Baton Rouge Blaze. [87] The deal resulted in added exposure on ESPN's SportsCenter. During the two league's first seasons, the Can-Am's founder Tim Viens announced on April 14, 2017, that for the 2018 season the APF and Can-Am leagues would officially merge and create the American Arena League, which the APF would later confirm. He presented the idea to a few friends at the NFL offices, where he received praise and encouragement for his concept. By September 2018, the AAL confirmed five teams were returning for a 2019 season: the Cape Fear Heroes, Carolina Energy, Georgia Doom, High Country Grizzlies, and Peach State Cats (with the Cats relocating to Athens, Georgia, and no longer a travel-only team). [67], On December 27, 2018, the AFL introduced a new set of logos to be used beginning with the 2019 season. With Viens serving as league president, the league added the Buffalo Blitz and Ontario-Niagara Spartans (both run by owners of established semi-professional teams, the Buffalo Gladiators and Steel City Patriots, respectively), as well as the Connecticut Chiefs (travel-only), Glens Falls Gladiators (travel-only), Niagara Falls Thunder (also operated by the Blitz ownership), New Hampshire Brigade, Rochester Kings, as well as Viens' Vermont Bucks. It is the only fatal injury incurred during a game in the history of the league.

The first affiliation was with United States Indoor Football, a summer league that was to play all its games in Savannah, Georgia, and operated by the Coastal Outlaws (the organization that also runs the Savannah Coastal Outlaws). None of these inter-league games were ever played and the EIFC played one weekend outdoors before ceasing operations. [64], In February 2018, the 2018 season schedule was finalized with only the four remaining teams, matching the size of the league in the original "demonstration season" in 1987.
[40] No new ownership group ever materialized, however. In 2017, the AFL also began streaming some games on Twitter and AFLNow, the league's streaming service. 1 talking about this. Thanks for contacting us. [53] However, when the 2017 schedule was announced, there was no mention of any San Antonio, St. Louis, or Sacramento teams. ArenaFan is not responsible for outcome of any trades or sales initiated through this forum. While many sports commentators and fans continued to ridicule the league, Warner's story gave the league positive exposure, and it brought the league a new television deal with TNN, which, unlike ESPN, televised regular season games live. — Arena Football League (@OfficialAFL) November 28, 2019. In 2006, because of the XX Winter Olympic Games, the Stanley Cup playoffs and the Daytona 500, NBC scaled back from weekly coverage to scattered coverage during the regular season, but committed to a full playoff schedule ending with the 20th ArenaBowl. The league received its first taste of wide exposure in 1998, when Arena Bowl XII was televised nationally as part of ABC's old Wide World of Sports. [52] There was also talk for franchises to return to San Antonio and St. Louis as well as a potential new team for Sacramento. The American Arena League (AAL) is a minor professional indoor football league that began playing in 2018. The new Bucks' owners then folded the team a month later and another new team, called the Peach State Cats (originally announced in the semi-professional Elite Indoor Football), was added but were only scheduled for away games. [63] The next month, the longest-tenured AFL team, with franchise roots to the inaugural AFL season, the Tampa Bay Storm, also suspended operations citing financial problems. Goal posts are 9 feet (2.7 m) wide with a crossbar height of 15 feet (4.6 m) (, Equipment: the official football is the same size and weight as a, Players and formations: eight players on the field; 21-man active roster; four-man inactive roster, Substitutions: free substitution; some players may play both ways either by coach's choice or to step in because of injury. [12], After 12 years as commissioner of the AFL, David Baker retired unexpectedly on July 25, 2008, just two days before ArenaBowl XXII; deputy commissioner Ed Policy was named interim commissioner until Baker's replacement was found. [11][12][13] The league also added the Triangle Torch and Upstate Dragons after they previously played in Supreme Indoor Football (SIF),[14] with the SIF's Cape Fear Heroes (the ownership group that operates the SIF) joining the AAL shortly thereafter. 18 Oct 2020AFL Rewind: Episode 14 - Eric Leins, 23 Sep 2020AFL Rewind: Episode 13 - Gary Compton, 03 Sep 2020AFL Rewind: Episode 12 - JJ Raterink, 16 Aug 2020AFL Rewind: Episode 11 - Rickey Foggie, South Georgia Shocks Spokane(6/23/2008) Anyone who thought this game was going to be an easy win for the Shock were proven wrong, despite the great start the Wildcats gave the Shock.
[citation needed] That league was formally considered disbanded on September 8, 2009, when no owner committed his or her team to the league's eleventh season by that deadline. [84] Following delays, the league began its first full season in 2016; however, subsequent play was postponed until a heavily abbreviated tournament was played in 2019. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. "WEEKLY SPORTS LEAGUE & FRANCHISE REPORT", "Weekly Sports League & Franchise Report", "CAN-AM INDOOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE TO BEGIN PLAY IN 2017", "APF and EIFC Join Forces for 2017 Season", "Richmond Roughriders win APF Championship", "Vermont Bucks to Play Central Penn Chargers, Not Boston Blaze, in East Division Playoff", "American Arena League Announces First 10 Teams", "American Arena League announces first 10 teams", "Georgia Doom football coming to Macon Centreplex", "Georgia Doom to Join American Arena League", "Upstate Dragons to Bring Arena Football to Civic Center", "Heroes unveil new practice facility, announce new league", "High Country Grizzlies Leave NAL; Join AAL", "American Arena League Co-Founder Tim Viens Steps Down", "TARPONS WILL BRING 2018 SEASON TO CLOSE AT HOME MAY 26 VS. [37] The redesigned website showed the new logo which incorporated the current AFL logo with the one from NET10 Wireless. Whoever is ahead after one possession for each team wins. Since its inception in 2000, the Avengers had competed in postseason play five times. Most teams also had a local TV station broadcast their games locally and all games were available on local radio. It was the first time the AFL returned to Pittsburgh since the Pittsburgh Gladiators were an original franchise in 1987 before becoming the Tampa Bay Storm. ", "Glens Falls Gladiators To Return in 2019", "Glen Falls Gladiators of American Arena League fold 2 weeks before start of season", "Expansion Alert: Louisville Xtreme Joins The NAL", "Expansion Alert: Tampa Bay Tornadoes Joins The NAL", National Federation of State High School Associations, High School Football National Championship, World League of American Football/NFL Europe/NFL Europa, American Association (1936–1941)/American Football League (1946–1950), American Football Association (1978–1983), Pacific Coast Professional Football League, Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit, Association of Professional Football Leagues, Champions Professional Indoor Football League, Professional Indoor Football League (1998), Professional Indoor Football League (2012), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Arena_League&oldid=984155453, Indoor American football leagues in the United States, Professional sports leagues in the United States, Articles with dead external links from March 2020, Articles with permanently dead external links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. From 2014 to 2017 & 2019, the ArenaBowl was played at the venue of the higher-seeded team. On December 19, 2006, ESPN announced the purchase of a minority stake in the AFL. Then-St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner, who was MVP of Super Bowl XXXIV, was first noticed because he played quarterback for the AFL's Iowa Barnstormers. [24] His Roughriders team, despite the possibility of losing its home arena in Richmond for 2019, was not initially planning on leaving the AAL with the NAF only having teams north of the Maryland-Pennsylvania border. The Bucks defeated the Kings in Rochester for the league championship on June 12 by a score of 61–41. Great prizes. For the 2013 season, the league's new national broadcast partner was the CBS Sports Network. After solidifying the rules and a business plan, and supplemented with sketches by a professional artist, Foster presented his idea to various television networks. The AFL's first dynasty came to an end when their owner, Mike Ilitch (who also owned Little Caesars Pizza and the Detroit Red Wings) bought the Detroit Tigers and sold the AFL team. After the season, Fornario again stated he was removing the Roughriders from the AAL. Each of the six teams played each opponent at least once. According to team announcement several cities in the state will have teams in the league, "including Allen, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, while a team is Austin is pending". [6] Foster appointed legendary Darrel "Mouse" Davis, godfather of the "run and shoot" and modern pro offenses, as executive director of football operations. The AFL coaches and trainers were to travel to China to help teach the rules of the sport to squads made up of Chinese and American players with the goal of starting an official Chinese arena league. History. THE BEST INSIGHTS FROM THE ULTIMATE INSIDERS, Blue Rush: A NY Giants Podcast Tackle: Arena Football League (Men's League Book 2) - Kindle edition by Kelex. ... read more, Breaking it Down - 2010 Week 11(6/17/2010) The eleventh week of AFL action featured the road team winning a season-high five games. [70][71] On February 7, 2019, the league re-added the Columbus Destroyers as another expansion team to bring the league back to six teams. As of website update March 2020.

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