The Las Vegas Thunder were a six-year entry in the International Hockey League during that organization’s gold rush era of nationwide expansion in the mid-1990’s. Minor league baseball investors Hank Stickney and his son Ken paid a $2.0 million expansion fee for the Thunder in 1993. The Stickneys also owned the Las Vegas Stars Class AAA baseball team.
The Portland Loggers were a One-Year Wonder in the minor Continental Football League during the autumn of 1969. The Loggers formed in August 1969, with less than three weeks to get organized before their home opener at Civic Stadium on August 24th. The Loggers inherited the contracts of the CoFL’s defunct Orange County Ramblers club. The Ramblers had played in the league’s championship game in both the 1967 and 1968 seasons. The Loggers’ last-minute formation showed when a puny gathering of just 2,316 fans turned out for the team’s Portland debut victory. The Loggers would win just two more games all season, en route to a 3-9 last place finish.
The Baltimore Elite Giants got their start in Nashville, before moving to Columbus, Ohio for one year, then to Washington, D.C. They moved down the road in Baltimore in 1938 and played there until 1950, before spending their final season back in Tennessee.
The original Winnipeg Jets were charter members of the WHA in 1972. They moved to the NHL in 1979, along with three other WHA squads. In 1995, they were sold and moved to Phoenix for the 1996-97 hockey season. The name was revived when the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Manitoba in 2011 and assumed the Jets name but not their history.
The Atlantic City Surf were one of the six original franchises in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. The Atlantic League was (and remains) the most ambitious league to arise out of the independent baseball boom of the 1990’s. The Surf played at the Sandcastle, a 5,900-seat ballpark built on the grounds of Atlantic City’s municipal airport, Bader Field. The stadium was built with $11.5 million in Casino Reinvestment Development Authority funds and $3 million in taxpayer bonds.
Independent (1993) United States Interregional Soccer League (1994) USISL Pro League (1995) USISL Select League (1996) USISL A-League (1997-1998) USL A-League (1999-2002) Born: 1993 Folded: January 2003 First Game: Last Game: A-League Champions: 1997 & 2002 Stadia: 1994: Hart Park 1994: Brown Deer High School 1995-2000: Uihlein Soccer Park (5,500) 2001-2002: Milwaukee
Arena Football 2 (2006-2009) Arena Football League (2010-2015) Born: August 26, 2005 – AF2 expansion franchise Re-Branded: First Game: March 30, 2006 (W 41-40 vs. Stockton Lightning) Last Game: August 15, 2015 (L 72-41 @ Arizona Rattlers) ArenaCup Champions (Arena Football 2): 2006 & 2009 Arena Bowl Champions (Arena Football
A detailed history of the New Orleans Buccaneers (1967-1970) a founding member of the ABA that played three seasons in the Big Easy and later moved to Memphis.
In the spring of 1982, the Canadian Football League’s venerable Montreal Alouettes franchise collapsed under a mountain of debt. Seeking a clean slate for new ownership, league officials folded the Alouettes on May 13, 1982 and awarded a new Montreal expansion club to Seagram’s liquor baron and Montreal Expos founder Charles Bronfman the next day. The club embarked on a star-crossed four year voyage under the new name “Concordes”, drawing inspiration from the iconic supersonic transatlantic jets of the era.
