MJWalker45 Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 39 minutes ago, GDAWG said: Hopefully the AFL's ownership is much more stable than that of the NAL. The IFL is starting to slowly stabilize their ownership. https://theathletic.com/4147093/2023/02/01/arena-football-league-return?source=user-shared-article They are also going with a 10 game season, I'd figured they'd have gone with more games but by limiting regular season games it probably makes scheduling a lot easier for teams sharing space with multiple sports teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDAWG Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 1 minute ago, MJWalker45 said: https://theathletic.com/4147093/2023/02/01/arena-football-league-return?source=user-shared-article They are also going with a 10 game season, I'd figured they'd have gone with more games but by limiting regular season games it probably makes scheduling a lot easier for teams sharing space with multiple sports teams. Sigh.....I hate the Athletic because it's a paywall site and I don't want to have to pay for it. It will be interesting to see what type of broadcast deal they are going to have. Will they be like all of the other indoor leagues and be on YouTube? Or will it be an actual broadcast deal? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJWalker45 Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 7 minutes ago, GDAWG said: Sigh.....I hate the Athletic because it's a paywall site and I don't want to have to pay for it. It will be interesting to see what type of broadcast deal they are going to have. Will they be like all of the other indoor leagues and be on YouTube? Or will it be an actual broadcast deal? To be taken seriously I think they need something other than YouTube or Twitch. They were on CBS Sports Network the last time out and weren't getting enough eyes. Would a Peacock/NBC deal, or ESPN+/ Hulu work better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panthers_2012 Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 Here we go again https://www.ballysports.com/news/amp/arena-football-league-prepares-comeback-in-2024-with-16-franchises Who do we think it's going to get a franchise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadragon76 Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 Ain't this interesting? There is an opening for the Arena League to come back, but they need to have a really good game plan for this to work. As for the cities? Well, I think it should be a mix - some legacy teams (Tampa Bay, Orlando and Arizona come to mind) and some newer teams plucked from the current indoor leagues with a few new locations that the original incarnation or even AFL 2.0 never touched. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDAWG Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 2 minutes ago, Seadragon76 said: Ain't this interesting? There is an opening for the Arena League to come back, but they need to have a really good game plan for this to work. As for the cities? Well, I think it should be a mix - some legacy teams (Tampa Bay, Orlando and Arizona come to mind) and some newer teams plucked from the current indoor leagues with a few new locations that the original incarnation or even AFL 2.0 never touched. Orlando, Arizona, Jacksonville and Iowa are in other leagues. Not sure if they want to go back to the Arena League. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadragon76 Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 Just now, GDAWG said: Orlando, Arizona, Jacksonville and Iowa are in other leagues. Not sure if they want to go back to the Arena League. Yeah... Arizona and Iowa (along with Green Bay and Quad City) are in the IFL while Orlando and Jacksonville (along with Albany) play in the NAL. I think that Orlando and Jacksonville would jump at the chance to compete in something a little better then a third tier rinky-dink league like the NAL if the Arena League came back. Arizona and Iowa? That might be a tougher sell since the IFL has become the de facto top league among the indoor leagues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDAWG Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 They will probably bring back these teams: Baltimore Brigade, Columbus Destroyers, Washington Valor, Atlantic City Blackjacks, Tampa Bay Storm and Philadelphia Soul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickp91 Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 Arena Football League was a big part of our childhood 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panthers_2012 Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 I think the Cleveland Gladiators may come back now since the Q renovations are done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
officeglenn Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 Merging this with the Arena Football thread in Sports in General. If the league releases a logo (which, from what I can see, they have not) or any teams release new logos, then you can start a thread in Sports Logos News. But if all we have now is talk about gameplay and organization, let's keep that to SiG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dilbert Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 5 hours ago, heavybass said: Sweet the 2nd coming of the Saber Cats! Actually the 3rd coming. They came back after the first shutdown Quote Signature intentionally left blank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Cesarano Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 3 hours ago, nickp91 said: Arena Football League was a big part of our childhood Or, for some of us, our adulthood. The Knights came and went too quickly to get attached to. But I was very heavily into the CityHawks and the Dragons. Also, coming into the league at the same time as the CityHawks were the Red Dogs. That was such an exciting team, led by QB Rickie Foggie, that I couldn't help but root for them, too, even though they were ostensibly the CityHawks' rivals. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAnt755 Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 So I heard the AFL is coming back in 2024 and adding 16 teams, interesting. MY PREDICTIONS FOR THE 16 TEAMS: Eastern Conference: New York Philadelphia Tampa Bay Washington Cleveland Nashville Kansas City Chicago Western Conference: Los Angeles Las Vegas Portland Seattle New Orleans Dallas Utah San Diego I'm just guessing at this point, I just want an arena football team in NY. I never been to an arena football game, I remember an arena football team in NY called the "New York Streets" in the NAL, but they folded after 1 year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gosioux76 Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 17 hours ago, GDAWG said: Sigh.....I hate the Athletic because it's a paywall site and I don't want to have to pay for it. Not to derail the thread but ... The Athletic employs humans who deserve to be paid for their work. If you want it, pay for it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Comet Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 The economics of arena football don't remotely justify a national footprint. A set of regional leagues would work better and maybe you'd even have a championship between all these champions of their leagues. Or hell, maybe even have something like promotion and relegation in these leagues. It would at least make arena football different from gridiron football. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJWalker45 Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 11 hours ago, TheAnt755 said: So I heard the AFL is coming back in 2024 and adding 16 teams, interesting. MY PREDICTIONS FOR THE 16 TEAMS: Eastern Conference: New York Philadelphia Tampa Bay Washington Cleveland Nashville Kansas City Chicago Western Conference: Los Angeles Las Vegas Portland Seattle New Orleans Dallas Utah San Diego I'm just guessing at this point, I just want an arena football team in NY. I never been to an arena football game, I remember an arena football team in NY called the "New York Streets" in the NAL, but they folded after 1 year. With the offices set up in Phoenix, I'd think their first priority is getting the Arizona Rattlers back into the league, as well as Orlando and Tampa Bay. MY PREDICTIONS FOR THE 16 TEAMS: Eastern Conference: New York Dragons (new team) Philadelphia Soul (new team) Tampa Bay Storm (new team) Orlando Predators (NAL) Cleveland /Columbus, OH (new team) Nashville Kats (new team) Jacksonville Sharks (NAL) Albany Empire (NAL) Western Conference: Bay Area Panthers (IFL) Las Vegas Night Hawks (IFL) Arizona Rattlers (IFL) Tucson Sugar Skulls (IFL) Iowa Barnstormers (IFL) Frisco Fighters (IFL) San Antonio Gunslingers (NAL) San Diego Strike Force (IFL) Those new teams could simply be NAL teams getting moved to a new city. They have a team playing in Fayetteville, NC this year for crying out loud. Who'd play there instead of Tampa Bay or Philadelphia? With 14 teams in the IFL, this would strip them down to 7 teams if this list went through. Spokane had arena issues and were thrown out of the league. The same happened with the Columbus Lions in the NAL. Would being attached to the original league help Spokane out? I'm not sure that'd be the case. Columbus had the Wild Dogs but they never took the field, in fact their web site advertises the 2021 schedule release. 44 minutes ago, Red Comet said: The economics of arena football don't remotely justify a national footprint. A set of regional leagues would work better and maybe you'd even have a championship between all these champions of their leagues. Or hell, maybe even have something like promotion and relegation in these leagues. It would at least make arena football different from gridiron football. I think if they limit the amount of cross country trips, this can work. Seeing how far the Gunslingers and West Texas Warbirds have to travel to play teams in North Carolina, New York, and Florida. as long as they are able to get a deal from an airline and are near a major hub it's workable. But I could see the Texas teams bussing between themselves and the Arizona/Nevada teams doing the same. 15 hours ago, panthers_2012 said: I think the Cleveland Gladiators may come back now since the Q renovations are done. I like that idea, but I'd like them to update the logo or create a new identity. Just don't require them to share colors with the Cavaliers or the Monsters. And don't make Philly wear those horrible uniforms again. I'd like to see each team have their own manufacturer, but we all know they'll have a league wide kit maker to keep costs down. This could be a way for Champion or Russell to get back in the game. Champion is making Premier League Lacrosse uniforms now, why not work on something like the Arena League? I wouldn't want the manufacturer logo to be so big though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Cesarano Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 4 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said: 1 hour ago, Red Comet said: The economics of arena football don't remotely justify a national footprint. A set of regional leagues would work better and maybe you'd even have a championship between all these champions of their leagues. Or hell, maybe even have something like promotion and relegation in these leagues. It would at least make arena football different from gridiron football. I think if they limit the amount of cross country trips, this can work. Seeing how far the Gunslingers and West Texas Warbirds have to travel to play teams in North Carolina, New York, and Florida. as long as they are able to get a deal from an airline and are near a major hub it's workable. But I could see the Texas teams bussing between themselves and the Arizona/Nevada teams doing the same. The IFL has one team in Massachusetts and the rest in the Midwest, Southwest, and West. It seems pretty awkward. The Massachusetts team would appear to fit a lot better into the NAL; and the NAL's two Texas teams would make more sense in the IFL, which itself has one team in Texas and others in Oklahoma and New Mexico. But these are the relationships that the individuals owning these businesses have worked out. Still, it would be nice to have all the arena/indoor teams (which, if the revived AFL really does come out with 16 teams, will number 37) under one umbrella, with multiple regional conferences and no inter-conference play, and then a national championship involving the winners of these regional conferences. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJWalker45 Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 1 minute ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said: The IFL has one team in Massachusetts and the rest in the Midwest, Southwest, and West. It seems pretty awkward. The Massachusetts team would appear to fit a lot better into the NAL; and the NAL's two Texas teams would make more sense in the IFL, which itself has one team in Texas and others in Oklahoma and New Mexico. But these are the relationships that the individuals owning these businesses have worked out. Still, it would be nice to have all the arena/indoor teams (which, if the revived AFL really does come out with 16 teams, will number 37) under one umbrella, with multiple regional conferences and no inter-conference play, and then a national championship involving the winners of these regional conferences. I also wonder if it's possible that the AFL is considering a newer version of the AFL/AF2 model that existed prior to the first AFL going under. With 21 teams in those two leagues to pick from, but also missing a few expected big markets I could see a lower league of 8-12 teams and the AFL league of 16. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Cesarano Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 2 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said: I also wonder if it's possible that the AFL is considering a newer version of the AFL/AF2 model that existed prior to the first AFL going under. With 21 teams in those two leagues to pick from, but also missing a few expected big markets I could see a lower league of 8-12 teams and the AFL league of 16. Which two leagues are you referring to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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