Af2
Encyclopedia
AF2 was the name of the Arena Football League's developmental league
; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football
rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup championship in August. The AF2 continued to operate while the AFL had suspended operations. The league was effectively disbanded in September 2009 when no team committed to playing in 2010.
Like most other minor sports leagues, the AF2 existed to develop football
players and also to help players adapt to the style and pace of arena football
. In addition, the AF2 was similar to other minor leagues because AF2 teams played in smaller cities and smaller venues. While the AFL was played in cities like Los Angeles
, New York City
, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Chicago
, the AF2 fielded teams in cities which are part of metropolitan statistical areas
ranging in size from Milwaukee (with 1,739,497 residents) to Albany, Georgia
(with 164,000 residents). Players also earned less in the AF2, with each player making $200 per game.
by the Arena Football League in an attempt to bring the game to mid-sized markets following the success of AFL on the national level. The AF2 was not intended to be a farm system for the AFL like the American Hockey League
and Minor League Baseball
are to the National Hockey League
and Major League Baseball
, respectively. The league was instead designed as a league that would develop the players. The lack of AFL-AF2 team affiliations would prevent the AFL from "stashing" players in the lower league for later use. Players in the AF2 are signed to one-year contracts, after the expiration of which they essentially become free agents to sign with whichever league and team they would prefer. The 16-week contracts with the individual AF2 teams also prevents players from leaving for the parent league mid-season; this preserves the quality of play in the lower league and does not destroy team dynamic with players coming and going throughout the season.
The foundation of the AF2 was a response to launch of several small-market leagues in the mid to late 1990s, including the Professional Indoor Football League
, Indoor Professional Football League
, and Indoor Football League. Each of these leagues, though they would eventually fold, managed to last a few seasons each, proving that the game had traction in the smaller cities. With Jim Foster's patent on arena football, the AF2 had the advantage of being the same game as was being seen on the national level with the use of the rebound nets. Working on a smaller scale, the AF2 would try to capitalize on local and regional rivalries.
The Xtreme Football League was another upstart league trying to capitalize on the arena football phenomenon. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama
, the XFL (which is not related to the WWE-backed outdoor league
) used East Coast Hockey League ownership to keep team costs low while providing established ownership and arenas for play. The league never played a game as it and its nine teams were purchased by the AF2.
The AF2 finally took the field in March 2000 in a game between the Birmingham Steeldogs and Tennessee Valley Vipers
(the latter of which was one of the acquired XFL teams). Fifteen teams were fielded in 2000 with the rights for several more cities quickly secured. The Orlando Predators
also purchased competitor Indoor Football League; several teams would be absorbed into the AF2 for the 2001 season
.
The first season concluded with over 868,000 people attending AF2 games, averaging over 7,200 per game; several teams ended with average attendances over 10,000 fans. In addition over 9,200 fans attended ArenaCup I
between the Tennessee Valley Vipers and Quad City Steamwheelers
in Moline, Illinois
. Deemed a success, the league returned for a second season and returned all 15 original teams as well as 13 expansion teams.
The remaining teams and Board of Directors of af2, and some former members of the AFL joined together to create a new league, Arena Football One, which was announced at a press conference on September 28, 2009. Legally, Arena Football One is an entity independent of the original Arena Football League and af2 and is made up of former AFL and AF2 teams with several new teams and one team from another league. After acquiring the assets of the former Arena Football League in a bankruptcy court sale, the new entity became the "new" Arena Football League.
was the AF2's championship game, held annually in August. For the league's first five years, it was held at the home arena of the higher-seeded remaining team. However, as AFL has changed, the AF2 has also changed. In the same year that ArenaBowl XIX
was played at a neutral site in Las Vegas
, ArenaCup VI
was the first AF2 championship to be played at a neutral site in Bossier City, Louisiana
. The practice continued the following year when ArenaCup VII
was played in Coliseo de Puerto Rico
in San Juan
; the title game returned to Bossier City in ArenaCup VIII. Citing lower attendances at the neutral site ArenaCup games, the league returned to the original arena arrangement for the 2008 season.
With the exception of ArenaCup V
, all AF2 championships were televised either nationally or locally. The inaugural and second ArenaCups were broadcast on TNN Motor Sports/TNN Sports
, which carried AFL games on Sunday afternoons at the time. However, when the AFL announced that broadcast rights had been purchased by NBC
the ArenaCup national telecast was lost. The 2002 ArenaCup was televised by the Vision Network, and ArenaCup IV
was televised by KWHB
, a local station in Tulsa, Oklahoma
. After having no television coverage in 2004, the national telecasts returned to the airwaves with Fox Sports Net
in 2005 and Comcast Sports Net in 2006, 2007, and 2008.
As of 2008, ArenaCup 9, as well as the season in its entirety, was broadcast online via NiFTy TV.
The league's teams were divided into two conferences, the American and National Conferences. The conferences were further subdivided into three divisions each. Each division represented a region of the country in which teams played. Unlike most sports leagues, the alignment of teams into divisions was not even; in 2009, the Central division featured three teams while the West featured five teams. Teams were placed in divisions based on geographic rivalries to reduce travel costs as teams played division opponents more often than non-divisional opponents. Alignment was subject to change each year as new teams joined the league and others dropped out.
Because of legal issues regarding the dissolution of the original Arena Football League, no team committed to continue with arenafootball2 operations. This list is the final alignment of AF2.
, AFL commissioner David Baker
briefly mentioned the AF2, saying how one day, he envisioned the league growing to 100 teams. The AF2 started off with 15 teams in 2000, then expanded to 28 teams in 2001, and finally 34 in 2002. The number of teams the league fielded dropped every year from there on after, until the 2006 season. 27 teams were fielded in 2003, 25 in 2004, and 20 in 2005. Finally, in 2006, the AF2 saw its first expansion in four years, fielding 23 teams, and continued that into 2007 with 30 teams.
The drop in teams between 2002 and 2006 could be partially attributed to the league expanding too rapidly in its first three seasons. Many teams were financially unstable and folded
. This can be due to higher expenses compared to similar leagues. Franchise fees in the league ranged from $600,000 to $1 million. Historically, massive expansions had little success. For instance, the National Indoor Football League
, a rival indoor league, saw large amounts of expansion teams after beginning play in 2001 but many struggled financially.
Nine new expansion teams were approved for 2007 in the AF2: the Boise Burn, the Cincinnati Jungle Kats
, the Fort Wayne Fusion
, the Laredo Lobos
, the Lubbock Renegades
, the Mahoning Valley Thunder
, the Texas Copperheads
, the Tri-Cities Fever
, and the Corpus Christi Sharks
. The Texas, Laredo, and Tri-Cities teams moved to the AF2 from other indoor football leagues. For the 2007 season the league fielded 30 teams. After the 2007 season, three of those teams folded, the Fort Wayne Fusion
, the Cincinnati Jungle Kats
, and the Laredo Lobos
. Also the Everett Hawks
, Alabama Steeldogs, and the Bakersfield Blitz
ceased operations.
For 2008 the league fielded one less team at 29. Two teams the Iowa Barnstormers and the Peoria Pirates
were reactivated, and the league admitted three new teams that were transferring from other leagues. The Lexington Horsemen
came from UIF
, the Daytona Beach ThunderBirds from the WIFL
and the Austin Wranglers
moved down from the AFL. After the season, Austin
and Daytona Beach folded, along with Louisville
, Lubbock
, and Texas
. The league was expected to expand to Toledo, Ohio
and Worcester, Massachusetts
by 2011.
When af2 legally folded, some teams joined the af2 Board of Directors in forming the new Arena Football One that became the new Arena Football League. Iowa, Milwaukee, Tennessee Valley (which changed its name to Alabama to reflect the state, not region), Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Bossier-Shreveport, and Spokane all seamlessly moved to the new AFL to join "old" AFL teams Arizona, Orlando, Tampa Bay, Chicago, and Cleveland, and expansion teams in Dallas and Jacksonville, and the AIFA team in Utah which had originally been in the old AFL. Originally, Kentucky, Tri-Cities and Arkansas were also committed to the new league, but Kentucky folded, and both Tri-Cities and Arkansas joined Green Bay and Amarillo to the Indoor Football League
. Albany will not play in 2010 while seeking an expansion into the "new" AFL in 2011, along with planned addition Toledo.
Minor league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities. This term is used in North America with regard to several organizations competing in...
; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football
Arena football
Arena football is a variety of gridiron football played by the Arena Football League . It is a proprietary game, the rights to which are owned by Gridiron Enterprises, and is played indoors on a smaller field than American or Canadian outdoor football, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game....
rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup championship in August. The AF2 continued to operate while the AFL had suspended operations. The league was effectively disbanded in September 2009 when no team committed to playing in 2010.
Like most other minor sports leagues, the AF2 existed to develop football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
players and also to help players adapt to the style and pace of arena football
Arena football
Arena football is a variety of gridiron football played by the Arena Football League . It is a proprietary game, the rights to which are owned by Gridiron Enterprises, and is played indoors on a smaller field than American or Canadian outdoor football, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game....
. In addition, the AF2 was similar to other minor leagues because AF2 teams played in smaller cities and smaller venues. While the AFL was played in cities like Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, the AF2 fielded teams in cities which are part of metropolitan statistical areas
Table of United States Metropolitan Statistical Areas
thumb|An enlargeable map of the 942 [[Core Based Statistical Area]]s of the [[United States]]. The 367 [[Metropolitan Statistical Area]]s are shown in red....
ranging in size from Milwaukee (with 1,739,497 residents) to Albany, Georgia
Albany, Georgia
Albany is a city in and the county seat of Dougherty County, Georgia, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. It is the principal city of the Albany, Georgia metropolitan area and the southwest part of the state. The population was 77,434 at the 2010 U.S. Census, making it the...
(with 164,000 residents). Players also earned less in the AF2, with each player making $200 per game.
History
The AF2 was founded in 19991999 in sports
1999 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Alpine skiing:* Alpine Skiing World Cup** Men's overall season champion: Lasse Kjus, Norway** Women's overall season champion: Alexandra Meissnitzer, Austria-American football:...
by the Arena Football League in an attempt to bring the game to mid-sized markets following the success of AFL on the national level. The AF2 was not intended to be a farm system for the AFL like the American Hockey League
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...
and Minor League Baseball
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
are to the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
and Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
, respectively. The league was instead designed as a league that would develop the players. The lack of AFL-AF2 team affiliations would prevent the AFL from "stashing" players in the lower league for later use. Players in the AF2 are signed to one-year contracts, after the expiration of which they essentially become free agents to sign with whichever league and team they would prefer. The 16-week contracts with the individual AF2 teams also prevents players from leaving for the parent league mid-season; this preserves the quality of play in the lower league and does not destroy team dynamic with players coming and going throughout the season.
The foundation of the AF2 was a response to launch of several small-market leagues in the mid to late 1990s, including the Professional Indoor Football League
Professional Indoor Football League
The Professional Indoor Football League was the second league to successfully play indoor football as a paid pro-league sport, after the Arena Football League. Since the AFL had a patent given in 1990 on the gameplay of "Arena Football" , the PIFL played with mostly the same rules, but without the...
, Indoor Professional Football League
Indoor Professional Football League
The Indoor Professional Football League was the new incarnation of the Professional Indoor Football League , which started in 1998. Two of its teams left the league and their owner, Kerry Ecklund, founded the Indoor Football League in 1999...
, and Indoor Football League. Each of these leagues, though they would eventually fold, managed to last a few seasons each, proving that the game had traction in the smaller cities. With Jim Foster's patent on arena football, the AF2 had the advantage of being the same game as was being seen on the national level with the use of the rebound nets. Working on a smaller scale, the AF2 would try to capitalize on local and regional rivalries.
The Xtreme Football League was another upstart league trying to capitalize on the arena football phenomenon. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, the XFL (which is not related to the WWE-backed outdoor league
XFL
The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of WWE...
) used East Coast Hockey League ownership to keep team costs low while providing established ownership and arenas for play. The league never played a game as it and its nine teams were purchased by the AF2.
The AF2 finally took the field in March 2000 in a game between the Birmingham Steeldogs and Tennessee Valley Vipers
Tennessee Valley Vipers
The Alabama Vipers was a professional arena football team, that played in the Arena Football League. For most of their history, the Vipers played as the Tennessee Valley Vipers in the now-defunct af2, the minor league for the original AFL, where they won the 2008 ArenaCup championship. They play...
(the latter of which was one of the acquired XFL teams). Fifteen teams were fielded in 2000 with the rights for several more cities quickly secured. The Orlando Predators
Orlando Predators
The Orlando Predators are an Arena Football League team based in Orlando, Florida that was founded in 1991. Their playoff streak is currently 19 seasons in a row, as of the season, becoming the ArenaBowl champions in 1998 and 2000...
also purchased competitor Indoor Football League; several teams would be absorbed into the AF2 for the 2001 season
2001 af2 season
The 2001 AF2 season was the second season of the AF2. The league champions were the Quad City Steamwheelers, who defended their title with a victory over the Richmond Speed in ArenaCup II...
.
The first season concluded with over 868,000 people attending AF2 games, averaging over 7,200 per game; several teams ended with average attendances over 10,000 fans. In addition over 9,200 fans attended ArenaCup I
ArenaCup I
ArenaCup I was the 2000 edition of the af2's championship game, in which the National Conference Champions Tennessee Valley Vipers were defeated by the American Conference Champions Quad City Steamwheelers in Moline, Illinois by a score of 68 to 59 ....
between the Tennessee Valley Vipers and Quad City Steamwheelers
Quad City Steamwheelers
The Quad City Steamwheelers were a professional arena football team. They were a charter member of the af2. They play their home games at i wireless Center in Moline, Illinois....
in Moline, Illinois
Moline, Illinois
Moline is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, with a population of 45,792 in 2010. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The Quad Cities has a population of...
. Deemed a success, the league returned for a second season and returned all 15 original teams as well as 13 expansion teams.
Dissolution
For legal purposes, the league was effectively dissolved on September 8, 2009 when no team submitted the paperwork to return in 2010. Since the AFL had ceased 2009 operations and later ceased all operations indefinitely after declaring bankruptcy, the minority owners of AF2 were wary of being owned by and paying money to the bankrupt league.The remaining teams and Board of Directors of af2, and some former members of the AFL joined together to create a new league, Arena Football One, which was announced at a press conference on September 28, 2009. Legally, Arena Football One is an entity independent of the original Arena Football League and af2 and is made up of former AFL and AF2 teams with several new teams and one team from another league. After acquiring the assets of the former Arena Football League in a bankruptcy court sale, the new entity became the "new" Arena Football League.
ArenaCup
The ArenaCupArenaCup
The ArenaCup is the af2's championship game. For the league's first five years, it was held at the arena of the higher seeded team. However, the 2005 ArenaCup was the first to be played at a neutral site in Bossier City, Louisiana. The 2006 ArenaCup was played in Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San...
was the AF2's championship game, held annually in August. For the league's first five years, it was held at the home arena of the higher-seeded remaining team. However, as AFL has changed, the AF2 has also changed. In the same year that ArenaBowl XIX
ArenaBowl XIX
ArenaBowl XIX was the 2005 championship game of the Arena Football League , and was played at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The first-ever neutral-site title game in AFL history drew 10,822 fans to see the Colorado Crush defeat the Georgia Force 51–48 to claim the Foster ArenaBowl...
was played at a neutral site in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, ArenaCup VI
ArenaCup VI
ArenaCup VI was the 2005 edition of the af2's championship game, in which the National Conference Champions Memphis Xplorers defeated the American Conference Champions Louisville Fire in Bossier City, Louisiana by a score of 63 to 41 .-External links:*...
was the first AF2 championship to be played at a neutral site in Bossier City, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. The practice continued the following year when ArenaCup VII
ArenaCup VII
ArenaCup VII was the 2006 edition of the af2's championship game, pairing the Green Bay Blizzard of the American Conference with the Spokane Shock of the National Conference. The Shock rode the arm of Offensive Player of the Game Kyle Rowley and a stout defense to a decisive victory over the...
was played in Coliseo de Puerto Rico
José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum
The José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum, officially named "Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot" , is the biggest indoor arena in Puerto Rico dedicated to entertainment...
in San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
; the title game returned to Bossier City in ArenaCup VIII. Citing lower attendances at the neutral site ArenaCup games, the league returned to the original arena arrangement for the 2008 season.
With the exception of ArenaCup V
ArenaCup V
ArenaCup V was the 2004 edition of the af2's championship game, in which the National Conference Champions Florida Firecats defeated the American Conference Champions Peoria Pirates in Estero, Florida by a score of 39 to 26 .-External links:*...
, all AF2 championships were televised either nationally or locally. The inaugural and second ArenaCups were broadcast on TNN Motor Sports/TNN Sports
TNN Motor Sports/TNN Sports
TNN Sports was a unit of The Nashville Network, and later as The National Network . TNN Sports aired Motorsports events from 1983–2003, the XFL in 2001, and Arena Football League games from 2000–2003-History:It all began when the network launched in 1983...
, which carried AFL games on Sunday afternoons at the time. However, when the AFL announced that broadcast rights had been purchased by NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
the ArenaCup national telecast was lost. The 2002 ArenaCup was televised by the Vision Network, and ArenaCup IV
ArenaCup IV
ArenaCup IV was the 2003 edition of the af2's championship game, in which the National Conference Champions Tulsa Talons defeated the American Conference Champions Macon Knights in Tulsa, Oklahoma by a score of 68 to 59 .-External links:*...
was televised by KWHB
KWHB
KWHB, virtual channel 47, is a television station in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is an owned-and-operated station of the LeSEA network. The station runs a schedule of Christian programming along with a few hours of secular general entertainment daily....
, a local station in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
. After having no television coverage in 2004, the national telecasts returned to the airwaves with Fox Sports Net
Fox Sports Net
The Fox Sports Regional Networks, or simply Fox Sports Net , are a collection of cable TV regional sports networks in the United States owned and operated by News Corporation.- Beginnings :...
in 2005 and Comcast Sports Net in 2006, 2007, and 2008.
As of 2008, ArenaCup 9, as well as the season in its entirety, was broadcast online via NiFTy TV.
Teams
Because of legal issues regarding the dissolution of the original Arena Football League, no team committed to continue with arenafootball2 operations. This list is the final alignment of AF2.
| Division | Team | City | Arena | Founded | First af2 season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Conference | |||||
| East | Albany Firebirds | Albany, New York Albany, New York Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River... |
Times Union Center | 2001 | 2002 |
| Mahoning Valley Thunder Mahoning Valley Thunder The Mahoning Valley Thunder was a professional af2 arena football team from 2007-2009.Having entered af2 as an expansion team in 2007, the Thunder played its home games at Cortland Banks Field at the Covelli Centre in downtown Youngstown, Ohio.... |
Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County; it also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is situated on the Mahoning River, approximately southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania... |
Covelli Centre | 2006 | 2007 | |
| Manchester Wolves Manchester Wolves The Manchester Wolves were a professional arena football team, based at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, which folded at the end of the 2009 season along with the rest of the league... |
Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which... |
Verizon Wireless Arena Verizon Wireless Arena The Verizon Wireless Arena is an indoor events arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, and seats 9,852 for ice hockey and just under 10,000 for basketball and some concerts.Verizon Wireless paid for the arena's naming rights... |
2001 | 2002 | |
| Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers were a minor league arena football team that played in the AF2. The team was part of the East Division in the American conference. The Pioneers were an expansion team for the league's 2002 season, and were the runner-ups in ArenaCup VIII and ArenaCup X.-2001:The... |
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census... |
Wachovia Arena | 2001 | 2002 | |
| Midwest | Green Bay Blizzard Green Bay Blizzard The Green Bay Blizzard is a professional indoor football team, which was founded in 2003. The Blizzard began play in the Indoor Football League in 2010, after having played the previous seven seasons in af2, in the now defunct the minor league of the Arena Football League. The Blizzard play in... |
Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,... |
Resch Center Resch Center The Resch Center is a 10,200 seat multi-purpose arena, in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin.Built in 2002, it is the home of the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay Phoenix men's basketball team, the Green Bay Gamblers ice hockey team, Green Bay Chill and the Green Bay Blizzard arena football teams.The arena... |
2002 | 2003 |
| Iowa Barnstormers Iowa Barnstormers The Iowa Barnstormers are an arena football team based in Des Moines, Iowa. They are currently members of the Arena Football League , which they joined in 2010 following the organization's restructuring... |
Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857... |
Wells Fargo Arena Wells Fargo Arena (Des Moines) Wells Fargo Arena is a 16,980-seat multi-purpose arena in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. Part of the Iowa Events Center, the arena opened in 2005, at a cost of $99 million.... |
2000 | 2001 | |
| Milwaukee Iron Milwaukee Iron The Milwaukee Mustangs are a professional arena football team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They are currently members of the Arena Football League , which they joined in 2010 during the league's restructuring... |
Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Bradley Center Bradley Center The Bradley Center is an indoor arena, located on the northwest corner of North 4th and West State Streets, in Downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin.... |
2008 | 2009 | |
| Peoria Pirates Peoria Pirates The Peoria Pirates were a professional arena football team that last played in af2, the minor league to the Arena Football League. They played their home games at Carver Arena, part of the Peoria Civic Center in Illinois, and were coached by Mike Hohensee... |
Peoria, Illinois Peoria, Illinois Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated... |
Peoria Civic Center Peoria Civic Center Peoria Civic Center is a convention center located next to Peoria City Hall in downtown Peoria, Illinois. USA. It has an arena, a theater, an exhibit hall, and meeting rooms... |
1998 | 2001 | |
| Quad City Steamwheelers Quad City Steamwheelers The Quad City Steamwheelers were a professional arena football team. They were a charter member of the af2. They play their home games at i wireless Center in Moline, Illinois.... |
Moline, Illinois Moline, Illinois Moline is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, with a population of 45,792 in 2010. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The Quad Cities has a population of... |
i wireless Center | 1999 | 2000 | |
| South | Florida Firecats | Estero, Florida Estero, Florida Estero is a census-designated place in Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the CDP population was 18,176. It is the home of Germain Arena, which hosts the home games for the Florida Everblades ECHL hockey team and the Florida Firecats af2 arena football team... |
Germain Arena Germain Arena Germain Arena is a 7,128-seat multi-purpose arena in Estero, Florida, United States.The arena was first named Everblades Arena in 1998 after the hockey team that played there. TECO Energy was the first company to obtain the naming rights to the building, changing the name to TECO Arena. In 2004,... |
2000 | 2001 |
| Kentucky Horsemen | Lexington, Kentucky Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region... |
Rupp Arena Rupp Arena Rupp Arena is an arena located in downtown Lexington, Kentucky, U.S. Since its opening in 1976, it has been the centerpiece of Lexington Center, a convention and shopping facility owned by an arm of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, and serves as home court to the University of... |
2002 | 2008 | |
| South Georgia Wildcats South Georgia Wildcats The South Georgia Wildcats were a professional arena football team. They were a 2002 expansion member of af2, the minor league for the Arena Football League... |
Albany, Georgia Albany, Georgia Albany is a city in and the county seat of Dougherty County, Georgia, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. It is the principal city of the Albany, Georgia metropolitan area and the southwest part of the state. The population was 77,434 at the 2010 U.S. Census, making it the... |
James H. Gray Civic Center | 2001 | 2002 | |
| Tennessee Valley Vipers Tennessee Valley Vipers The Alabama Vipers was a professional arena football team, that played in the Arena Football League. For most of their history, the Vipers played as the Tennessee Valley Vipers in the now-defunct af2, the minor league for the original AFL, where they won the 2008 ArenaCup championship. They play... |
Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census.... |
Von Braun Center Von Braun Center The Von Braun Center , known as the Von Braun Civic Center until 1997, is a multi-purpose indoor arena, meeting, and performing arts complex, with a maximum arena seating capacity of 10,000, located in Huntsville, Alabama... |
1999 | 2000 | |
| National Conference | |||||
| Central | Amarillo Dusters Amarillo Dusters The Amarillo Venom are an professional indoor football team in the Lone Star Football League. The Venom began play in 2004 as the Amarillo Dusters, a charter member of the Intense Football League, a small indoor football league based in Texas. They won the championship in their first and only... |
Amarillo, Texas Amarillo, Texas Amarillo is the 14th-largest city, by population, in the state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 190,695 at the 2010 census... |
Amarillo Civic Center Amarillo Civic Center The Amarillo Civic Center is a multi-purpose convention center in Amarillo, Texas. Built in 1964, it consists of multiple facilities including:* A 2,848-seat auditorium with 2,324 permanent seats and used for concerts, Broadway shows and other events.... |
2003 | 2005 |
| Oklahoma City Yard Dawgs | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma city Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial... |
Ford Center | 2003 | 2004 | |
| Tulsa Talons Tulsa Talons The San Antonio Talons are a professional arena football franchise in San Antonio, Texas that plays in the Arena Football League.The Talons began in 2000 in Tulsa, Oklahoma as the Tulsa Talons, a charter member of the defunct minor league Arena Football 2, also known as af2... |
Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's... |
BOK Center BOK Center The BOK Center, or Bank of Oklahoma Center, is a 19,100-seat multi-purpose arena and a primary indoor sports and event venue in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. Designed to accommodate arena football, hockey, basketball, concerts, and similar events, the facility was built at a cost of $178 million... |
1999 | 2000 | |
| Southwest | Arkansas Twisters Arkansas Twisters The Allen Wranglers are a professional indoor football team based in Allen, Texas play in the Indoor Football League. The Wranglers play their home games at the Allen Event Center.-History:... |
North Little Rock, Arkansas North Little Rock, Arkansas the city was 62.55% White, 33.98% Black or African American, 0.41% Native American, 0.59% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.18% from other races, and 1.26% from two or more races... |
Verizon Arena | 1999 | 2000 |
| Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings The Bossier Shreveport Battle Wings were an Arena Football League team based in Bossier City, Louisiana. They played at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City and represented both Bossier City and Shreveport... |
Bossier City, Louisiana Bossier City, Louisiana Bossier City is a city in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, United States.As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of 61,315. Bossier City is closely tied to its larger sister city Shreveport, located on the western bank of the Red River. The Shreveport-Bossier City metropolitan area is the... |
CenturyTel Center CenturyTel Center The CenturyLink Center is a 14,000-seat multi-purpose arena, in Bossier City, Louisiana... |
2000 | 2001 | |
| Corpus Christi Sharks Corpus Christi Sharks The Corpus Christi Sharks were a 2007 expansion member of the af2. They played their home games at the American Bank Center. Michael Trigg was the team's head coach. Trigg previously was a head coach in the Arena Football League with the Milwaukee Mustangs, Grand Rapids Rampage and Philadelphia... |
Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the... |
American Bank Center American Bank Center The American Bank Center is an entertainment complex located in Corpus Christi, Texas. The complex consists of an auditorium convention center and arena. The facility hosts numerous conventions, trade shows, exhibitions, live performances and sporting events. It is home to the Corpus Christi... |
2006 | 2007 | |
| Rio Grande Valley Dorados Rio Grande Valley Dorados The Rio Grande Valley Dorados were a professional arena football team. They began play in 2004 as an expansion member of af2, the minor league to the Arena Football League... |
Hidalgo, Texas Hidalgo, Texas Hidalgo is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. The population was 11,198 at the 2010 census. It is home to the Rio Grande Valley Magic of the Southern Indoor Football League, the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees of the Central Hockey League, and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA... |
Dodge Arena Dodge Arena The State Farm Arena is a multi-purpose complex, in Hidalgo, Texas. It was formerly known as Dodge Arena, until February 4, 2010.The arena seats up to 5,500 persons in its configuration for ice hockey, indoor football and indoor soccer, and up to 6,800 persons in its center stage concert... |
2003 | 2004 | |
| West | Boise Burn | Boise, Idaho Boise, Idaho Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,... |
Qwest Arena Qwest Arena CenturyLink Arena Boise is a multi-purpose arena in Boise, Idaho. It holds 5,300 fans for ice hockey and basketball, 5,732 for end-stage concerts, 6,400 for boxing and up to 6,800 for center-stage concerts. It contains 4,508 permanent seats... |
2006 | 2007 |
| Central Valley Coyotes Central Valley Coyotes The Central Valley Coyotes are a professional arena football team and were a charter member of Arena Football 1. The team currently is not in a league... |
Fresno, California Fresno, California Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation... |
Selland Arena Selland Arena The Selland Arena is a multi-purpose arena built in 1966 that makes up part of a five-venue complex of the Fresno Convention and Entertainment Center in Fresno, California. It is named after former Fresno mayor Arthur L. Selland and has had over ten million people walk through its doors in its over... |
2001 | 2002 | |
| Spokane Shock Spokane Shock The Spokane Shock is a professional arena football team of the Arena Football League from Spokane, Washington, USA. They play their home games at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena... |
Spokane, Washington Spokane, Washington Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region... |
Spokane Arena | 2005 | 2006 | |
| Stockton Lightning Stockton Lightning The Stockton Lightning were a professional arena football team. They were members of the Western Division of the National Conferenece of the arenafootball2 .The Lightning joined af2 2006 as an expansion team... |
Stockton, California Stockton, California Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city... |
Stockton Arena Stockton Arena Stockton Arena is an indoor arena in Stockton, California. It opened in December 2005 and seats approximately 10,000 fans. The arena, at maximum capacity, can seat 11,800 people.It is primarily used for ice hockey, indoor soccer and arena football.... |
2005 | 2006 | |
| Tri-Cities Fever Tri-Cities Fever The Tri-Cities Fever are a professional indoor football team in the Indoor Football League. Their first season was in 2005 as an expansion member of the National Indoor Football League. Though they represent the entire Tri-Cities region, they play their home games exclusively at the Toyota Center... |
Kennewick, Washington Kennewick, Washington Kennewick is a city in Benton County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Washington, near the Hanford nuclear site. It is the most populous of the three cities collectively referred to as the Tri-Cities... |
Toyota Center Toyota Center (Kennewick) The Toyota Center is an multi-purpose arena in Kennewick, Washington, USA.The arena opened in 1988 as the Tri-Cities Coliseum... |
2004 | 2007 | |
League expansion
In a June 2003 interview with Sports IllustratedSports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
, AFL commissioner David Baker
C. David Baker
David Baker was the fourth commissioner of the Arena Football League. He started in the league as the owner of the Anaheim Piranhas, which folded after two seasons. One of his more imposing features is his size - 6 feet 9 and-a-half inches tall and 390 pounds. He was a power forward at UC-Irvine...
briefly mentioned the AF2, saying how one day, he envisioned the league growing to 100 teams. The AF2 started off with 15 teams in 2000, then expanded to 28 teams in 2001, and finally 34 in 2002. The number of teams the league fielded dropped every year from there on after, until the 2006 season. 27 teams were fielded in 2003, 25 in 2004, and 20 in 2005. Finally, in 2006, the AF2 saw its first expansion in four years, fielding 23 teams, and continued that into 2007 with 30 teams.
The drop in teams between 2002 and 2006 could be partially attributed to the league expanding too rapidly in its first three seasons. Many teams were financially unstable and folded
Defunct af2 teams
The following is a list of teams that, at one time, played in the AF2. This does not include teams in AF2 when the Board of Directors formed the New AFL in 2010.- External links :*...
. This can be due to higher expenses compared to similar leagues. Franchise fees in the league ranged from $600,000 to $1 million. Historically, massive expansions had little success. For instance, the National Indoor Football League
National Indoor Football League
National Indoor Football League was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, af2, however, that changed briefly with their expansion into AFL...
, a rival indoor league, saw large amounts of expansion teams after beginning play in 2001 but many struggled financially.
Nine new expansion teams were approved for 2007 in the AF2: the Boise Burn, the Cincinnati Jungle Kats
Cincinnati Jungle Kats
The Cincinnati Jungle Kats were an af2 team that played its home games at the U.S. Bank Arena. Their only year in existence was 2007. The team is not to be confused with the The Marshals , the NIFL club that was the arena's former tenant, who changed their name to "The Marshals" and moved to Hara...
, the Fort Wayne Fusion
Fort Wayne Fusion
The Fort Wayne Fusion was a 2007 af2 expansion team in the Midwest Division of the American Conference. They played their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which was the former home of the defunct National Indoor Football League/United Indoor Football...
, the Laredo Lobos
Laredo Lobos
The Laredo Lobos were a professional arena football team based out of Laredo, Texas. They were a member of the af2 league. They played their home games at the Laredo Entertainment Center...
, the Lubbock Renegades
Lubbock Renegades
The Lubbock Renegades were an expansion member of the af2. The team played its home games at the City Bank Coliseum, which was the former home of the IFL/NIFL team, the Lubbock Lone Stars/Gunslingers. The team was owned by Doug McGregor, Rick Dykes, and Bart Reagor. It was coached by former Texas...
, the Mahoning Valley Thunder
Mahoning Valley Thunder
The Mahoning Valley Thunder was a professional af2 arena football team from 2007-2009.Having entered af2 as an expansion team in 2007, the Thunder played its home games at Cortland Banks Field at the Covelli Centre in downtown Youngstown, Ohio....
, the Texas Copperheads
Texas Copperheads
The Texas Copperheads were a professional arena football that played in af2, the minor league for the Arena Football League. The team was founded in 2006 as member of the National Indoor Football League . They played their home games at the Richard E. Berry Educational Support Center in Cypress,...
, the Tri-Cities Fever
Tri-Cities Fever
The Tri-Cities Fever are a professional indoor football team in the Indoor Football League. Their first season was in 2005 as an expansion member of the National Indoor Football League. Though they represent the entire Tri-Cities region, they play their home games exclusively at the Toyota Center...
, and the Corpus Christi Sharks
Corpus Christi Sharks
The Corpus Christi Sharks were a 2007 expansion member of the af2. They played their home games at the American Bank Center. Michael Trigg was the team's head coach. Trigg previously was a head coach in the Arena Football League with the Milwaukee Mustangs, Grand Rapids Rampage and Philadelphia...
. The Texas, Laredo, and Tri-Cities teams moved to the AF2 from other indoor football leagues. For the 2007 season the league fielded 30 teams. After the 2007 season, three of those teams folded, the Fort Wayne Fusion
Fort Wayne Fusion
The Fort Wayne Fusion was a 2007 af2 expansion team in the Midwest Division of the American Conference. They played their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which was the former home of the defunct National Indoor Football League/United Indoor Football...
, the Cincinnati Jungle Kats
Cincinnati Jungle Kats
The Cincinnati Jungle Kats were an af2 team that played its home games at the U.S. Bank Arena. Their only year in existence was 2007. The team is not to be confused with the The Marshals , the NIFL club that was the arena's former tenant, who changed their name to "The Marshals" and moved to Hara...
, and the Laredo Lobos
Laredo Lobos
The Laredo Lobos were a professional arena football team based out of Laredo, Texas. They were a member of the af2 league. They played their home games at the Laredo Entertainment Center...
. Also the Everett Hawks
Everett Hawks
The Everett Hawks are a now-defunct professional and later minor-league arena football team based in Everett, Washington, USA. The team was in existence for five years in three leagues, the Northwest Football League , the National Indoor Football League , and af2 and in two cities, the Eastside...
, Alabama Steeldogs, and the Bakersfield Blitz
Bakersfield Blitz
The Bakersfield Blitz were a professional arena football team based in Bakersfield, California. They are a 2004 expansion member of the af2 and play their home games at Rabobank Arena....
ceased operations.
For 2008 the league fielded one less team at 29. Two teams the Iowa Barnstormers and the Peoria Pirates
Peoria Pirates
The Peoria Pirates were a professional arena football team that last played in af2, the minor league to the Arena Football League. They played their home games at Carver Arena, part of the Peoria Civic Center in Illinois, and were coached by Mike Hohensee...
were reactivated, and the league admitted three new teams that were transferring from other leagues. The Lexington Horsemen
Lexington Horsemen
The Kentucky Horsemen were an indoor football team based in Lexington, Kentucky. The team played its home games at Rupp Arena. The organization began as a 2003 expansion member of the National Indoor Football League, where they were successful...
came from UIF
United Indoor Football
United Indoor Football was a United States indoor football league that started in 2005. Ten owners from the National Indoor Football League, including one expansion and two from arenafootball2 took their franchises and formed their own league...
, the Daytona Beach ThunderBirds from the WIFL
World Indoor Football League (2007)
The World Indoor Football League was an indoor football league founded by Harry Pierce, owner of the Rome Renegades and Raleigh Rebels of the American Indoor Football League...
and the Austin Wranglers
Austin Wranglers
The Austin Wranglers were an arena football team based in Austin, Texas. They played four seasons in the Arena Football League from 2004 to 2007 and spent one season in AF2, the AFL's developmental league, in 2008. They made playoff appearances in the AFL in 2006 and in AF2 in 2008...
moved down from the AFL. After the season, Austin
Austin Wranglers
The Austin Wranglers were an arena football team based in Austin, Texas. They played four seasons in the Arena Football League from 2004 to 2007 and spent one season in AF2, the AFL's developmental league, in 2008. They made playoff appearances in the AFL in 2006 and in AF2 in 2008...
and Daytona Beach folded, along with Louisville
Louisville Fire
The Louisville Fire was an arena football team that played its home games at the Brown-Forman Field in Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. They were a 2001 expansion team of the af2. Their owner/operator was former Pro Bowl lineman and Louisville native Will Wolford. The team was somewhat...
, Lubbock
Lubbock Renegades
The Lubbock Renegades were an expansion member of the af2. The team played its home games at the City Bank Coliseum, which was the former home of the IFL/NIFL team, the Lubbock Lone Stars/Gunslingers. The team was owned by Doug McGregor, Rick Dykes, and Bart Reagor. It was coached by former Texas...
, and Texas
Texas Copperheads
The Texas Copperheads were a professional arena football that played in af2, the minor league for the Arena Football League. The team was founded in 2006 as member of the National Indoor Football League . They played their home games at the Richard E. Berry Educational Support Center in Cypress,...
. The league was expected to expand to Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
and Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
by 2011.
When af2 legally folded, some teams joined the af2 Board of Directors in forming the new Arena Football One that became the new Arena Football League. Iowa, Milwaukee, Tennessee Valley (which changed its name to Alabama to reflect the state, not region), Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Bossier-Shreveport, and Spokane all seamlessly moved to the new AFL to join "old" AFL teams Arizona, Orlando, Tampa Bay, Chicago, and Cleveland, and expansion teams in Dallas and Jacksonville, and the AIFA team in Utah which had originally been in the old AFL. Originally, Kentucky, Tri-Cities and Arkansas were also committed to the new league, but Kentucky folded, and both Tri-Cities and Arkansas joined Green Bay and Amarillo to the Indoor Football League
Indoor Football League
The Indoor Football League began in 1999 as an offshoot of the troubled Professional Indoor Football League. Keary Ecklund, the owner of the Green Bay Bombers and Madison Mad Dogs, left the PIFL after its first, financially-troubled, season to start his own league. Unlike the PIFL, the IFL was an...
. Albany will not play in 2010 while seeking an expansion into the "new" AFL in 2011, along with planned addition Toledo.