What is the Arena Football League? The AFL is planning to relaunch in 2024
It’s been quite some time since the Arena Football League has been active, but they are now set to relaunch under new management in 2024.
On Wednesday, the Arena Football League (AFL) announced the return of the fastest indoor football game with league play scheduled to relaunch in 2024.
What is the Arena Football League?
The AFL is a form of indoor American football played on a 66-by-28-yard field, which is around a quarter of the surface area of an NFL field. Unlike NFL games, Arena Football is a faster-paced and higher-scoring game.
Founded in 1986, the AFL began to play the following season and continued operations until the conclusion of the 2019 campaign before filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Up until its closure, the League was the third longest-running professional football league in North America behind the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the NFL.
The last reigning champion was the Albany Empire, who won the ArenaBowl.
Now, the Arena Football League is jumping back into the fray with new management under the investment group F1 Sports and Entertainment, which bought the rights to the league in Jan. 2022.
The AFL front office includes commissioner Lee Hutton III, who will be the first Black commissioner of a professional sports league in the United States, as well as deputy commissioner Travelle Gaines, president of entertainment Tuo Clark, and executive vice president Curt Feldtkeller.
The AFL is the latest spring football league to announce its return among other leagues like the XFL and the United States Football League (USFL).