Arena Football League Plans Return in 2024

The Arena Football League (AFL) is like a cat.  The league has had many lives and now the league is planning a return to 16 cities in 2024.

Originally launched in 1987, the league grew to as many as 19 teams in 2001 and even launched a minor league called AF2 in 2000.  However, the AFL faced financial hardships in 2009 and 2019.  They last played in 2019 with six teams.

Arena Football was originally created by Jim Foster who sketched out the idea while attending an indoor soccer game at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1981.  The game features a 50-yard field with rebound nets in each end zone.  If a kick or pass rebounds off of the nets it is still a live ball.  The offense is dominated by passing and scores can average 50-60 points.  The games are also played by eight players instead of the traditional 11 with players playing both offense and defensive except for the quarterback.

This week the AFL confirmed the rumors and announced its plans to return in 2024, over a year after the rights to the league were purchased by an investment group called F1 Sports & Entertainment. The relaunched league, led by chairman Chris Chetty, President Anthony Rossi, President of Operations Shan Singh, and Commissioner Lee A. Hutton III, will feature 16 teams playing a 10-game season over the course of the summer months, followed by a postseason format that has yet to be determined. The league returned its logo to the one used from 2003 to 2018. The new iteration of the league will feature "streaming, betting, technology, (and) virtual reality" elements, per Rossi.

There is a lot of speculation as to which cities the AFL will return to in 2024 but the consensus is that they will look to return to the cities where they had the most success such as Philadelphia, San Jose, Arizona, Nashville and Denver.  Three former franchises (Arizona Rattlers, Iowa Barnstormers and Albany Empire) are currently playing in other leagues, and it is uncertain whether or not they will jump back to the AFL.

It is also possible that the new league with be competing against the United States Football League (USFL) and XFL which will compete for football fans during the same seasons.   The USFL is entering their second season this year but playing out of three "hub" cities (Memphis, Detroit and Birmingham) while the XFL will return for a third time this year playing in eight cities (Arlington, DC, Houston, Las Vegas, Orlando, St. Louis, San Antonio and Seattle).

Can the third version of the AFL survive?  Personally, I have been a fan of arena football and if you ever attend a game in person, the chances are that you will become a fan too.  It is still football but played on a smaller field and lots of scoring.  If done properly I think the league can climb back out.  I'm somewhat doubtful if coming back with 16 teams is a bit much but it will depend on how well the league is funded.