Indoor Soccer

Ed Hale, owner of the Baltimore Blast, said that the Major Soccer League is in critical condition and could cease operations by July 1.

The Tacoma Stars folded earlier this month, and the St. Louis Storm did so earlier this week. That left the league with five healthy teams: Baltimore, San Diego, Dallas, Wichita and Cleveland.

“I’ve made it clear that five teams is clearly not sufficient,” Hale said. “It’s impractical and it’s embarrassing.”

The league had hoped that Buffalo would join and fill the gap left by the departure of St. Louis. But Hale said that the Buffalo franchise joined the National Professional Soccer League, which does not have unions for the players. “I’m not here to tell you the league has gone out of business, but we’re as close as you can get,” Hale said during a news conference.