 teams aligned in eight-team North and South divisions. The league had 17 teams last season but the Cowlitz (WA) Black Bears dropped out of the South Division for this season. The WCL teams are located in Oregon (5), Washington (6), British Columbia (4) and Alberta (1) and will play 54 games through August 5, 2026.

BASKETBALL

Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional-Femenil: Mexico's LNBP-Femenil (Mexican Women's National Professional Basketball League), which is affiliated with the top men's LNBP, finished its 2026 season this weekend with eight teams aligned in a single-table format. The regular season ran from March 15 through May 3, 2026, with each team playing 16 games followed by playoffs. Last season's Rojas de Veracruz did not return from last season but the Santas del Potosi returned after sitting out last season.

Texas Basketball Association: The men's semi-pro TBA recently started its 2026 season with nine teams in a single-table format. Each weekend during the season, four games are played at a single venue.

FOOTBALL

Continental Football League: Just before starting its inaugural 2026 regular season, the minor professional CoFL lost another team as the Fort Worth Braves announced they were suspending operations. The league planned to start with eight teams but the Michigan Arrows (Detroit area) and Indianapolis Capitols dropped out of the four-team Northern Division. The league has added the Norfolk Neptunes and Vegas Gamblers as travel-only teams to fill in some games in the Northern Division. The four-team Southern Division now lists only three Texas-based teams with the loss of the Fort Worth Braves.

International Arena League: The IAL has dropped the remaining Europe Conference teams for the rest of the league's inaugural 2026 season and will finish the season with the five remaining North America Conference teams called the Arizona Juggernauts (Tempe), Cincinnati Slingers, Las Vegas Rockers, Pennsylvania Benjamins (Reading) and Utah Great 8's (Salt Lake City). The IAL started the 2026 season with ten teams aligned in five-team Europe and North America conferences and plans for each team to play a 12-game schedule. The European part of the operation began to unravel early in the season when the Zurich Ibexx (Switzerland) dropped out without ever playing a game. The other European teams called the Dusseldorf Warriors (Germany), England Eruptors (Nottingham), Glasgow Tartans (Scotland) and Stuttgart Stallions (Germany) had each played only two games. Each of these team played a game in Europe and were then brought to the United States earlier this month with each team playing one game as part of two doubleheaders with North America teams in Reading and Cincinnati.

National Arena League: The NAL announced a team called the Dallas Apex will be added as an expansion team for the 2027 season. The team will play home games at the Gomez Western Wear Arena in Mesquite (TX). Last month, the NAL dropped a team called the Dallas Bulls for the remainder of the 2026 season for failing to meet league obligations. That team was based out of the Fair Park Coliseum in Dallas.

HOCKEY

3ICE Hockey: The independent three-on-three professional 3ICE League announced its 2026 season will consist of a three-day tournament featuring eight teams each playing two games from July 14 through July 15, followed by playoffs with four teams going to the championship round on July 16. All games will be played at the Xtream Arena in Coralville (IA). Last season, the league had eight teams each playing four games over four weeks at an arena in Fort Lauderdale. Teams called 3ICE Iowa and 3ICE Philadelphia have replaced the 3ICE Dallas and 3ICE Tennessee teams from last season. The 3ICE also announced a 3ICE USA team will participate in a two-day (July 4-5) international tournament with seven other international teams in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

American Premier Hockey League: The senior-A semi-pro APHL announced new teams called the Bathurst St. Lions (Greater Toronto Area) and the Three River Aces (Pittsburgh) have been added for the 2026-27 season. The league's Summit City Distillers (Fort Wayne) announced the team is moving to the Michigan Independence Hockey League for the 2026-27 season.

Federal Prospects Hockey League: The FPHL appears to be losing another team to the SPHL as the league's Pee Dee Icecats (Florence, SC) have applied to join the SPHL for the 2026-27 season. The SPHL has conditionally approved the Pee Dee Icecats while it reviews the team's application. The FPHL stated the Pee Dee Icecats are no longer an active affiliate in good standing and has suspended the team's participation in the league.

Ligue Nord-Americaine de Hockey: The Quebec-based minor professional LNAH, or North American Hockey League, voted in favor of the expulsion and dissolution of the Petroliers de Laval team due to conduct detrimental to the league's values based on actions by the team when celebrating its 2025-26 season championship and destroying the league trophy. For now, the LNAH will operate with only seven teams in the 2026-27 season.

ECHL: The ECHL's expansion team to be based in Augusta (GA) announced it will be called the Augusta Lynx when it starts playing the 2027-28 season. The Augusta Lynx was the name of the city's former ECHL team that played parts of 11 seasons (1998-2008) in the league before folding in December 2008 of the 2008-09 season.

SOCCER

Northern Super League: As the second season of the Canadian women's professional NSL is underway with six teams, the league is considering future expansion with the possibility of Winnipeg joining in 2027 and either Edmonton or Victoria (British Columbia) joining in 2028.

USL League One (United Soccer League): A local group in Toledo (OH) is working on plans to build and fund a new 7,500-seat soccer stadium for a future Division-III professional USL League One team starting in 2028 or 2029.

OTHER

Major League Volleyball: The women's professional indoor MLV, which recently completed its 2026 season with eight teams, announced the addition of a new team in Los Angeles for the 2027 season. The MLV lost the San Diego Mojo team after the 2026 season but previously announced other new teams in Northern California, Minnesota and Washington (DC) will be added in 2027. A competing women's professional indoor league called League One Volleyball, or LOVB, also plans to add a LOVB Los Angeles team in 2027.

Major Series Lacrosse: Canada's Ontario-based summertime indoor Senior-A MSL recently started its 2026 season and again features the same seven teams called the Brooklin Lacrosse Club, Cobourg Kodiaks, Peterborough Lakers, Six Nations Chiefs (Hagersville), Brampton Excelsiors, Owen Sound North Stars and Oakville Rock. Each team will play an 18-game schedule through August 1, 2026. The MSL champion plays the champion of the British Columbia-based Western Lacrosse Association for the Senior-A championship called the Mann Cup. The MSL serves as an off-season league for some players from the National Lacrosse League.

Western Lacrosse Association: The British Columbia-based summertime indoor Senior-A WLA recently started its 2026 season with the same seven teams called the Burnaby Lakers, Coquitlam Adanacs, Langley Thunder, Maple Ridge Burrards, Nanaimo Timbermen, New Westminster Salmonbellies and Victoria Shamrocks. Each team will play an 18-game schedule through July 30, 2026. The WLA champion plays the champion of the Ontario-based Major Series Lacrosse in the Senior-A Mann Cup championship. The WLA serves as an off-season league for some players from the National Lacrosse League.

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.

Major League Volleyball Stories from June 1, 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.