Once in a Lifetime

I have talked about my time with an NBA G League team in 2017. This was right when the NBA’s developmental league went from being the D league and emerged into the G league in short to represent their partnership with Gatorade and the rebranded dedication to the minor league to the NBA. There was such attention, being a part of a team, that was given to the G league and there were new and exciting partnerships and visibility. Starting a team in basketball, the sport that I love so much, felt like a once in lifetime opportunity.?

Recently it seems like there has been an increase in new leagues and teams and more chances for a once in a lifetime opportunity to bring a team, organization and/or league to the world.?

Athletes Unlimited

• On March 3, 2020, AU launched women’s professional softball, volleyball, basketball and lacrosse leagues.

Professional Women’s Hockey League

• In August 2023 the Professional Women's Hockey League was announced by the Mark Walter Group, along with the location of its six charter franchises: Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Montreal, New York City, Ottawa, and Toronto.

Pro Volleyball Federation?

• The league will begin play in February 2024 with 7 founding teams and locations.

League One Volleyball (LOVB)

• ?This is the first of its kind professional league that will grow out of the grassroots community junior involvement from club teams.?

National Cycling League (NCL)

• The NCL debuted in 2023 featuring 10 teams competing across the United States for combined prize money split equally between men and women with some impressive celebrity and superstar athlete investors.?

Major League Pickleball

• The league held its first draft in 2021 and played their first tournament with 8 teams in 2022 and has been picking up speed ever since.?

WNBA

• On October 5, 2023, the WNBA announced its first expansion team since 2008 by awarding the Warriors a franchise that will begin play in the 2025 WNBA season. The team will be headquartered in Oakland and play home games at Chase Center in San Francisco.

The United Football League

• The UFL is a professional American football minor league scheduled to start play in March 2024. The league was created following the merger of the XFL and United States Football League (USFL).It consists of eight teams, all of whom were members of the XFL or USFL prior to the UFL's creation.

NWSL - Angel City Football Club (Expansion Franchise)?

• Announced in 2020, Angel City FC began playing in the NWSL in 2022 and I would be remiss to mention the team since it has turned the sports world on its head from their sponsorship and community investment to their sold out crowds and their superstar investors.?

With all of these shiny new leagues and teams, who and what are you most interested in checking out when their season begins? Also, who do you think has staying power? With the incredible meteoric rise in women’s professional sports visibility and attention, I am also rooting for a professional women’s team or league to find incredible success, but I also understand that they landscape of sports is constantly changing and shifting and that can’t either negatively or positively affect the success of a team or league. So, here is to hoping that once in a lifetime will only be in relation to the launch and not the success or existence.?

Share what you think and also what notable leagues or teams or sports did I miss?