In conjunction with a contraction of Minor League Baseball beginning with the 2021 season, the Appalachian League was reorganized as a collegiate summer baseball league, and the Bristol Pirates were replaced by a new franchise in the revamped league designed for rising college freshmen and sophomores.[2] On February 2, 2021 Bristol Baseball, Incorporated (BBI) revived the name Bristol State Liners. The nickname references the fact that the twin cities of Bristol, Virginia and Bristol, Tennessee are adjacent to one another, with the state line between the two running right down the center of State Street, their shared major downtown thoroughfare.[3]