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 New York Stars of 1974 were one of biggest misfires of the ill-fated World Football League. The WFL launched that summer with ambitions of taking on the NFL head-to-head, much as the AFL had done a decade earlier. But the league was plagued by numerous problems from the outset, with the Stars and their wretched dump of a home field, Downing Stadium on Randall’s Island, high up on the list. The team lasted a little over two months in the Big Apple before owner Robert Schmerz threw in the towel. The team was shifted to North Carolina under new ownership in the middle of the 1974 season and re-named the Charlotte Hornets.
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 New Jersey Stallions are a long-time youth club soccer program operating out of Clifton, New Jersey. But during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s the organization also operated men’s – and, briefly, women’s – pro & amateur teams in the United Soccer Leagues. The Stallions debuted in 1996 and the Lady Stallions women’s club joined the USL in 2003. Following the 2004 season, the Stallions shuttered both their men’s and women’s USL adult clubs.
Arena Football League (1998-2001) Houston ThunderBears Born: December 1997 – Re-branded from Texas Terror Folded: 2001 First Game: May 1, 1998 (L 64-40 @ Nashville Kats) Last Game: July 21, 2001 (L 80-27 @ San Jose SaberCats) Arena Bowl Championships: None Compaq Center (15,050) Opened: 1975 Closed: 2003 (Re-opened as a
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.
The Baltimore Stallions played two seasons in the CFL starting in 1994. The most successful of the league’s American teams, they went to the Grey Cup following both seasons, winning in 1995. The team experienced grief off the field from the NFL, first with a lawsuit over using the name Colts, then by the relocation of the Cleveland Browns.
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