The San Diego Conquistadors were members of the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1972 to 1975, and were the league’s only expansion team. They rebranded as the San Diego Sails in 1975, but only lasted 11 games before folding.
The Richmond Rebels were a financially distressed minor league football operation that wobbled through three seasons of play during the mid-1960’s. The Rebels formed in 1964 as an expansion team in the semi-pro Atlantic Coast Football League. The ACFL was a 14-team loop in 1964 with teams stretched the length of the Eastern seaboard from Atlanta to Portland, Maine. In 1965, the Rebels joined with three other ACFL clubs to split off from that league and join the new and more ambitious Continental Football League for the 1965 season.
The Seattle Steelheads were members of the West Coast Negro Baseball Association (WCNBA) in that circuit’s only season, 1946. The team was actually the Harlem Globetrotters baseball club and returned to barnstorming when the WCNBA ceased operations.
The Salt Lake Golden Eagles hockey team was a popular mainstay on the Utah pro sports scene for a quarter century. That Eagles endured despite the shocking and untimely deaths of two team owners, the collapse of two hockey leagues of which they were members, and several 11th hour rescues from financial calamity.
Omaha, Nebraska has hosted the top farm club of the Kansas City Royals since the Major League club’s inception in 1969. Initially known as the Omaha Royals, the Class AAA club won four league championships of the American Association, including back-to-back titles in their first two seasons in 1969 and 1970. The Royals survived the closure of the American Association, joining the Pacific Coast League in 1998. From 1999 until 2001, the team was briefly known as the “Golden Spikes” before returning to the Royals nickname. In 2011, the club re-branded as the Omaha Storm Chasers while simultaneously moving into the new $36M Werner Park.
The San Jose Grizzlies were a short-lived indoor soccer entry that competed in the summer-season Continental Indoor Soccer League in 1994 and 1995.
Two decades earlier, Grizzlies owner Milan Mandaric founded the Bay Area’s popular San Jose Earthquakes soccer team in the North American Soccer League. Serbian-American indoor star Preki arrived for the Grizzlies’ second and final season and won the CISL’s MVP award in 1995. It was the future Soccer Hall of Famer’s final season of indoor soccer before embarking on his equally legendary outdoor career with the U.S. Men’s National Team and in Major League Soccer in 1996.
The Macon Knights were a minor league Arena Football franchise based in Middle Georgia during the early 2000’s. Coached by former NFL corner Kevin Porter, the Knights reached the Arena Cup IV championship game of Arena Football 2 at the conclusion of the 2003 season.
The Oakland Oaks were charter members of the American Basketball Association (ABA) and were introduced, along with the rest of the new league, on February 2, 1967. The franchise’s initial investors were league co-founder Dennis Murphy, along with Los Angeles-based insurance executive S. Kenneth Davidson. The latter pulled in entertainer Pat Boone, an avid basketball fan.
Canadian Football League (1994) Born: July 26, 1993 – CFL expansion franchise Folded: April 1995 First Game: July 8, 1994 (W 32-26 @ Sacramento Gold Miners) Last Game: November 5, 1994 (L 51-10 @ Edmonton Eskimos) Grey Cup Championships: None Sam Boyd Stadium (31,000) Opened: 1971 Team Colors: Desert Sand, Black & White Owner: Nick
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