The TCL played its inaugural season in the summer of 2004 with eight teams in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and was co-founded by Wayne Poage, former athletic director at Dallas Baptist University, and a company controlled by Gerald W. Haddock, a minority owner and General Counsel of the Texas Rangers from 1989 to 1998.

Teams from the Texas Gulf Coast (Victoria Generals), Louisiana (Acadiana Cane Cutters and Alexandria Aces), and Greater Houston (The Woodlands Strykers) later joined the league.

The Lake Charles Gumbeaux Gators are the most recent franchise addition to the TCL, joining the League for the 2024 season.

[1] The league's 2020 season, like virtually every other sporting competition nationwide and globally, was postponed indefinitely in mid-March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[2] Subsequently, the TCL developed a plan to begin the season on June 30 with ten teams.

The Acadiana Cane Cutters, Brazos Valley Bombers, Texarkana Twins, and Victoria Generals will be joined by six new teams.