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 Boston Sweepers were a semi-pro football outfit that drew crowds of a few thousand per game on the northern outskirts of Boston during the early 1960’s. The team formed in 1962 as a new entry in the New England Football League. Press accounts alternately referred to the team as the Boston Sweepers, Chelsea-Everett Sweepers and Nu-Way Sweepers that fall. The Sweepers won the championship of the Atlantic Coast Football League in 1964 and then moved away to New Bedford, Massachusetts the following season.
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.
Houston Pro Soccer Yesterday, The Houston Chronicle published photos of the nearly complete $95 million BBVA Compass Stadium in downtown Houston. BBVA opens on May 12th when its primary tenant, the Houston Dynamo, plays D.C. United in a Major League Soccer match. BBVA is simply the latest in a string of increasingly
This early Arena Football franchise played five seasons in North Carolina, splitting dates between the massive, NBA-scale Charlotte Coliseum and the smaller Independence Arena. 41-year old former NFL All-Pro lineman Joe DeLamielleure played for the Rage in 1992. He is the only Pro Football Hall of Famer other than Kurt Warner to play 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.
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.
