CAN-USA Sports sells Niagara Falls Americans

Press release

CAN-USA Sports has reached an agreement with 16 Athletics for the sale of the Niagara Falls Americans PGCBL Franchise. The Niagara Falls Americans will remain in the PGCBL for the 2027 season.

In 2024, CAN-USA Sports established the Niagara Falls Americans and was able to bring 40,000 guests to Sal Maglie each year. The Niagara Falls Americans made their first playoff berth during the 2025 season finishing third in the PGCBL West Division. During CAN-USA Sports tenure, the Niagara Falls Americans also saw two former players get drafted into the MLB.

16 Athletics is run by President and Niagara Falls native Jerry Puleo. Puleo is an entrepreneur, business owner and community leader from Western New York. He is the president of Tropical Heating & Cooling and 16 Athletics, organizations that reflect his passion for business, leadership, and youth development.

In September 2014, Puleo founded Tropical Heating & Cooling after leaving a larger HVAC company to pursue his vision of building a customer-focused business. In 2020, inspired by the challenges young athletes faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, he built a baseball training facility to provide local kids with a place to continue developing their skills. That initiative became the foundation of 16 Athletics, an organization dedicated to creating opportunities for young athletes. In 2021, Puleo launched Power City Athletics, the baseball and softball division of 16 Athletics. The organization has since expanded to 21 travel teams, serving hundreds of athletes throughout Western New York.

Continued growth led to the opening of Powerhouse SportsCenter in Niagara Falls in 2023, giving the organization a second indoor training facility. Puleo said he believes that success is built through hard work, accountability, and investing in people. Whether leading businesses or mentoring young athletes, his goal has always been to create opportunities that positively impact the community and help others reach their full potential.

Robbie Nichols, representing CAN-USA Sports ownership, said, “We can only say great things about Mayor Restaino and the City of Niagara Falls. The improvements to this already great stadium made our jobs so much easier attracting local events, tournaments and better baseball prospects for the Americans franchise. Mayor Restaino was great to work with and he cares about sports in Niagara Falls. We have had a great relationship with Jerry Puleo since we started. Jerry cares tremendously about his community and the game of baseball, so it was not a tough decision when approached to hand over the franchise to him. We wish nothing but the best for the Americans and can’t wait to see where 16 Athletics takes this brand.

“It is now official as of Aug. 1, 2026, that 16 Athletics takes over where we left off.”