Sports - Defunct Sports Teams, Retro Leagues

The Utah Stars began as the Anaheim Amigos, charter members of the American Basketball Association (ABA) in 1967. In 1968, they moved up the freeway to become the Los Angeles Stars. In 1970, the team moved to Salt Lake City, where they won the...

The Houston Mavericks first tipped off in fall 1967 as charter members of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The team spent to years in Texas before moving to North Carolina to become the Carolina Cougars. In 1974, the team moved again and became the...

The Hitmen??were members of the original??XFL??in 2001 season, that league's only season. The team finished?? with 4 wins and 6 losses while averaging just over 28,000 fans a game at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.??

Despite drawing some of the biggest crows in the first season of the World Football League (WFL), and winning World Bowl I (and as it turned out, only), the Birmingham Americans were out of business. In 1975, the entire league reorganized, with the remaining...

The Marshals first took the (indoor) field in Waco, Texas in 2004 as members of the National Indoor Football League (NIFL). Financial issues with team's owners caused the league to take over the Marshals, selling them at the end of their first season to...

In 1999, the Arena Football League formed AF2 as a farm league and as well as a way to bring the sport to mostly smaller markets. Cincinnati joined up in 2003 with the??Swarm who??posted a 7 and 9 record in their only season.??They drew...

The Edmonton Drillers played in the original North American Soccer League from 1979 to 1982. The team was owned by Peter Pocklington, who also owned the Edmonton Oilers hockey team. The franchise was previously known as the Oakland Stompers and the Hartford Bicentennials.

The Memphis Rogues played for three seasons in the old North American Soccer League (NASL), 1978, 1979, and 1980. Their home field was the Liberty Bowl. They played one season of indoor soccer, 1979/80 also in the NASL. In 1981, the team moved to...

The Minnesota Norseman were members of the??American Professional Slo-Pitch League??from 1977-1980. In their first season they were known as the Goofy's. A new owner changed the name to Norsemen for the 1978 season. Their home field was Midway Stadium in St. Paul.

Rivermen were members of??North American Softball League (NASL). The NASL existed for only the 1980 season, before joining with the American Professional Slow Pitch League (APSPL) to create the United Professional Softball League. Since the Cincinnati Suds were already in existence in the APSL,...

The first major league pro sports team to call Las Vegas home, the Quicksilvers of the North American Soccer League arrived in 1977 from San Diego where they spent a season as the Jaws. The year before that, they were the Baltimore Comets for...

The Minnesota Kicks played in the old North American Soccer League??(NASL) from 1976 to 1981. Popular for most of their time in the Twin Cities, the team was sold after the 1980 season to a new ownership group. After losing over $2 million the...

Based in Anaheim, California, the Surf played in the old North American Soccer League??(NASL) from 1978 to 1981. The team began as the St. Louis Stars??in 1968. In edition to playing four seasons at Anaheim Stadium, the club played two seasons in the NASL's...

The Tulsa Roughnecks played in the old North American Soccer League from 1978 until the league folded after the 1984 season. The club started as the San Antonio Thunder in 1975. In 1977 it became Team Hawaii but moved to Oklahoma after playing just...

The original North American Soccer League (NASL) was formed in 1967 when the competing United Soccer Association and the National Professional Soccer League decided to join forces. For the next 12 seasons, it was the top-level league for outdoor soccer in the U.S. and...

The Baltimore Bandits played in the American Hockey League from 1995 to 1997. They were a farm team of the National Hockey League's Anaheim Mighty Ducks. In 1997, the team moved to Cincinnati, where they adopted the parent club's nickname, Mighty Ducks.??

Forbes Field was the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1909 to 1970. From 1922 to 1939 it was also the home field of the Homestead Grays, who played in several different Negro leagues. The Pittsburgh Steelers played there from 1933 to 1963. In...

The New Jersey Rockets were members of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) for the 1981-82 season. They played their home games in??Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, NJ. The team folded after their lone season in the MISL. The team's...

The Fog began as the Detroit Lightning, an expansion team in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) for the 1979-80 season. They moved to Northern California in the summer of 1980. In 1981, the team moved again, this time to Kansas City, where they...

The??Caribous of Colorado played in the original North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1978 season. The team was co-owned by??Jim Guercio, a music producer widely known for his work with such artists as The Beach Boys and Blood, Sweat, and Tears. After a...

The Polo Grounds was the name of four different stadiums in upper Manhattan in New York City, the first of which opened in 1880. The most famous incarnation opened in 1909 and was completely rebuilt in 1911 after a catastrophic fire. That Polo Grounds...

Opened in 1912 as Navin Field, Briggs Stadium was the home of the Detroit Tigers. In 1938, it was renamed Briggs Stadium, a name it kept until 1961 when it became Tiger Stadium.

Shibe Park was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics starting in 1909. In 1938, the name of the park was changed to Connie Mack Stadium as the Phillies became the A's roommates for the next 16 years, until the latter moved to Kansas City...

The Detroit Lightning was an expansion team in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) for the 1979-80 season. Their home arena was Cobo Hall. In the spring of 1980, they moved to San Francisco to become the Fog. After a year in Northern California,...

The Denver Avalanche played two seasons in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) starting in 1980. The team was top five in attendance for both seasons, and made the playoffs in its second campaign. However, the team filed for bankruptcy in 1983. Its assetts...

Baltimore joined the Eastern Hockey League in 1979 as the Clippers. The team moved to the Atlantic Coast Hockey League in 1981 and changed their name to the Skipjacks. In 1982, they moved up to the American Hockey League. In 1993, they moved to...

The Cincinnati Silverbacks were a professional indoor soccer club that competed in the National Professional Soccer League from 1995 to 1998. The team originated in Dayton as the Dayton Dynamo in 1987. They played their first two seasons in Cincinnati at the old Cincinnati...

In 1971, Buffalo was granted an expansion franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed the Sabres, the league???s newest member needed a farm team that would play in the American Hockey League (AHL). The AHL also needed to replace the Buffalo Bison what...

Before the Cincinnati Swords, Stingers, Cyclones, and Mighty Ducks, Cincinnati had the Mohawks. They were a member of the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1949 to 1952, before moving to the International Hockey League (IHL), where they won 5 straight championships. Their home ice was the??Cincinnati...

Riverfront Stadium, later Cinergy Field, was the home of the Cincinnati Reds (and Bengals) from 1970 until 2002. The Reds captured three World Series titles (1975, 1976, and 1990) while playing there. The Bengals won the AFC Championship there in 1981 in a game...