The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 48th season of operation in 2022–23. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternative for those who would not or did not make the roster of a team in the Major Junior Canadian Hockey League (CHL) nor Tier I United States Hockey League (USHL). The NAHL is one of the oldest junior hockey leagues in the United States and is headquartered in Addison, Texas.
The Western League was the name of several minor league baseball leagues that operated between 1885 and 1900. These leagues were focused mainly in the Midwestern United States.
An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also hope that the expansion of their competition will grow the popularity of the sport generally. The term is most commonly used in reference to the North American major professional sports leagues but is applied to sports leagues in other countries with a closed franchise system of league membership. The term refers to the expansion of the sport into new areas. The addition of an expansion team sometimes results in the payment of an expansion fee to the league by the new team and an expansion draft to populate the new roster.
The Western Conference is one of Major League Soccer's two conferences, along with the Eastern Conference.
The NHL's Central Division was formed in 1993 as part of the Western Conference in a league realignment. Its predecessor was the Norris Division and its also one of two successors to the Northwest Division. The Chicago Blackhawks have been a member of the Central Division in all of its seasons since the original 1993 realignment. The Arizona Coyotes, Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues were also original members of the division, but were realigned to a different division for a while before returning; both the Coyotes and Stars were moved to the Pacific Division in 1998, while the Blues were moved to the West Division during the temporary 2021 realignment. Three of its teams—the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, and Winnipeg Jets —joined the NHL in the league's last expansion phase between 1998 and 2000. The fourth team in that group, the Columbus Blue Jackets, was once a member of the Central Division, but moved to the Metropolitan Division after the 2013 realignment.
The Pacific Division, formerly the Central Division, was a division in the Arena Football League. The division was part of both the American and National Conferences at different points in its history. The division was first formed in 1995 when expansion teams were formed and put into the current divisions.
The Minnesota Junior Hockey League (MnJHL) was a USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III junior ice hockey league operated out of Minneapolis-Saint Paul.
The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) is an American Tier III junior ice hockey league that consists of teams from Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Sanctioned by USA Hockey, for most of the league's existence, the winner of the NA3HL playoffs would advance to play for the Tier III National Championship, however, this has not been held since 2015.
The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams among indoor football leagues. As of 2023 season, the league consists of 14 teams in two conferences with each team playing 16 games over 19 weeks.
The Akron Zips men's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of the University of Akron. As of the next National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I men's soccer season in 2023, the Zips will play in the Big East Conference. This move followed Akron's full-time home of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) shutting down its men's soccer league after the 2022 season. Akron is regularly ranked in the Top 10 NSCAA collegiate men's soccer poll. They have been ranked No. 1 previously in 2005, 2009, 2010, and 2016. The Zips have played their home games at FirstEnergy Stadium-Cub Cadet Field, formerly named Lee R. Jackson Soccer Field and Cub Cadet Field, since 1966. They won their first national championship in 2010.
Jeremy Ogden, AKA Chewy, Tank, Wolfman, Congo, Pillsbury, and Dough Boy was a goaltender for the Colorado Mammoth in the National Lacrosse League and started for the Colorado Sabertooths National Championship teams in 2012 and 2013. He played college lacrosse for Colorado State University from 1993 to 1995. In 2006, he was named to the United States indoor Lacrosse Team to compete in the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship in 2007 but did not see any action in the Bronze Medal campaign. A year later in the 2008/2009 National Lacrosse League season he was signed by the Colorado Mammoth as a goalie. As a member of the Mammoth, he saw minimal action in one game in his home town of Philadelphia. During an exhibition season in 2009, the Colorado Sabertooths lacrosse team competed in the Freedom Cup sponsored by USA Indoor Lacrosse in Philadelphia, PA. After defeating all of the other regional and state teams they lost to Team USA's entry to the tournament, finishing as National Runners-Up in their inaugural year.
Collen Warner is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder. He last played for Major League Soccer club Colorado Rapids.
The following is a complete history of organizational changes in the National Hockey League (NHL). The NHL was founded in 1917 as a successor to the National Hockey Association (NHA), starting out with four teams from the predecessor league, and eventually grew to thirty-two in its current state. The NHL has expanded and contracted numerous times throughout its history, including in 1979 when four teams came over from the World Hockey Association (WHA).
The History of Major League Soccer began in 1988, when the United States Soccer Federation pledged to create a Division 1 professional soccer league as a condition to FIFA awarding the 1994 FIFA World Cup to the United States. Major League Soccer was officially formed in 1995. The league began play in 1996 with 10 teams, and in 1998 grew to 12 teams. MLS experienced some difficulties in its first seasons, with the league losing money in the early years, resulting in two teams folding after the 2001 season. MLS has rebounded since then, with increased attendance and the development of soccer-specific stadiums. With an average attendance of over 20,000 per game, MLS has the third highest average attendance of any sports league in the U.S. after the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB), and is the seventh highest attended professional soccer league worldwide. MLS currently has 28 teams, with further expansion planned. The league plans to expand to 29 teams with the addition of St. Louis in 2023. MLS is currently the largest first division professional soccer league in the world.
The Grand Rapids Dragonfish were a men's senior semi-professional box lacrosse team in the Continental Indoor Lacrosse League. They played at the Eagles Ice Center in Grand Rapids. Grand Rapids won the 2011 CILL championship, becoming the league's first champion. The Dragonfish were original members of the CILL having played since the inaugural 2011 season.
The Chicago Outlaws are a senior semi-professional box lacrosse team in the Box Lacrosse League. The Outlaws presently play at the Salt Creek Sports Center in Palatine, Illinois.
The 2023 MLS SuperDraft was the 24th edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. It was held on December 21, 2022, becoming the first SuperDraft to be held in December, but will retain the 2023 branding. The draft was conducted via conference call and streamed online. Previously, the SuperDraft had been held in conjunction with the annual January United Soccer Coaches convention.
The Interstate Box Lacrosse Association (IBLA) was a men's semi-professional box lacrosse league based in the United States. From 2019 to 2021, the IBLA served as an official partner of the National Lacrosse League (NLL), operating as a developmental funnel. The league was founded in 2017 to unite regional semi-professional leagues into a system similar to the Canadian Lacrosse Association structure of men's Senior A and Senior B indoor lacrosse teams. As of 2021 there are 52 total teams playing in 17 regional leagues. The Seneca Marksmen are the most recent IBLA champions, defeating the Grand Rapids Grizzlies in Lakeland, Florida on September 19, 2021.
