Upcoming season or competition: 2026 Pioneer League season | |
 | |
| Classification | Independent league |
|---|---|
| Sport | Baseball |
| Founded | 1939 (86 years ago) (1939) |
| President | Mike Shapiro |
| Commissioner | Henry Hunter |
| No. of teams | 12 |
| Country | United States |
| Most recent champion | Oakland Ballers (2025) |
| Most titles | Billings Mustangs (15) |
| Official website | pioneerleague |
ThePioneer Baseball League (also known as simply thePioneer League) is aprofessional baseball league based in theWestern United States. It operates as one of fourMajor League Baseball (MLB) Partner Leagues in the Americanindependent baseball league system without MLB team affiliations. The league is contested by twelve teams fromCalifornia and theRocky Mountains region, who play aregular season split into two halves. The top two teams at the end of each half qualify for apostseason tournament that determines the overall champion.
The Pioneer League was established in 1939 as aClass Cminor league consisting of six teams fromIdaho andUtah. It later expanded toMontana as part of a failed effort in the 1950s to become a third major league rivalling theAmerican andNational leagues, complicated by competition with thePacific Coast League. By the time it was reclassified as aRookie league in 1964, only four teams in Idaho remained. Gradually, it returned to Montana and Utah, and expanded intoColorado and the Canadian province ofAlberta by 1974, and since then has consistently had eight or more teams competing. In 2021, the league became independent, and ceased all MLB team affiliations, reorganizing as an MLB Partner League representing the Western United States market. Though all the league's teams in Alberta and Colorado have since folded orrelocated, an expansion into California in the 2020s balanced the number of teams.
As of the2026 season, four teams from California and Montana each, two from Idaho, one from Utah, and one currently relocating, compete in the Pioneer League. Twenty franchises have competed in the league across its 86-year history, with theMissoula PaddleHeads, a current team that joined as thePocatello Cardinals in the inaugural season, being the longest-tenured. TheOakland Ballers are the current champions, while theBillings Mustangs have won the most championships (15).
The Pioneer League began in 1939 with six teams inIdaho andUtah, operating at theClass C level. The original six teams were theBoise Pilots,Lewiston Indians,Ogden Reds,Pocatello Cardinals,Salt Lake City Bees, andTwin Falls Cowboys. With players in short supply due toWorld War II, the league suspended operations for the 1943 through 1945 seasons.
In 1948, the league expanded by adding two teams inMontana; theBillings Mustangs andGreat Falls Electrics. In these early years, teams in the league either operated independently or were affiliated withMajor League Baseball (MLB) orPacific Coast League (PCL) parent clubs, as the PCL was attempting to grow into a third major league (a bid that ultimately failed). When MLB'sLos Angeles Dodgers displaced the PCL'sHollywood Stars in 1958, the Stars relocated and became the "new" Salt Lake City Bees, remaining in the PCL and taking away the Pioneer League's largest market.
By 1959, the Pioneer League was down to six teams; Billings and Great Falls along with theBoise Braves,Idaho Falls Russets,Missoula Timberjacks, andPocatello Athletics. The league operated at theClass A level for one year (1963), before changing to Rookie league in 1964, when there were only four teams in the league; theIdaho Falls Angels,Magic Valley Cowboys,Pocatello Chiefs, andTreasure Valley Cubs. By 1978, the league had again grown to eight teams — Billings and Idaho Falls along with theButte Copper Kings,Calgary Cardinals,Great Falls Giants,Helena Phillies,Lethbridge Dodgers, andMedicine Hat Blue Jays. With the exception of 1986 (when there were six teams), there have been at least eight teams in the league since then.
In 2016, total league attendance was 616,686,[1] down slightly from the 2015 total of 633,622.[2]
In its final years as an MLB-affiliated league, the Pioneer League was one of two "Rookie Advanced" minor leagues along with theAppalachian League. As such, it occupied the second-lowest rung in the minor league ladder. Although classified as a Rookie league, the level of play was slightly higher than that of the two "complex" Rookie leagues, theGulf Coast League andArizona League. Unlike the complex leagues, Pioneer League teams charged admission and sold concessions. It was almost exclusively the first fully professional league in which many players competed; most of the players had just been signed out of high school. It was a short-season league that competed from late June (when Major League teams signed players whom they selected in the amateur draft) to early September.
After the 2018 season, theHelena Brewers relocated toColorado Springs, Colorado, where they now play as theRocky Mountain Vibes.[3]
As the start of the 2020 season was postponed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic before being cancelled on June 30,[4][5] making the 2019 season the league's last as an MLB-affiliated league of Minor League Baseball.
In conjunction with the reorganization of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Pioneer League was converted to anindependent baseball league and was granted status as an MLB Partner League.[6] The reconfigured league continued with the same franchises using the same identities, with the exception of theOrem Owlz who relocated toWindsor, Colorado, as theNorthern Colorado Owlz.[6][7] TheBoise Hawks also joined the Pioneer League in 2021 after moving from theNorthwest League.[8]
The Pioneer League announced a five-year naming rights deal between the league and ticket vendor TicketSmarter that would have the league go as The Pioneer Baseball League presented by TicketSmarter starting in time for the 2022 season.[9]
On April 10, 2024,Kelsie Whitmore signed with theOakland Ballers of the Pioneer League.[10] She became the first woman to play for that league later that year. On June 6, 2024, she became the first female player to start a Pioneer League game. In that game she struck out one batter.[11] The league further expanded into California for its 2026 season, adding teams inLong Beach andModesto – the latter as a replacement for theModesto Nuts of theCalifornia League, who moved toSan Bernardino and became theInland Empire 66ers.[12][13] Simultaneously, the league's presence in Colorado came to an abrupt end, after both theRocky Mountain Vibes and short-lived Colorado Springs Sky Sox folded, and theGrand Junction Jackalopes relocated.[14][15][16]
| Team | Location | Stadium | Cap. | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billings Mustangs | Billings, Montana | Dehler Park | 3,071 | 1948 |
| Boise Hawks | Boise, Idaho | Memorial Stadium | 3,452 | 2021[b] |
| Glacier Range Riders | Kalispell, Montana | Glacier Bank Park | 2,500 | 2022 |
| Grand Junction Jackalopes | TBD[a] | — | 1978 | |
| Great Falls Voyagers | Great Falls, Montana | Centene Stadium | 4,000 | 1948 |
| Idaho Falls Chukars | Idaho Falls, Idaho | Melaleuca Field | 3,400 | 1940 |
| Long Beach Baseball Club | Long Beach, California | Blair Field[17][18] | 3,238 | 2026 |
| Missoula PaddleHeads | Missoula, Montana | Ogren Park at Allegiance Field | 5,000 | 1939 |
| Modesto Glow Riders | Modesto, California | John Thurman Field | 4,000 | 2026 |
| Oakland Ballers | Oakland, California | Raimondi Park | 4,000 | 2024 |
| Ogden Raptors | Ogden, Utah | Lindquist Field | 8,700 | 1977 |
| Yuba-Sutter High Wheelers | Marysville, California | Bryant Field | 4,000 | 2024 |
Timeline of franchises (1939–present)
League champions have been determined by different means since the Pioneer League's formation in 1939. There were postseason playoffs when the league operated as Class C (1939–1962), except for 1939 and 1956, and for the three years during World War II when the league did not operate. In the league's one year as Class A (1963), there were also postseason playoffs. After becoming a Rookie league in 1964, the league champions were simply the regular season pennant winners through 1977. Since 1978, postseason playoffs have again been held to determine a league champion.[19][20]
