The Empire Professional Baseball League (EPBL) is an
independent baseball league
An independent baseball league is a professional baseball league in the United States or Canada that is not overseen by Major League Baseball or its affiliated Minor League Baseball system (historically referred to as organized baseball).
Inde ...
that began play in 2016.
The Empire League plays a 40-game regular season followed by a five-game post season. The four-team league consists exclusively of teams from
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...
. League offices are in
Tampa, Florida
Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...
.
History
The Empire League is a replacement of the
North Country Baseball League, which folded after one season (and was itself a last-minute replacement for the East Coast Baseball League, which disbanded before the start of the 2015 season). The league fielded four teams based in the states of
New York,
New Hampshire
New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
and
Maine
Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
for its inaugural season.
It is a low-budget league meant to give players recently graduated from college or with little professional experience an opportunity at staying in shape and providing them the chance at being signed to higher level league contracts with
affiliated or independent teams. All league funding comes from advertisement sales, ticket sales and tryout revenue.
The league is operated by Eddie Gonzalez, former professional baseball player and NAIA All-American at
Webber International University
Webber International University (Webber or WIU) is a private university in Babson Park, Florida.
History
Webber International was founded as "Webber College" by Roger Babson, an entrepreneur and business theorist in the first half of the 20t ...
. Gonzalez is also a former NCBL executive.
The
Sullivan Explorers, despite finishing the regular season with a losing record, won the 2016 league championship over the regular season winner
Watertown Bucks.
Prior to the league's second season, the Watertown Bucks lost the lease to their stadium and were replaced by the
Plattsburgh Redbirds. The New Hampshire Wild ceased operations and were replaced by a team from
Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
; however, since a stadium deal in Puerto Rico had not yet been finalized, the team played the 2017 season as a travel team.
The league expanded to six teams for the 2018 season with two new franchises selected from four of the nine interested parties visited in 2017. On February 23, 2018, the league announced that one team will be a revival of the New Hampshire Wild, and the sixth team would be the return of the
New York Bucks, formerly known as the Watertown Bucks.
On May 31, 2018, the league announced the
Puerto Rico Islanders will play in
Rincon, Puerto Rico, and the Sullivan Explorers would be known as the
Aguada Explorers. For 2019, the Explorers would become a
traveling team, and the Surge would move to
Saranac Lake, New York
Saranac Lake is a village in the state of New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,887, making it the largest community by population in the Adirondack Park.U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Report, Saranac Lake village, New ...
.
Due to Covid-19, the 2020 Empire Professional Baseball League was held at
Consol Energy Park in
Washington, Pennsylvania
Washington, also known as Little Washington to distinguish it from the District of Columbia, is a city in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The population was 13,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...
.
In 2021, the Empire Professional Baseball League returned to normal operating procedures with the following teams: the Saranac Lake Surge, the
Tupper Lake Riverpigs, the Plattsburgh Thunderbirds and the New Hampshire Wild.
In 2022, the New Hampshire Wild were replaced by the Japan Islanders, a traveling team composed of mostly native Japanese players.
The 2023 season saw the league expand to five teams with the addition of the Malone Border Hounds.
The 2024 season saw the Japan Islanders leave the Empire League, while the Plattsburgh Thunderbirds rebranded to the North County Thunderbirds.
In February of 2025, the league announced that the Los Angeles Bullies would be joining the league.
Teams
Champions
See also
*
Empire State Greys, a traveling team of EPBL players formed in 2022 to compete in the Frontier League
References
External links
*
{{Professional Baseball
Independent baseball leagues in the United States
Sports leagues established in 2016
2016 establishments in the United States
Professional sports leagues in the United States