Earlier this week, a press release came out and made the baseball business news websites about a possible new independent professional baseball league based in Arizona. It is calling itself the Freedom Professional Baseball League; and its president is (according to the website) the owner of Sperle’s baseball school, Joe Sperle:
Here is the link to the press release:
In order to give value to you, the independent baseball fan or curiosity-seeker, the best respect for your taking the time to visit this site we at IndependentBaseball.net are reserving judgement about declaring this an official independent league until we have more concrete information about the league, the teams, and the personnel behind the teams. There are several reasons for this, none of which have to do with the specific people or aims of the Freedom Professional Baseball League:
- Last year, 2 proposed independent leagues made a lot of noise online with press releases, tryouts, and other content such as logos and contract offers to players and coaches. None of these leagues played a game and they possibly caused a downgrade in the eyes of sports fans about the independent baseball industry, many of these fans who already view the industry as “not real professionals” — even though there is ample evidence of players, coaching staff, and front office staff who currently are in affiliated baseball after having started in the independent leagues
- Since the 1993 inception of independent baseball, many leagues and teams have been proposed and never got off the ground. Some also have started and then failed within less than a month. At least 3 of these leagues (either ones which never started or failed in the first month) had teams in the Arizona area
- None of the mainstream publications which cover independent baseball have yet given their endorsement of this league, although this is not to say that they will not. It is just that no one else has taken the time to endorse this new league by adding new sections to their websites, given testimonials about ownership, etc. Confirmation from respected media outlets which cover the independent leagues is needed in order to give reassurance that the league has at least a fighting chance of surviving its first year
To confirm, should the Freedom Professional Baseball League prove that it has a legitimate business model and intends to operate in a manner like the other leagues, or at least confirm that it has a tangible arrangement with other leagues in order to move players onto higher levels, then it will be added to this website’s pages. Additionally, should it be legitimate then stories of interest and stories about the business side of the league will be featured on this site. IndependentBaseball.net wants to give you a thorough perspective about the current events in the industry as well as ties to the historical side of independent pro baseball. Thank you for your understanding and patience as we wait for more confirmation on this possible new independent league.
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