Version 3.0 of the Arena Football League Returns

The Arena Football League (AFL) is back.  

The AFL is like a cat with nine lives, just when you think they were dead, they come back to life.  The league begins its third edition of the original indoor football league which began in 1987.  The original AFL ran from 1986-2008 then again from 2010-2019.  Both leagues failed due to financial troubles.  Arena fans are hoping the league is on a better financial foundation to make a strong start but with teams in Salina, Kansas and Billings, Montana the question will be if the new AFL will have enough viable markets to survive.

The third edition starts with an ambitious plan with 16 teams in their return.  Some are teams from other indoor leagues and a few teams have been resurrected from previous AFL franchises.  The league is already planning to add the Arizona Bandits and Chicago Rush in 2025.

Teams will play 10 games with the top three teams in each division making the playoffs.  The division winners will get a first-round bye.  ArenaBowl XXXIII will be played at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The NFL Network will televise over 30 regular season games and select matchups from Overtime's OT7 regular season and championship weekend.

The new AFL kicks off on Saturday, April 27th.

For more on the Arena Football League:  https://www.theafl.com/

Let’s take a look at the teams for 2024:

East Division

• Albany Firebirds
• Head Coach:  Damon Ware.  Ware will also serve as the General Manager of the Firebirds.  He has over 15 years of experience and was formerly the offensive coordinator for the Albany Empire of the National Arena League (NAL)
• Home Arena: MVP Arena (Albany, New York)
• Key Players:  Darius Prince (WR/DB), Caleb Smith (WR/DB), Travis Shorts (LB/FB)
• Notable:  This will be the fifth arena/indoor football team to call Albany home since the original Firebirds debuted in the AFL in 1990.  Most recently, Albany was home to the Empire in the National Arena League. 
• Minnesota Myth
• Head Coach: Rickey Foggie.  Foggie has played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and AFL.  He has coached for the Amarillo Dusters, Everett Hawks, Macon Knights and Kansas City Brigade.
• Home Arena: Target Center (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
• Key Players:  Demry Croft (QB)
• Notable:  Diana Hutton, an attorney and local cigar lounge owner, is the team's majority owner, making her the first Latina majority team owner in league history...Minnesota previously had an AFL team in 1996.  The team was called the "Fighting Pike".
• Nashville Kats
  
• Head Coach:  Dean Cokinos.  Cokinos has a long coaching career which includes Washington Valor, Tampa Bay Storm, New Orleans VooDoo, Alabama Hammers, Georgia Force, Tennessee Valley Vipers and previously as the offensive coordinator with Nashville Kats in 2006-2007.
• Home Arena: Nashville Municipal Auditorium (Nashville, Tennessee)
• Key Players:  Ramone Atkins (QB)
• Notable:  The Kats will play one "home" game at the new F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville, Tennessee...Former University of Alabama announcer, Eli Gold, will be the voice of the team...Former Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher will be the administrator for the Kats...The Kats played in the AFL from 1997-2007.
• Philadelphia Soul
• Head Coach: Pat Pimmel.  Pimmel’s coaching career spans 30-plus years. A St. Louis, Missouri native, Pimmel has coached youth, high school, indoor, and arena league football during that span. Pimmel began his professional football coaching career back in 2008.
• Home Arena: CURE Insurance Arena (Trenton, New Jersey)
• Key Players:  Netori Johnson (OL/DL), Joe Mancuso (QB)
• Notable:  The original Soul franchise played in the AFL from 2004-2019.  They had a record of 155-95 winning three ArenaBowl titles.

South Division

• Georgia Force
• Head Coach: Durwood Roquemore. Roquemore is an Arena Football League Hall of Famer and his resume speaks for itself. As someone who was there at the start of the AFL in 1987
• Home Arena: Georgia State Convocation Center at Georgia State University (Atlanta, Georgia)
• Key Players:  Kivon Taylor (QB)
• Notable: The Force original played in the AFL from 2002-2012.  They were in the playoffs in seven of 11 seasons.  
• Louisiana VooDoo
• Head Coach: James Shiver. Shiver is the former head coach of the Montgomery Maulers and served as the offensive coordinator for the Lake Charles Land Sharks
• Home Arena: Blackham Coliseum (Lafayette, Louisiana)
• Key Players:  Chase Fourcade (QB), Jayshawn Washington (WR/DB), Javari Nichols (OL/DL)
• Notable:  The original AFL franchise was the New Orleans VooDoo from 2004-2005 and 2007-2008.
• Orlando Predators
• Head Coach: E.J. Burt. Burt will be stepping into his first head coaching opportunity with an organization that he knows well. Burt has been the defensive coordinator for the Predators since 2019 and also spent six years of his playing career in Orlando, where he made the AFL All-Rookie team in 2003. Burt spent ten years playing both sides of the line.
• Home Arena: Kia Center (Orlando, Florida)
• Key Players:  Clarence Williams (WR/DB), Anthony Montalvo Jr (OL/DL), Jared Dangerfield (WR/DB)
• Notable:  The Predators played in the AFL from 1991-2006.  They made 23 playoff appearances and won two ArenaBowl titles.  The Predators also played in the National Arena League from 2019-2023. 
• West Texas Desert Hawks
• Head Coach: Chris Siegfried. Siegfried is the former head coach of the Arkansas Twisters of the now-defunct arenafootball2. He was also previously the offensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Sharks (2010) and Kansas City Brigade (2007) in the AFL. He was most recently the Commissioner of the National Arena League.
• Home Arena: Ector County Coliseum (Odessa, Texas)
• Key Players:  Lance Evans (WR/DB), Jonathan Bane (QB)
• Notable:  The Desert Hawks join the AFL after playing in the National Arena League, or NAL, in 2023 and the Arena Football Association, or AFA, during the 2021 and 2022 season, winning the league title in 2021.  

Central Division

• Iowa Rampage
• Head Coach:  Tyus Jackson. Jackson spent the last two seasons coaching the Topeka Tropics in the CIF
• Home Arena: Mid-America Center (Council Bluffs, Iowa)
• Key Players:  Chris Elmore (FB/LB), Max Novak (WR/DB)
• Notable:  The name "rampage" is alleged to originated from a hoax in which critics of the league had set up a fake "St. Louis Rampage" team after revealing the hoax, those who had set up the fake team turned to the social media account over to the AFL.
• Salina Liberty
• Head Coach: Heron O'Neal.  O'Neal is the 2021 IFL Hall of Fame inductee is a four-time national champion (once with the Liberty). O’Neal will also serve as the team's assistant GM under GM Sam Sellers.
• Home Arena: Tony's Pizza Events Center (Salina, Kansas)
• Key Players:  Javin Kilgo (QB), Tyarise Stevenson (OL/DL), Tracy Brooks (WR/RB/DB)
• Notable:  The Liberty played in the Champions Indoor Football (CIF) league from 2016-2023 as one of the league's top franchises.  The Liberty played in five Champions Bowl, winning the title in 2022.
• Southwest Kansas Storm
• Head Coach: Gary Thomas.  Thomas is a Dodge City legend, having coached at Dodge City Community College from 2013 to 2018. He carries the reputation of a terrific X’s and O’s coach. He’s confident his 16 years of head coaching experience can give him an edge over his opponents this season.
• Home Arena: United Wireless Arena (Dodge City, Kansas)  
• Key Players: Jeremy Cox (FB/LB)
• Notable:  The Storm played in the CIF from 2022-2023.
• Wichita Regulators
• Head Coach: Clinton Solomon.  One of the youngest coaches in the AFL, is the head coach of the Wichita Regulators. Solomon had a 10+ year professional playing career as a wide receiver, bringing the offensive experience to the Regulators. Coach Solomon even spent three seasons playing in Wichita with the Wichita Wild of the Indoor Football League.
• Home Arena: Hartman Arena (Park City, Kansas)
• Key Players: Bryce "Xavier" Holliday (QB)
• Notable:  The Regulators played as an independent team in 2022.  This is the sixth team to play in Wichita.  Other teams were the Wichita Stealth (AF2), Wichita Warlords (IFL), Wichita Aviators (APFL), Wichita Wild (CPIFL) and Wichita Force (CIF).

West Division

• Billings Outlaws
• Head Coach:  Cedric Walker.  Walker earned a Co-Coach of the Year award for the turnaround of the Gillette Mustangs last season. In 2022, when he became the interim coach, the team barely made the playoffs with three wins. The team won nine games including a win over the in the playoffs and finished third in the league.
• Home Arena: First Interstate Arena at MetraPark (Billings, Montana)
• Key Players:  Isaac Harker (QB), Nazir Streater (WR/DB)
• Notable:  This will be the fifth indoor football team for Billings.  They have had teams in the Indoor Football League (2000, 2009-2010), National Indoor Football League (2001-2006), United Indoor Football (2007-2008).  They won three championships (2006, 2009, 2010)
• Oregon Black Bears
• Head Coach: Chuck Jones.  Jones played college football at Kansas and played 11 seasons of indoor football with the Everett Hawks, Tri-Cities Fever, Spokane Shock and Kent Predators.
• Home Arena:  Oregon State Fair and Exposition Center (Salem, Oregon)
• Key Players: Jonathan MacCollister (DE/TE)
• Notable:  Former Oregon Ducks and current New York Giants linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux is part-owner of the franchise...This will be Oregon's third arena franchise.  The Portland Steel (2014-2016) and Portland Forest Dragons (1997-1999) were the previous arena football teams which played in Oregon.
• Rapid City Marshals
• Head Coach: Shon King.  King played in the AFL in the 2000s and earned ArenaCup 1 MVP honors as a member of the Quad City Steamwheelers and was rookie of the year in AF2 in 2000.  He was a wide receiver/special teams coach for the Steamwheelers from 2007-2009.  He most recently was an assistant coach and interim coach for the Billings Outlaws.
• Home Arena:  Summit Arena at The Monument (Rapid City, South Dakota)
• Key Players: Shaq Curenton (WR/DB), Mason Lee (WR/DB)
• Notable: The Marshals previously competed in the Champions Indoor Football league during the 2022 season.  
• Washington Wolfpack
• Head Coach: J.R. Wells.  Wells formerly played for the Everett Hawks and was offensive coordinator for the Everett Royals.  
• Home Arena:  Angel of the Winds Arena (Everett, Washington)
• Key Players: Raphael Turner (OL/DL), J.R. Nelson (QB)
• Notable: The Everett Hawks previously played in AF2 and Everett Raptors in the Indoor Football League.