The Toronto Toros started out as the Ottawa Nationals, a charter member of the World Hockey Association (WHA) in 1972. They moved to Toronto for their playoff games and were referred to as the Ontario Nationals. Less than a month later, the team was sold and permantely relocated to Toronto, where the became the Toros.
The Memphis Showboats were a popular entry that drew strong crowds to the Liberty Bowl in the springtime United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Showboats are best remembered today for persuading University of Tennessee star defensive end Reggie White to sign with the USFL rather than enter the 1984 NFL draft. After two seasons with Memphis, White joined the NFL in 1985. He is one of four Pro Football Hall-of-Famer players to begin his career in the USFL, alongside Jim Kelly, Steve Young and Gary Zimmerman.
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 Denver Spurs started in the Western Hockey League in 1968. When that circuit folded, they joined the Central Hockey League in 1974. The following year, they joined the World Hockey Association, but moved to Ottawa halfway through the season.
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.
The Boston Tigers were a semi-professional soccer team that played in Chelsea and Lynn, Massachusetts, melting pot cities that bordered the northern edge of Boston. The Tigers competed in the American Soccer League (ASL) against competition from other Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic cities. Future two-time NASL Most Valuable Player Carlos Metidieri suited up for the Tigers in 1967.
The Atlantic City Blackjacks were an Arena Football League expansion club that played for one season during the summer of 2019. After the New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Development Authority committed a half million dollars to outfit Boardwalk Hall for Arena Football, the Blackjacks would play just six home games in the building before the Arena Football League declared bankruptcy and disbanded in November 2019.
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.
The San Antonio Texans were a One-Year Wonder in the Canadian Football League, playing a single season at the Alamodome in the autumn of 1995. The franchise had a twisty backstory, dating back to the formation of the NFL-backed World League of American Football (WLAF) in 1990.
