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66-915: In May 2010 the American Basketball Association announced a new franchise based in Jacksonville would join the league for the 2010–2011 season. The name was announced as the Jacksonville Giants in November. The owner was Jacksonville attorney Ron Sholes, while the head coach and general manager was Kevin Waters, who previously owned and coached the Jacksonville Bluewaves of the World Basketball Association . Jacksonville

132-508: A "Farewell to the Frog Tour", as the WB network and station mascot Michigan J. Frog was retired over the summer. A series of humorous promos later chronicled the frog's failed attempts to find work at several Jacksonville area businesses. The station began changing its branding in mid-August, which included IDs featuring the logos of both The WB and The CW. The affiliation switch took place upon

198-654: A best-of-three series. Giants finish season with 29–1 record for the second straight season and advanced through the playoffs to the ABA National Championship game for the third straight season. The Giants fell to the Shreveport-Bossier Mavericks 2–0 in a best-of-three series. The first game was lost in overtime and the second was lost on a botched inbound attempt that sealed the game for the Mavericks. The 2013–2014 season saw

264-728: A compensation and programming dispute with WJXT and its owner Post-Newsweek Stations (now Graham Media Group ). However, when The CW announced its initial group of affiliates outside of those owned by the Tribune Company and network sister company CBS Television Stations , WJWB was not included on the list, leading to speculation that The CW would choose to affiliate with independent station WJXT instead. On April 3, 2006, The CW signed affiliation agreements with WJWB and UPN-affiliated Asheville, North Carolina sister station WASV (now WYCW ). On May 26, WJWB changed its callsign to WCWJ to reflect its pending affiliation. The station launched

330-705: A contract with the city's major indoor venue, the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena , to use for home games, and contracted with television and radio stations to broadcast games. The Giants debuted on December 4, 2010, defeating the San Francisco Rumble 182–124. They excelled on the court, going 23–0 in the regular season and advancing to the league playoffs, but were ultimately knocked out. They claimed an average attendance of 2000 in their inaugural season. The Giants had their 2011–2012 opener on December 3, 2011, defeating

396-904: A lot of positives for the Giants as they broke the ABA Regular Season Attendance record with 8,345 fans in attendance on February 2. Finishing the season with a 19–1 record the Giants head to the ABA Final Eight in Austin, TX. In Austin, TX the Jacksonville Giants go 3-0 defeating the Steel City Yellow Jackets (125-103), the DMV Warriors (111-102) and the Austin Bats (119-114) to claim the 2018 ABA National Championship title. With this title

462-488: A news share agreement with Fox affiliate WAWS to produce a half-hour prime time newscast for that station (titled Fox 30 First Coast News ) that aired at 10 p.m. seven nights a week. Throughout the news department's existence, WJKS's newscasts typically placed last in the ratings among the three local news outlets that existed in Jacksonville prior to 1997, behind WTLV and perennial first-place finisher WJXT. After

528-477: A result of Nexstar's pending acquisition of WCWJ's former owner Media General. The sale was approved by the FCC on January 11, 2017, and completed January 17, making WCWJ part of a duopoly (Graham Media's first) with WJXT. Soon afterward, WCWJ's former website closed down, replaced by a section on WJXT's website. The station produces several original programs including the music program YourJax Music (which also has

594-525: A scheme to acquire an NBA Development League franchise. At the start of the 2008–09 season , over 200 teams had folded since the league's inception. The 2008–09 season saw the Southeast Texas Mustangs franchise join the league after leaving the struggling Continental Basketball Association . The ABA attempted interleague play with the four remaining CBA teams, but their league folded mid-season. NBA scouts stopped attending

660-758: A series of exhibitions against ABA teams including the Clayton Showtime, Los Angeles Slam, Riverside Rainmakers, San Diego Surf and the West Coast All-Stars. This April 2010 series was referred to as the ABA Friendship Games. Dick Packer was named league President and COO in April 2010. After winning their second consecutive championship in 2010–11 , the Southeast Texas Mavericks publicly opined that

726-411: A small news operation in its second year of operation. Its newscasts went under various titles during the duration of the news department's existence including WJKS-TV News , Pulse News , NewsWatch 17 , 17 News and then finally 17 First Coast News . In addition, the station produced a Sunday evening public affairs discussion program titled Face Off for several years. In 1991, WJKS established

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792-592: A venue. A proposed merger with the International Basketball League fell through in December 2000, which would have allowed the inaugural season to begin with additional teams. To attract fans, the ABA encouraged its teams to fill rosters with former NBA players and past college basketball stars that had local ties. Former NBA champion and Florida native Darryl Dawkins was recruited as

858-660: A weeknight-only spinoff series, YourJax Music Vault ), the region's first and only local reality TV series Life & Grind: Duval , produced by local musician Dez Nado , and the lifestyle programs Local Haunts and I Know Jax (two magazine-style programs focusing on Jacksonville area tourist attractions); it also carries local sporting events from the Jacksonville RollerGirls roller derby team, Jacksonville Giants American Basketball Association , Jacksonville University Dolphins college football , and Jacksonville Armada FC soccer teams. WJKS started

924-647: A year after the sale, as WBRC's affiliation contract with ABC did not expire until August 1996. Before WBRC became a Fox owned-and-operated station, Allbritton Communications purchased WCFT-TV in Tuscaloosa and WJSU-TV in Anniston , and made them full power satellites of WBMA-LP ; this prompted Allbritton to sign a groupwide affiliation deal with ABC. As part of the deal, Allbritton-owned WBSG-TV (now Ion Television affiliate WPXC-TV ) in Brunswick, Georgia ,

990-589: Is an American semi-professional men's basketball minor league that was founded in 1999. ABA teams are based in the United States, with one traveling team from Japan. The league previously had international teams based in Canada, China and Mexico. League management infamously maintains low requirements for franchise ownership, and hundreds of ABA teams have either folded or defected to rival leagues. The league licenses its name and use of ABA trademarks from

1056-849: The 2004–05 ABA title in their first year of play, but then left with the Long Beach Jam to join the rival NBA Development League . The ABA welcomed the Beijing Aoshen Olympians beginning with the 2005–06 season , a club which had been banned from the Chinese Basketball League after refusing to allow star prospect Sun Yue to play for the Chinese national team . The Olympians played their home games in Maywood, California . CCTV-5 in China broadcast

1122-506: The 2014–15 season . After completing a perfect season for the second time in 2014–15 and winning their fourth championship, the Shreveport-Bossier Mavericks left the ABA to join the Premier Basketball League . Joe Newman returned to the role of league President and CEO beginning with the 2015–16 season . The Jacksonville Giants drew the league's all-time record crowd of 8,987 for their 100–93 victory over

1188-526: The Gulf Coast Flash by 1 point on a buzzer beating 3-pointer by Shooting Guard Currye Todd on an inbound pass from former National Basketball Association player and 1992 US Dream Teamer Christian Laettner . Laettner joined the Giants for all 11 of their home games that season. The Giants played two home games at UNF Arena at the University of North Florida , and played the remaining nine at

1254-682: The National Basketball Association , which absorbed the American Basketball Association (1967–1976) during the ABA–NBA merger . The Women's American Basketball Association has operated as a sister league to the ABA since 2017. The league was originally co-founded by Dick Tinkham and Joe Newman in 1999 as ABA 2000 . Tinkham had previously co-founded the Indiana Pacers in the original American Basketball Association , and Newman had been an advertising executive for

1320-629: The Premier Basketball League (PBL). Following the 2007–08 season , the reigning champion Vermont Frost Heaves left for the Premier Basketball League along with the Halifax Rainmen , Manchester Millrats and Quebec Kebs . Quentin Townsend, owner of the Atlanta Vision , was named league President and COO in April 2008. He was later removed from those positions after being arrested in November 2008 for defrauding investors in

1386-470: The Vermont Frost Heaves , regularly penning articles in the publication about his team's inaugural campaign. John Salley and Tom Doyle attempted a boardroom coup on behalf of shareholders , with ABA's Board of Directors voting to remove Joe Newman as CEO on January 31, 2007. Newman sued Salley and Doyle, leading to a settlement in which he kept his job and forced their resignations from

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1452-404: The 1996–97 season aired on channel 17. The preempted shows were replaced with programming from The WB, along with syndicated shows. However, WJXX was not slated to sign on until April 1 . At ABC's request, Allbritton/WPR moved WJXX's launch date up to February 9, even though its full-power facility hadn't been approved yet. WBSG-TV, which WJKS had replaced as the area's WB affiliate, joined ABC on

1518-526: The 2022–23 season after storm damage rendered the venue for their championship game unplayable. The league employs a number of unconventional rules that are unique to the league: 109 teams completed at least one game during the 2023–24 season. The league's oldest surviving franchises are the Jersey Express (est. 2005), Georgia Gwizzlies (est. 2007), Steel City Yellow Jackets (est. 2014), and Indiana Lyons (est. 2017). Franchises that left

1584-589: The ABA but still compete elsewhere include the Detroit Panthers ( Maximum Basketball League ), Motor City Cruise ( NBA G League ), and Newfoundland Rogues ( Basketball Super League ). USA: Asia: Africa: Americas: Canada WCWJ WCWJ (channel 17) is a television station in Jacksonville, Florida , United States, affiliated with The CW . It is owned by Graham Media Group alongside independent station WJXT (channel 4). The two stations share studios at 4 Broadcast Place on

1650-699: The ABA did not have adequate competition, and they left with intentions of joining the NBA Development League . However, their application to join the NBA Development League was denied, and the franchise sat out the 2011–12 and 2012–13 seasons. Consecutive titles were won by the Jacksonville Giants in their absence, with championship wins over the previously undefeated South Carolina Warriors in 2011–12 and North Dallas Vandals in 2012–13 . The team returned to

1716-613: The ABA for 2013–14 as the Shreveport-Bossier Mavericks , going undefeated and winning the league title in a perfect season . At the conclusion of the 2013–14 season , over 350 franchises had folded since the league's inception. Former Arizona Scorpions owner Ron Tilley replaced Joe Newman as league President and CEO following Newman's retirement in July 2014. The league signed a two-year streaming deal with ESPN3 in August 2014 to broadcast regular season and playoff games beginning with

1782-617: The Chicago Skyliners, Detroit Dogs , Indiana Legends, Kansas City Knights , Los Angeles Stars , Memphis Houn'Dawgs, San Diego Wildfire and Tampa Bay ThunderDawgs. Joe Newman founded the Indiana Legends to replace the Jacksonville Jackals, who were removed from the league after failing to secure a venue. Mark Hamister purchased the rights to a Buffalo franchise for $ 75,000, but was also unable to secure

1848-669: The Community. 2015-2015 Season – ABA Team of the Year, Ron Sholes ABA Owner of the Year, Pam Masters general Manager of the year, Kevin Waters coach of the year 2018-2019 Season – Maurice Mickens received ABA Player of the Year Roster Last transaction: 2010-12-1 Roster Last transaction: 2012-12-6 Roster Last transaction: 2012-12-6 Roster American Basketball Association (2000%E2%80%93present) The American Basketball Association ( ABA )

1914-825: The Giants broadcasts starting during Season One in 2010. Arley Johnson and Matt Potak were later featured on the broadcast of the Jacksonville Giants home games. All Jacksonville Giants home games aired on WJXL 1010XL. Spencer Luthin (aka Spencer "Balls" Davis) hosted Giants radio since December 6, 2013. February 7, 2014 – Most Points Scored in Basketball History – 222 points February 5, 2012 – Most Points Scored in Basketball History – 211 points February 1, 2014 – Highest Regular Season Attendance in ABA History – 8,354. February 19, 2016 - Highest Regular Season Attendance in ABA History – 8,987. June 1, 2014 – National ABA Charity Award for Outstanding Service to

1980-718: The Giants ceased operations. The Jacksonville Giants had the largest ABA dance team. Over 40 girls, ages 13 through 25, danced on two separate teams. The junior (or teenage) dance team was titled the Jacksonville Gems, while the adult dance team wascalled the Jacksonville Jewels. All Jacksonville Giants home games played in the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena were televised on WCWJ in high-definition. Broadcaster and sports talk radio host Richard Miller formerly hosted

2046-511: The Jacksonville Giants complete the three-peat making this their third championship in a row and their fifth overall championship for the city of Jacksonville. The Jacksonville Giants finish the regular season with a 20–1 record and head to the ABA Final 8 in St. Louis, MO. The Giants take a 129–98 win over the Steel City Yellow Jackets in the first round of playoffs and advance to the semifinals. In

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2112-471: The Jacksonville Giants were able to redeem themselves with a 116–112 win over the South Florida Gold to claim the 2019 title. The 2019 National Championship win makes it the 6th overall title for the Giants and the 4th in a row. The 2019–2020 season marks the 10th Anniversary of the Jacksonville Giants conception. Following elimination from the 2021–22 playoffs by the Steel City Yellow Jackets,

2178-526: The Pacers. The National Basketball Association (NBA), owner of the ABA trademark after absorbing many of the original league's teams, sued Tinkham and Newman in December 1999. The lawsuit was unsuccessful since the NBA had failed to actively use the ABA trademark, and the new league entered an agreement with the NBA to license the name for $ 50,000. The league began its inaugural 2000–01 season with eight teams:

2244-685: The Veterans Memorial Arena. The Giants won the 2012 ABA Championship, defeating the South Carolina Warriors 2–0 in a best-of-three series. Giants finished the season with a 29–1 regular season record and hosted the ABA Final Four tournament. Giants won second ABA Championship in a row, defeating the North Dallas Vandals , from whom they received their only loss of the regular season, 2–0 in

2310-527: The amount of teams that a league has, it's the amount that finish. —Tom Doyle, Maryland Nighthawks In preparation for the league's initial public offering ( ABKB ), former NBA player John Salley was named league commissioner and Maryland Nighthawks owner Tom Doyle was named league COO in September 2006. Cost for new franchises was subsequently raised to $ 20,000 for the 2006–07 season . Sports Illustrated writer Alexander Wolff launched

2376-448: The announcement that WJKS would lose its ABC affiliation to upstart WJXX, then-owner Media General announced in September 1996 that it would shut down the station's news department, claiming that it would be not be viable to continue producing newscasts as an affiliate of The WB. This came despite the fact that WB-affiliated stations in other markets—largely those owned by Tribune Broadcasting and Sinclair Broadcast Group, as well as one of

2442-591: The area. However, the station did carry the first hour of The Daily Buzz on weekday mornings until the program's cancellation in April 2015. Graham Media purchased WCWJ in January 2017, forming a duopoly with WJXT, which produces the highest output of local news programming in Jacksonville. WCWJ currently airs simulcasts of WJXT's newscasts, including the first two hours of The Morning Show from 7 to 9 a.m. on weekdays, and weekend editions of its 11 p.m. newscast on Saturdays and Sundays. The station's signal

2508-528: The company's flagship station WFLA-TV , across the state in Tampa ). On April 3, 1988, WTLV and WJKS officially reversed the 1980 affiliation swap between the two stations, with WJKS aligning with ABC once again and WTLV returning to NBC. By this time, NBC had emerged as the top-rated American broadcast network, while ABC had dropped to second place. In May 1994, ABC affiliate WBRC in Birmingham, Alabama ,

2574-637: The entire Jacksonville market, although cable companies on the Florida side of the market also received WB programming via the superstation feed of Chicago 's WGN-TV (which was dropped after the September 1998 launch of The WB 100+ Station Group ). Under normal circumstances, the switch could have spelled trouble for channel 17. Not only had it languished in the ratings during its second tenure with ABC, but it now faced having to acquire an additional 10 hours of programming per day—a significant amount even for an owner with Media General's wealth and resources. With

2640-715: The first head coach of the Tampa Bay ThunderDawgs. The 2001–02 ABA season saw only three teams return from the inaugural season, with the Chicago Skyliners, Los Angeles Stars , Memphis Houn'Dawgs, San Diego Wildfire and Tampa Bay ThunderDawgs replaced by the Kentucky Pro Cats, Las Vegas Slam, Phoenix Eclipse and Southern California Surf. Joe Newman folded the Indiana Legends after he was sued by eight former players in August 2002 for failing to pay their salaries. Newman had claimed $ 1 million in losses over two seasons of ownership. The 2002–03 season

2706-424: The larger stations in traditional dayparts. The station's final newscast and the final edition of Face Off both aired on December 29, 1996. The WJKS-produced 10 p.m. newscast on WAWS was discontinued as a result; WAWS established its own in-house news department in response, which debuted on December 30, the day after channel 17's news department folded. When Gannett, owner of WTLV, bought WJXX in 1999 and merged

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2772-436: The league when he signed with the Long Beach Jam , leading them to an ABA title in their first season. The 2004–05 season saw franchise fees lowered from $ 50,000 to $ 10,000, and the bond requirement removed in order to attract new teams. Teams were subsequently organized into regional groups to facilitate interest and reduce travel costs, with 37 clubs competing that season in three divisions. The Arkansas RimRockers won

2838-473: The league's games in January 2009, citing the amount of cancelled and forfeited contests. Several teams folded during the 2009–10 season , including the entire Pacific Northwest Division. The San Francisco Rumble forfeited their playoff game against the Southeast Texas Mavericks , as they could not afford to travel for the contest. Gilas Pilipinas , the Philippine national basketball team, competed in

2904-615: The league. The 2006–07 season concluded with the defending champion Rochester Razorsharks withdrawing from the league after they asked to reschedule a playoff game against the Wilmington Sea Dawgs , but were denied and told to forfeit. Following this incident, the Hammond Rollers , Jacksonville Jam , Maryland Nighthawks , Quad City Riverhawks and Wilmington Sea Dawgs joined the Razorsharks in forming

2970-399: The network's September 18 launch; MyNetworkTV initially ended up as a secondary affiliation on WAWS, before moving to a second digital subchannel of that station in January 2007. On October 29, 2007, Media General announced that the company was exploring the sale of WCWJ. On January 28, 2009, Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced that it had reached an agreement to purchase WCWJ. The deal

3036-448: The obvious choice as Jacksonville's CW affiliate. Network officials were on record as wanting the "strongest" WB and UPN stations by total-day viewership, and UPN had been relegated to off-hours clearances on Fox affiliate WAWS (channel 30, now WFOX-TV ) after its charter affiliate and WAWS sister station WTEV-TV (channel 47, now WJAX-TV ) dropped the network to join CBS in July 2002 following

3102-483: The operations of the two stations, the joint news department that resulted was titled First Coast News . From that time until the Graham Media acquisition, channel 17 was the only commercial television station in the Jacksonville market that did not air locally produced newscasts, either produced by the station itself or through one of the three news departments operated amongst the five other network affiliates in

3168-407: The pressure off to compete in full with the market's larger stations and no longer having to maintain a news operation with little viewership, however, WJWB took advantage of the opportunity. For most of The WB's run, WJWB consistently ranked as one of the network's highest-rated affiliates. While WJWB prospered as a WB affiliate, WJXX never recovered from its rushed sign-on. Allbritton gave up and sold

3234-544: The previously unbeaten Chicago Steam at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena on January 16, 2016. It had been reported the week prior that the Orlando Magic was considering adopting the Giants as their NBA Development League affiliate, although later in the year they instead moved their existing affiliate Erie BayHawks to Lakeland, Florida . A sister league, the Women's American Basketball Association (WABA),

3300-409: The same day as a semi-satellite of WJXX. The day after WJXX signed on, WJKS changed its call letters to WJWB. Having been on the air for over 30 years at the time of the affiliation switch, WJWB was one of the few stations to switch from a " big three " network to The WB, which had started operations in January 1995. During the network's first two years, WBSG-TV served as the network's affiliate for

3366-533: The semifinals the Giants take on the Syracuse Stallions and are able to pull off a 149–129 win which advanced them to the 2019 ABA National Championship game. In the championship the Jacksonville Giants get a rematch with the South Florida Gold, the only team to defeat the Jacksonville Giants in the regular season. In the regular season the Gold took down the Giants with only a 5-point lead. In the title game

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3432-644: The south bank of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville; WCWJ's transmitter is located on Anders Boulevard in the city's Killarney Shores section. The station first signed on the air on February 19, 1966, as WJKS-TV. Founded by Rust Craft Broadcasting , it originally operated as an ABC affiliate; prior to its sign-on, ABC programming had been relegated to off-hours clearances on then- CBS affiliate WJXT (channel 4, now an independent station ) and NBC affiliate WTLV (channel 12). It took Jacksonville over 16 years to gain full-time affiliates of all three major networks, which

3498-667: The station to WTLV's owner, Gannett , in late 1999. On January 24, 2006, the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner and CBS Corporation announced that the two companies would shut down The WB and UPN and combine the networks' respective programming to create a new "fifth" network called The CW. On February 22, 2006, News Corporation announced the launch of a new "sixth" network called MyNetworkTV , which would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television , to give UPN and WB stations that would not become CW affiliates another option besides converting to independent stations. On paper, WJWB seemed to be

3564-418: The stations that took over the ABC affiliation from WJKS, WBSG—established their own or maintained existing news departments during their network tenures. However, many of these stations were in markets that were somewhat larger than Jacksonville, and were upstart operations with realistic expectations of only competing in the 10 p.m. timeslot, rather than long-struggling departments with little hope of overcoming

3630-430: The team's first perfect season and third in ABA history. A play-in tournament was implemented beginning with the 2021–22 season to determine which teams would advance to the divisional round of the playoffs. Following elimination from the 2021–22 playoffs by the Steel City Yellow Jackets , the Jacksonville Giants ceased operations. The Burning River Buckets and Indiana Lyons were declared co-champions of

3696-540: The team's games, where they were watched by an average of 15 million people. Following the 2005–06 season in which many teams failed to complete their full schedules and became insolvent, the Charlotte Krunk , Florida Pit Bulls , Indiana Alley Cats , Pittsburgh Xplosion , San Jose Skyrockets and SoCal Legends left to join the rival Continental Basketball Association . My idea of success and Newman's differ. I'd rather have fewer teams, that are stable and last, as opposed to having tons that continue to fold. It's not

3762-427: The time, ABC was the highest-rated broadcast television network in the United States, while NBC was mired in last place in the ratings. Media General acquired WJKS from the Ziff Corporation for $ 18 million in October 1982, as part of the latter company's sale of its six television stations in order to focus on its magazine assets. WJKS became the second television station to be owned by Media General (the first being

3828-418: The time, became Nexstar's largest television station by market size (a distinction now held by New York City CW station WPIX ). The WCWJ website was redesigned almost immediately after Nexstar closed on its purchase. On May 27, 2016, Nexstar announced that it would sell WCWJ, along with WSLS-TV in Roanoke, Virginia , to the Graham Media Group for $ 120 million as part of the station divestitures required as

3894-435: Was finalized on May 1, 2009. As a result, WCWJ became the first CW affiliate to be owned and operated directly by Nexstar (Nexstar later acquired three other CW affiliates along with one CW-affiliated digital subchannel from Newport Television and until November 2015, held the license assets of CW affiliate WLYH-TV in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania , through a shared services agreement with the Sinclair Broadcast Group ) and at

3960-409: Was home to an earlier ABA team, the Jacksonville Jam . The Jam played in the ABA for the 2006–2007 season before moving to the rival Premier Basketball League in 2008, but folded by the end of the season. In 2010 owner Sholes stated that he hoped to avoid the fate of the Jam and other minor league basketball teams that have failed in Jacksonville with a more professional marketing strategy. He signed

4026-455: Was launched in 2017. Jersey Express owner Marsha Blount was named the league's President and CEO. The 2017–18 season saw franchise fees lowered to $ 2,500. League co-founder Dick Tinkham died of muscular dystrophy in October 2018. The 2019–20 season was ended prematurely and the playoffs cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The undefeated Jacksonville Giants captured their seventh and final championship in 2020–21, concluding

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4092-460: Was longer than other cities of its size. However, Jacksonville has always been a medium-sized market because the surrounding suburbs and rural areas were less densely populated than the city itself. In March 1979, the Ziff Corporation bought Rust Craft's broadcasting assets, including WJKS, for $ 89.4 million. On March 31, 1980, WJKS and WTLV swapped network affiliations; WTLV took the ABC affiliation from WJKS, with NBC programming moving to WJKS. At

4158-565: Was named as Jacksonville's new ABC affiliate effective after the termination of WJKS' affiliation contract with the network in January 1997. In response to losing the ABC affiliation, Media General quickly signed an affiliation agreement with The WB . In the fall of 1996, WJKS began phasing out ABC programming, with the intent of joining The WB in February; the station's news department would also cease operations. It only cleared 10 hours of prime time programming per week, along with ABC's soaps and news programming. Notably, none of ABC's new shows for

4224-463: Was not played, as the league suspended operations for reorganization. Jim Clark, owner of the Kansas City Knights , was named league president and COO in November 2002. The league resumed play with seven teams for the 2003–04 season . The returning Kansas City Knights were joined by the Fresno Heatwave , Jersey Squires, Las Vegas Rattlers, Juárez Gallos de Pelea , Long Beach Jam and Tijuana Dragons. Dennis Rodman brought national attention to

4290-445: Was sold to New World Communications , which signed an affiliation agreement with eleven other stations which would become Fox affiliates. WBRC was placed in a blind trust in the fall of 1994, as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) prohibited a company from owning more than twelve television stations at the time. That station was sold to Fox directly in July 1995, but Fox was forced to run it as an ABC affiliate for over

4356-443: Was to become the ABC affiliate for Jacksonville. This posed a problem for the network, as WBSG-TV's signal only covered the northern portion of the Jacksonville market. As a result, upstart WJXX (channel 25; which was operated by Allbritton under a local marketing agreement with owner WPR, L.P. , before the former purchased the station outright in September 1997), which had originally planned to operate as an independent station,

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