An independent baseball league is a professional league in the United States and Canada outside of Major League Baseball (MLB) or its affiliated Minor League Baseball (MiLB) system.
Independent baseball leagues have long been a part of the professional baseball landscape. They operate outside the auspices of MLB and MiLB, providing an alternative path for players to pursue a baseball career. Independent leagues offer opportunities for players who were not signed to MLB-affiliated teams.
Independent baseball leagues provide a platform for skilled players to showcase their talents and potentially earn contracts with MLB or MiLB organizations. Many players use independent leagues as a stepping stone to revive or advance their careers.
Because they are not subject to the territorial limitations imposed on affiliated MiLB teams, independent clubs can locate wherever they want, even near affiliated teams or one another.
These leagues and their teams offer affordable, family-friendly entertainment for communities, often bringing professional baseball to areas without MLB or MiLB teams.
Independent leagues are known to experiment with new rules and technologies, serving as testing grounds for innovations that MLB might later adopt.
Significantly, they also provide opportunities for players, coaches, and staff to continue their careers in baseball even if they are no longer affiliated with MLB organizations.
Several independent leagues have come and gone over the years.
Some notable defunct leagues include the Federal League (1913-1915), an early attempt to establish an independent major league. The Federal League offered competition to MLB but ultimately folded after two seasons.
The Northern League (1993-2010) was a pioneering modern independent league that was instrumental in establishing the viability of independent baseball in the contemporary arena. Ultimately, it faced financial challenges that led to its dissolution after the 2010 season. The remaining Northern League teams joined other independent leagues to form the North American League.
The Golden Baseball League (2005-2010) operated primarily in the western United States and Canada, while the Can-Am League (2005-2019) operated in the northeastern United States and Canada, eventually merging with the Frontier League.
Several independent leagues are currently operating, each with its own structure and affiliations. Many of these leagues have relationships with MLB, although they are outside the MLB/MiLB structure.
While formed as an independent league, the MLB Draft League was created by Major League Baseball (MLB) and Prep Baseball Report (PBR). The league operates a split-season format of eighty games with a hybrid amateur-professional structure. For the first half of the season, the league operates as an amateur collegiate summer baseball league to showcase top draft-eligible prospects leading up to the MLB draft. After a break for the draft, play resumes for the remaining season games with paid professional players who have exhausted their amateur eligibility. The league's six teams were formerly part of MiLB's New York-Penn League, Eastern League, and Carolina League before the 2021 MLB reorganization.
Four other independent leagues are MLB partner leagues. These include the American Association of Professional Baseball, Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, Frontier League, and Pioneer Baseball League. MLB Partner leagues are professional leagues collaborating with MLB on various initiatives while operating independently from MLB and MiLB. They expand the geographic reach of the game to areas not served by MLB-affiliated teams.
Then, there are the genuinely independent leagues, such as the Empire Professional Baseball League (EPBL), the Pecos League, and the United Shore Professional Baseball League. The EPBL began in 2016, playing a 40-game regular season followed by a 5-game postseason and consisting exclusively of teams from Upstate New York, although its league offices are in Tampa, Florida. It is a low-budget league intended to give players who recently graduated from college or with little professional experience an opportunity to stay in shape and a chance at being signed to a higher-level league. The Pecos League of Professional Baseball Clubs operates in desert mountain regions throughout California, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas, playing in cities that do not have MLB or MiLB teams. The United Shore Professional Baseball League consists of four teams that play at Jimmy John's Field in Utica, Michigan.
Independent baseball leagues exist outside of North America. However, they are rarer and will be listed in our International Baseball category.
Websites representing independent baseball leagues or teams are appropriate for this category.
Recommended Resources
American Association of Professional Baseball
The American Association is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. Operating in the central U.S. and Canada, it operates mostly in cities not served by MLB or MiLB teams. In 2020, the American Association became an official MLB Partner League. Its history and organizational structure are defined, along with member teams, schedules, statistics, a league directory, a media guide, partners, and alumni information. Tickets and branded apparel are available in an online store.
https://aabaseball.com/
The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball is a professional independent baseball league, an official MLB Partner League. Headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the league operates in cities not served by Major League Baseball or Minor League Baseball teams, with most of its teams in suburbs or exurbs too close to other teams in the organized baseball system to have minor league franchises of their own. Its clubs, players, schedules, statistics, standings, and scores are featured.
https://atlanticleague.com/
Playing home games at GoMart Ballpark in Charleston, West Virginia, the Dirty Birds are a professional baseball team member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a partner league of Major League Baseball. Team rosters, schedules, statistics, scores, franchise history, and its Hall of Fame are featured on the website, which includes season promotions, ticket packages, and other options, and an online store offering branded apparel and other fan items.
https://dirtybirdsbaseball.com/
The Empire Professional Baseball League (EPBL) is an independent baseball league that began play in 2016. The league plays a 40-game regular season followed by a 5-game postseason. The four-team league consists exclusively of teams from Upstate New York, although league offices are in Tampa, Florida. Prospective players can register for tryout camps online, and the league, its teams, schedules, and players are highlighted on the website. An online store is included.
http://empireproleague.com/
Competing in the Frontier League as a member of the Central Division in the Midwest Conference, the Florence Y'alls are a professional baseball team in Florence, Kentucky. Founded as the Erie Sailors in Erie, Pennsylvania, the team moved to Florence in 2002, where it was renamed the Freedom, taking its current name in 2020. An introduction to its ballpark is provided on the team's website, along with ticket information, team rosters, community events, and contacts.
https://florenceyalls.com/
The Frederick Keys are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. Based in Frederick, Maryland, the Keys were a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team, serving as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles before the MLB's 2020 reorganization of the minor leagues. Team rosters, videos, a streaming archive, statistics, standings, schedules, ticket plan options, promotions, and packages are featured, along with an introduction to its stadium.
https://www.mlbdraftleague.com/frederick
Frontier League Professional Baseball
The Frontier League is a professional baseball league comprising eighteen teams, fifteen in the United States and three in Canada. The Frontier League is one of the four independent baseball leagues considered an MLB Partner League. Its level of play is comparable to the High-A level. Founded in 1993, the league's season is typically held from May to September, with each team playing 96 games. Member teams, scores, schedules, statistics, standings, league records, and a league map are provided.
https://frontierleague.com/
Based at Truist Point Ballpark in High Point, North Carolina, the High Point Rockers are a professional minor league team and members of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a partner league of MLB. Ticket sales and options are featured on the team website, which includes team rosters, its coaching staff, front office, stats, standings, and an introduction to its stadium. Other resources include fan clubs, photos, and an online store selling branded apparel.
https://highpointrockers.com/
This comprehensive website provides information about professional independent minor league baseball leagues, teams, tryouts, and other resources. It is a resource for fans, players, and others interested in independent baseball. The site offers team and league information, including links to independent team and league websites, daily news, scores, trades, and updates, and information on tryouts, camps, and other events related to independent baseball. Photos and videos are included.
https://www.independentbaseball.net/
Formerly known as the Lancaster Barnstormers, the Lancaster Stormers are an American professional baseball team and a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a Partner League of Major League Baseball. The team has played its home games at Clipper Magazine Stadium in the Northwest Corridor of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, since 2005. Ticket options and sales, team rosters, schedules, and an introduction to its stadium are set forth.
https://www.lancasterstormers.com/
The Lexington Legends are a professional baseball team based in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a professional independent league, and an MLB partner league, although outside the Minor League Baseball (MiLB) structure. The Legends originated in the Kissimmee Cobras, a Class-A MiLB team that moved to Lexington after the 2000 season and changed its name to the Lexington Legends. Schedules and ticket sales are featured.
https://www.lexingtonlegends.com/
The Lincoln Saltdogs are a professional baseball team in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Saltdogs are in the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball. They play home games at Haymarket Park, which they share with the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Ticket options and sales are provided on their website, along with a diagram of the stadium, seating charts, schedules, team rosters, coaches, and staff. Branded apparel is available on an online store.
https://saltdogs.com/
Founded in 2008, the Milwaukee Milkmen are an independent baseball team based in Franklin, Wisconsin, where they play their home games at Franklin Field. They are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball. Season tickets, game tickets, and other ticket options are featured, along with game schedules, information on visiting the stadium, and an introduction to the team, partner promotions, and community programs.
https://www.milwaukeemilkmen.com/
Created by Major League Baseball, the MLB Draft League consists of six teams that were members of Minor League Baseball before the 2021 MLB's reorganization of the minor leagues, although the MLB has announced that the league would be expanded by two teams in the near future and that it would support the league at least through 2030. Member teams, schedules, statistics, standings, contacts, and the history of the league are set forth, along with an online shopping area.
https://www.mlbdraftleague.com/
Headquartered in Little Falls, New Jersey, the Jackals play home games at Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, New Jersey. The professional baseball team competes in the Frontier League, an MLB Partner League, as a member of the East Division in the Atlantic Conference. Team rosters, schedules, sponsors, career opportunities, and guest services are featured on the website. An online shop offers branded apparel and other fan items. Contacts are posted, and fans may subscribe to a newsletter.
https://jackals.com/
The Pecos League of Professional Baseball Clubs is an independent professional baseball league headquartered in Houston. The league operates in cities in desert mountain regions throughout California, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas, playing in cities that do not have Major League Baseball or Minor League Baseball teams and are not affiliated with either. Schedules vary, but teams have played as many as 70 games in 72 days or 80 games in three months.
http://pecosleague.com/
Generally known simply as the Pioneer League, the professional baseball league is based in the Western United States, operating as one of four Major League Baseball (MLB) Partner Leagues in the American independent baseball league system. Currently, the league consists of twelve member teams from the Northern California and Rocky Mountains regions. Member teams are featured on its website, along with tryouts, schedules, stats, scores, standings, players, and a history of the league.
https://www.pioneerleague.com/
Competing in the Frontier League as a member of the West Division in the Midwest Conference, the Boomers play their home games at Wintrust Field in Schaumburg, Illinois, replacing the Schaumburg Flyers of the Northern League in 2011. Initially, the team was set to play in the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, but the Frontier League was chosen under new ownership. The team's history, pregame performances, schedules, rosters, partnerships, and ticket sales are featured.
https://www.boomersbaseball.com/
The collegiate summer baseball team is part of the MLB Draft League, which splits its season between collegiate and professional play. From 1994 to 2020, the Thunder was a Minor League Baseball team in the Double-A Eastern League until MLB reorganized the minors following the 2020 season. Ticket sales and options, game schedules, youth baseball camps, summer camps, and Scout sleepover nights are featured, along with an introduction to the ballpark, and an online fan store.
https://www.mlbdraftleague.com/trenton
United Shore Professional Baseball League
Founded in 2016, the USPBL is an independent baseball league in suburban Metro Detroit, Michigan. Each USPBL team plays a 45-game regular season schedule, running from May through September, with a mid-season all-star game and a championship game after the regular season. Games are played at Jimmy John's Field in Utica, Michigan, and most of its games are broadcast live on USPBL's YouTube channel, with select games airing on ESPN3. Teams, partnerships, and game schedules are posted.
https://uspbl.com/
