The Arena League is back.
The Arena Football League (AFL) is returning for a relaunch in 2024 and we know now the sixteen AFL organizations.
Some of the areas mentioned that will have a team will be Austin, Boise, California, Chicago, Colorado, Louisiana, Ohio, Oregon, Orlando, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Tallahassee, Tennessee, Washington, and West Texas.
TMZ reported the California team will be in Bakersfield; the Colorado team in Denver; the Minnesota team in St. Paul; the Louisiana team in Lake Charles; the Ohio team in Cincinnati; the Oregon team in Salem; the Washington team in Everett; and the West Texas team in Odessa.
The league also announced that attorney Lee Hutton is the first black commissioner for an American professional sports league.
The AFL was founded in 1987 but suspended operations in 2009 due to financial issues, an ESPN report explains. Two-time NFL MVP Kurt Warner sparked his legendary pro career by playing three seasons with the AFL’s Iowa Barnstormers from 1995-1997.
Arena football is an adaptation of an outdoor game that is solely played indoors and in an arena that is generally set up for basketball or hockey. It features a short field surrounded by padded hockey boards.
No further information — such as team ownership, arenas, or team names — was revealed.
“We are extremely proud to share the initial markets that will serve as the foundation of the new era of the Arena Football League,” AFL Commissioner Lee A. Hutton III told TMZ.
“Fans in each community will have the opportunity to come together and create new identities, new traditions, and new memories to help catapult our league to thrilling heights. We’ve been working diligently to put the league and the respective member teams in the best position to deliver a competitive and entertaining product on the field and we simply can’t wait to return to the original innovators of indoor football in 2024.”
The league had announced in February it would be relaunching under new leadership and will play 10-game schedule and a postseason.
