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9 hours ago, CaliforniaGlowin said:

IFL and CIF started this weekend. 

 

Just for kicks, a quick update on each league...

 

IFL

-Spokane was kicked out of the league because they lost their lease to the Spokane Arena.

-This helps as the league is now at an even 14 teams with the expansion Vegas Knight Hawks competing in the Western Conference alongside Arizona, Bay Area, Duke City, Northern Arizona, San Diego and Tucson.

-In the Eastern Conference are Bismarck, Frisco, Green Bay, Iowa, Massachusetts, Quad City and Sioux Falls.

 

CIF

-Four new teams were added in the Topeka Tropics, the Southwest Kansas Storm (based in Dodge City), the Billings Outlaws and the Rapid City Marshalls.

 

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2 hours ago, Seadragon76 said:

 

Just for kicks, a quick update on each league...

 

IFL

-Spokane was kicked out of the league because they lost their lease to the Spokane Arena.

-This helps as the league is now at an even 14 teams with the expansion Vegas Knight Hawks competing in the Western Conference alongside Arizona, Bay Area, Duke City, Northern Arizona, San Diego and Tucson.

-In the Eastern Conference are Bismarck, Frisco, Green Bay, Iowa, Massachusetts, Quad City and Sioux Falls.

 

CIF

-Four new teams were added in the Topeka Tropics, the Southwest Kansas Storm (based in Dodge City), the Billings Outlaws and the Rapid City Marshalls.

 

The sport is still wrought with significant problems.  First, the three top leagues: IFL, CIF and NAL all think that they are the top dog of the sport, ala the NFL is to outdoor football.  It's a contest between the three leagues to see who has the biggest ego of the sport, which is the main reason the sport of Indoor/Arena Football has significant issues.  Second there are no uniform set of rules, as IFL and CIF have one set of rules and NAL has another.  Yes, it's worked outdoors with Canadian Football and American football having a different set of rules but with the Fan Controlled Football League, I would think that the other three leagues would work together, but no.....they want to see who has the biggest ego of the sport.  

 

My proposal to save the sport was a merger of all three leagues with one set of rules, but now it's changed to something more like what we see in international soccer: keeping the three leagues separate but having a governing body to regulate things in the sport.  Every year in each of these leagues, they have an expansion team and then weeks or months later, that team is kicked out of the league due to financial issues.  A governing body for the sport can have a vetting system for potential owners.  The governing body can also prevent players from jumping from one league to another during the season, which seems to happen a lot.  Sadly, I don't see it ever happening and so the sport remains unstable.  

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8 hours ago, GDAWG said:

 

The sport is still wrought with significant problems.  First, the three top leagues: IFL, CIF and NAL all think that they are the top dog of the sport, ala the NFL is to outdoor football.  It's a contest between the three leagues to see who has the biggest ego of the sport, which is the main reason the sport of Indoor/Arena Football has significant issues.  Second there are no uniform set of rules, as IFL and CIF have one set of rules and NAL has another.  Yes, it's worked outdoors with Canadian Football and American football having a different set of rules but with the Fan Controlled Football League, I would think that the other three leagues would work together, but no.....they want to see who has the biggest ego of the sport.  

 

My proposal to save the sport was a merger of all three leagues with one set of rules, but now it's changed to something more like what we see in international soccer: keeping the three leagues separate but having a governing body to regulate things in the sport.  Every year in each of these leagues, they have an expansion team and then weeks or months later, that team is kicked out of the league due to financial issues.  A governing body for the sport can have a vetting system for potential owners.  The governing body can also prevent players from jumping from one league to another during the season, which seems to happen a lot.  Sadly, I don't see it ever happening and so the sport remains unstable.  


That would require people who want to own an arena football team for a reason other than LARPing as an owner of a football team. 

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On 3/13/2022 at 11:43 AM, GDAWG said:

My proposal to save the sport was a merger of all three leagues with one set of rules, but now it's changed to something more like what we see in international soccer: keeping the three leagues separate but having a governing body to regulate things in the sport.  Every year in each of these leagues, they have an expansion team and then weeks or months later, that team is kicked out of the league due to financial issues.  A governing body for the sport can have a vetting system for potential owners.  The governing body can also prevent players from jumping from one league to another during the season, which seems to happen a lot.  Sadly, I don't see it ever happening and so the sport remains unstable.  

 

 

A merger makes a lot of sense, for all the reasons you outlined. No disagreement there..  But part of me also really likes the idea of arena football finding a comfortable landing spot through multiple, niche, regional leagues, kind of like the way baseball used to be a generation ago. 

 

It's the one pro sport (outside of the ABA2000 nonsense) where mid-level to small metro areas can field a pro team. Even most third-tier American cities have indoor sports arenas they use to host events. I love it that cities like Bismarck and Sioux Falls can have a league that fits their metro model. 

 

I realize none of these leagues could be considered regional, and all cover a pretty wide footprint. But to me, going small and local is the sweet spot for this sport. 

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The new AFL will feature 16 franchises that will be rolled out over the next year, according to Gaines. He also says the league will be a mix of new clubs and previous teams.

 

Holy oversaturation, Batman! Six teams would've been somewhat reasonable... but sixTEEN? I'm anticipating 6-10 of those teams don't even see the field.

@loganaweaver - Twitter / @loganaweaver - Instagram / Nike Vapor Untouchable Football Template  / Logan's Logos

 

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22 hours ago, Dilbert said:

Looks like the Arena Football League is giving it a third try in 2024

 

https://www.ballysports.com/national/news/arena-football-league-prepares-comeback-in-2024-with-16-franchises

 

In the article, the league's president of player personnel says "there's so many people that are still so interested in the game and a lot of the teams".  Unfortunately, the best-known AFL teams are now in other leagues, as the Arizona Rattlers and the Iowa Barnstormers are in the IFL, and the Orlando Predators are in the NAL (along with two other former AFL champions, the Albany Empire, the last champions of the AFL, and the Jacksonville Sharks).  The only fondly-remembered AFL teams that are worth bringing back would be the Tampa Bay Storm and the San Jose SaberCats.

 

 

22 hours ago, LAWeaver said:

Holy oversaturation, Batman! Six teams would've been somewhat reasonable... but sixTEEN?

 

Right, especially considering that the IFL has 14 teams and the NAL has seven teams. 

 

What's more, the main thing that differentiated the AFL from the other leagues is that only the AFL had the patented nets.  But the patent must have expired, because the NAL has announced that it will have the nets for its upcoming season.

 

Finally, the IFL has a player-development deal with the XFL.

 

So, between the oversaturation of teams, the unavailability of the best team names, the loss of exclusivity on the nets, and the advantage that IFL has, any attempt to revive the AFL seems pretty foolish.  

 

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2 hours ago, LAWeaver said:

 

Holy oversaturation, Batman! Six teams would've been somewhat reasonable... but sixTEEN? I'm anticipating 6-10 of those teams don't even see the field.

I wonder if part of these teams are the current NAL joining up with newer teams in the eastern half of the country? That's 7 established teams, (Columbus, GA was shut down) to start and then you add Philadelphia, New York/New Jersey, Washington, Cleveland or Columbus, Nashville, and possibly teams in the big three Texas cities gets you most of those slots. With the NAL you also get your nets back. I would hope it means San Antonio would get updated logos, because the Gunslinger logos look like clip art.

1 hour ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

In the article, the league's president of player personnel says "there's so many people that are still so interested in the game and a lot of the teams".  Unfortunately, the best-known AFL teams are now in other leagues, as the Arizona Rattlers and the Iowa Barnstormers are in the IFL, and the Orlando Predators are in the NAL (along with two other former AFL champions, the Albany Empire, the last champions of the AFL, and the Jacksonville Sharks).  The only fondly-remembered AFL teams that are worth bringing back would be the Tampa Bay Storm and the San Jose SaberCats.

 

 

 

Right, especially considering that the IFL has 16 teams and the NAL has seven teams. 

 

What's more, the main thing that differentiated the AFL from the other leagues is that only the AFL had the patented nets.  But the patent must have expired, because the NAL has announced that it will have the nets for its upcoming season.

 

Finally, the IFL has a player-development deal with the XFL.

 

So, between the oversaturation of teams, the unavailability of the best team names, the loss of exclusivity on the nets, and the advantage that IFL has, any attempt to revive the AFL seems pretty foolish.  

 

 

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I've always felt that the biggest reason Arena Football succeeded for as long as it did is because it's a spring football alternative with much lower operating costs than the regular, 11-a-side league would require, that managed to fill the springtime gap for pro football TV programming for a few years. 

 

But now that we have two full gridiron spring leagues competing with each other, both on national airways, I'm not sure the demand for it really exists.

 

I still think this is a sport that works best in minor league markets or, like indoor soccer, a low-cost fringe sport that exists largely in metro suburbs. 

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Selfishly, I hope they stick to the markets from the golden years of like 2005. Around the time of the first skipped season, those teams felt extremely minor league because of the markets and team names. Who knows if this works but the brand equity is there with the original AFL league logo and name.

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