On Friday, April 7, 2017, Arena Football’s 30th Anniversary Season begins!!!!
The new Baltimore Brigade will face the new Washington Valor at The Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. at 7PM ET/6PM CT/5PM MT/4PM PT on the CBS Sports Network.
This season, the CBS Sports Network will air 18 regular season games and one semifinal game. There’s no word on the ArenaBowl broadcast at this time.
The league this year only has five teams: The Cleveland Gladiators, The Philadelphia Soul, The Tampa Bay Storm and the debuting Washington Valor and Baltimore Brigade. This year marks 28 years since Washington, D.C. has had an Arena Football franchise since the disbanding of the Washington Commandos after the 1989 season.
Here are where former Arena Football franchises are now:
1. Arizona Rattlers: The five-time ArenaBowl Champions are now with the Indoor Football League (IFL) as members of the Intense Conference.
2. Iowa Barnstormers: The three-time Conference Champions joined the IFL in 2015.
3. San Jose SaberCats: The four-time ArenaBowl Champions disbanded after the 2015 season due to non-football related reasons.
4. Portland Steel/Thunder: The league folded the franchise in October of last year and placed its players in a dispersal draft afterwards.
5. L.A. KISS: The roster was liquidated in October of last year.
6. Pittsburgh Power: In spite of a banner 15-3 season in 2014, the owners ceased operations.
7. San Antonio Talons: In October 2014, the league announced that the team would not return for the 2015 season and have remained dormant.
8. Georgia Force: At the end of the 2012 season, the franchise disbanded due to Atlanta, Georgia not responding to the team’s aggressive marketing campaign. Team President Corey Remillard concluded by saying “Atlanta is simply not a football town”.
9. Spokane Shock: In 2016, the team moved to the IFL and are now the Spokane Empire. Arena Football owns the rights and trademarks to the Spokane Shock name.
10. Jacksonville Sharks: After last season, they joined the National Arena League (NAL), formerly know as the Arena Developmental League (ADL). They joined after the IFL rejected them.
11. Kansas City Command: The owners shut down the team after the 2012 season.
12. Milwaukee Mustangs: After the 2012 season, the team went dormant for the 2013 season. The next year, they moved to Portland, Oregon to become the Steel/Thunder.
13. Orlando Predators: In October of last year, the team announced that they had suspended operations due to the reduced number of the teams, and other pending disagreements in the league.
For more information, please visit ArenaFootball.com. Thank you.
Source Credit: Wikipedia.
Christopher Fitzgerald TV 