This League is a SCAM... (The Rise and Fall of the AFL) 

At this point, Albany, Orlando, Nashville, and Billings need to join the IFL because their ownership group is much more stable than the rest of the league.

I miss the pre-Great Recession AFL, with Kurt Warner, a national TV deal, and of course my beloved Orlando Predators.

The AFL should just go away. I know it has history and good memories for a lot of people, but it would've been best had it stayed that way, and I say this as a guy who went to Charlotte Rage (!) games as a kid. There's a reason all of the indoor football teams with heritage play in the IFL, and continued to after the new AFL was announced.

The AFL is done. Teams that want to profit should join the IFL and create a healthier league. Too many arena leagues, everyone needs to collab and make a nice league for the players and fans. Because there’s potential there just ran by idiots sadly.

Bishop Sycamore: We're the shadiest football operation going. The new AFL: Hold our beers, from the last Arena Bowl that took place...

At one time, the Arena Football League was the top second-tier pro football league. Many of the replacement players during the 1987 NFL Strike were from the Arena Football League. John Fourcade went from Denver Dynamite backup quarterback to New Orleans Saints starter in just a couple of years. But the fact of the matter is the Arena Football League- even the original one- was always unstable. Example- the Dynamite won the first league championship and never played after that. The third season was primarily played at neutral sites- the game you mention Joe Haering punched the commissioner in (he wouldn't allow the star Chicago QB, Ben Bennett, to be kicked out of the game), was between Pittsburgh and Chicago and was played in Sacramento. While this early instability may not have been quite as bad as what's going on this year, it did set the "here today, gone tomorrow" nature of the Arena Football League.

As soon as it was announced that a Chicago franchise was coming back to the Allstate Arena (prev Rosemont Horizon), I called and got season tickets for the Rush. I never missed a home game and watched any away game when it was available. It was such a good time, and I was so, so saddened and hurt to see the demise of a signature, high-level franchise and league subsequently.

The Philadelphia Soul were so much fun to watch!!

My father and I loved to go to Dragons games at the Nassau Coliseum. I still have merch I bought back then like the foam claw and helmet. I was devastated when they folded and I'm still disappointed no arena league has made an attempt to bring back the sport to Long Island. I was hoping there was a chance the Dragons would come back with the new AFL, but I guess I'll have to wait a bit longer.

There really should be a governing body that should help corral and help give Arena football a stable foundation to build for the long-term...

The teams should just join the IFL. We don’t need multiple leagues especially not one with so many issues. It’d be more interesting to have teams from all over so it has the regional and National feel college football used to

Oh man, I remember watching the San Jose Sabercats and Mark Grieb was the MAN.

I’ve lived in Albany and supported the Albany Firebirds and the Empire, I also lived in Des Moines,Iowa and supported the Iowa Barnstormers, I even watched QB Kurt Warner play for the Iowa Barnstormers. Back then It was a lot more better financially solid, than what’s going on here. That’s such a shame because Arena Football was really great to watch on tv or in the Arena. You’ve got to have financial support to make it happen and be worthwhile for the Fans. I really hope that the AFL gets it together or it’s going to crash and burn. And that would be sad to see.

I hate to break this to you, but the first regular season Arena Football game was not between the teams you say. You got date right, but the first regular season game was Pittsburgh Gladiators 48, Washington Commandos 46 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. It was televised on ESPN two months before ESPN broadcast their first NFL game. Fantastic game- decided on a missed drop kick in the final minute. Russell Hairston scored the first TD. He would go on to be the first Arena Football MVP. Today he's a criminal defense lawyer in Washington, DC. Also- the Gladiators' coach was Joe Haering, not Jack, who yes, had been an assistant with the New York Jets prior to the Gladiators but his career might have peaked as the defensive coordinator of the 1995 Atlanta Falcons. Also, it's LYNN Swann and the Philadelphia SOUL- not SOULS. Arena Football didn't just expand to five teams in '89, it was at six in '88, and for the first two years games were regularly broadcast on ESPN. Sadly, AFL lost their ESPN contract in '89. Still a huge Pittsburgh Gladiators fan in May 2024, 34 years after their last game, but never playing a season in which they did not make the playoffs.

My parents had season tickets for the Barnstormers when Kurt Warner was there and we rarely missed a game then Jim Foster decided to sell the team to the New York. I haven't watched the new barnstormers i just know it's not the same as watching games in the Barn. That place brings back so many memories.

It is depressing how AFL mgmt screwed this up. Rapid City Marshals team was formed 3 years ago for CIF play. The owner was clueless and couldn't handle $$. The team was bought last year by a brother and sister and they have tried to make a go of it. Unfortunately, previous history, and now AFL crap have worked to turn the community away from the team. Indoor football is a blast. I hope we can get the Marshals on a better footing, even if it means changing leagues again.

The whole AB situation in Albany was a travesty for the players. I mean,Arena Football is so much like the street games we played as kids. I went to a New York Knights game at MSG in the late 90s and I loved it. How can you not love the whole catching the ball over the wall in the end zone? Bro,keep fighting,they take you down start another channel keep the pressure on

It's so bad that they held their Parties in Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Knighthawks have declined to participate in there league, instead, opting for the IFL.

Former player here. I use to play for several teams and my favorite the Stockton wolves because we won the championship the year I was there

Go Barnstormers!!! I am a huge IFL junkie, and I watch damn near every game the league puts on every week, it just Barnstormer games. I miss AFL on NBC on Sundays SO MUCH, and of course, I miss my original Barnstormers. Aaron Garcia was the fucking man. I became a New York Dragons fan after they left Des Moines for New York.

Hey dude Arena Bowl 12 was aired on ABC not on ESPN in 98

My favorite before they folded was the San Jose Sabrecats

Eventhough some history points are jumbled up, Its nice to hear someone else talking about the AFL and other Indoor leagues! ^^

Something else about the Arena Football League. Bob Harrison, head coach of the 1987 Washington Commandos, was the first black pro football head coach in the USA since Fritz Pollard and the 1922 Akron Pros. He preceded Art Shell by two years.

Jeez, I haven't seen you this angry and disgusted about something. But, it's completely understanding with how horrible management/ownership is.

It’s been 9 years already, but I still feel so damn sad every time I see Sabercats highlights. I want them back, but not in this current “afl”. Glad we have the Panthers in the IFL

Awesome for the Iowa Barnstormers to honor the Rampage season tickets.

Huge og Soul fan. Can’t believe after 2 weeks there’s been 0 games streamed. If they survive they are going from 20,000 seat Wells Fargo to 7000 Trenton. The Soul name has been tarnished by a bs money laundering “commissioner”

This is why for my money the IFL is the true successor to the original AFL and is the one carrying on its legacy.

It's such a shame to see what was once such a great league have it's name and reputation destroyed so quickly. The IFL is the defacto indoor football league now, let's hope they keep up the good work they've been doing.

Love your videos can you do a history of Peru State college would love to see it because I went to Peru State or about NAIA conferences.

I agree the people that is currently running the league lied to the fans numerous times.They lied about team locations for 2024 season.One team moved an hour away a week before kickoff.One team basically replaced an entire team on a day notice.They lied about NFL Network deal and we have to get on Vyre stream for the entire season. I don’t think the league is going to survive which is ashame since I grew up watching the league as a kid.20 years ago Arena Football League was shown on NBC.They had owners like John Elway and Jon Bon Jovi

Nashville and Jeff Fisher deserve better. Kats to the IFL please

The AFL is like a high school couple that was named prom king and queen, split up before college, got together in their late 20s as divorcees and had it end poorly, got married and divorced twice more and now are in their late 40s and trying to relive the glory days of high school. Time to put this shit to bed for good. Its just sad at this point.

Love the passion and research behind you videos! Little piece of criticism however… if you edited in some more clips to show what you’re talking about on the screen it would make for a more legit product. Good stuff regardless

I would like to see a similar video about the IFL. I have been a fan of theirs for a while and currently frequent the Iowa Barnstormers games (left the AFL around 2015). I think this league suffers from people thinking it is a tier below the AFL and general confusion between the two.

I grew up in Tampa, so I was there from Day One for the Storm, blue and magenta Zubaz pants and all. But the Bucs were still awful, and it was a cheap ticket, and somehow, they were GOOD. And REALLY entertaining.

It's sad, I'm hoping the teams that are financially viable and have competent ownership join the IFL.

Georgia Force then Jacksonville Sharks

As a person who is old enough to remember the World Football League of the 1970s, this incarnation of the AFL is eerily similar. Lots of owners that don't have any capital to run a concession stand, much less a pro team. And a commissioner who is rather clueless.

I miss seeing my Nashville Kats play when I was a kid. So glad they’re back!

Here in Louisville, we had an afl2 team (Louisville Fire) which was owned and operated by former NFL (Bills) player and Louisville native Wil Wolford. It was a blast - I had season tickets for the years the team operated. They played in Freedom Hall (long-time arena for the Louisville Cardinals college and the old ABA Kentucky Colonels) to usually solid crowds. Good memories. Sorry to see the AFL name being dismembered by the current group of miscreants.

Ironically enough a few days ago I was thinking about my days going to watch the NY Dragons at the Nassau Coliseum only because the NY Islanders were hosting some sort of promotional event at a local supermarket that I happened to be shopping in and Sparky, the NY Islanders mascot was there. The islanders used to be co-owned by the Dragons owner and while Sparky was the Dragons’ mascot (as he is a dragon), the islanders would use him sometimes as well. Now the Dragons have been long gone however Sparky lives on, now in blue and orange rather than black and red as the Islanders have adopted him as their own. I wonder how many Islander fans even realize that their mascot wasn’t their team’s mascot from the beginning. I do miss the Dragons and my kids and I used to love going to their games….sad to see what has happened to this league…

Philadelphia Soul, which is why what this iteration of the Soul is/has become tarnishes the legacy. I will just pretend this iteration has never existed and that the team ended in 2019 the last time the league folded.

You need a diagram to keep track of all the teams coming and going and coming back and renaming and moving, then keep track of the switches between leagues: AFL, AF2, AF1, IFL, it's just too much to keep track of. I agree with one of the other comments. Find 8-12 of the most stable time-tested teams, put them in the IFL or have one combined league that can last for years.

Too many leagues. You have the IFL, NAL and the AFL. They should all merge into one with a similar setup to that of the NFL. I would think that this would help with revenue and TV deals, and bring in more fans.

Current Vegas Knight Hawks fan, former SJ SaberCats and Stockton Lightning (AF2) fan here! Really sad what's happened with the AFL, I loved going to AF2 games as a kid, having arena football in my hometown was so awesome and now the IFL has breathed new life into my love for the sport in my new home in Vegas. It's not right what AFL 3.0 is doing to their players and anyone who dares to call out the new league's sketchiness. Gonna echo other voices in these comments and say, any AFL team that wants to survive should make plans to jump ship for the IFL, it's a WAY healthier league with much better exposure and fanbases. I'd love to see names like the Philadelphia Soul and LA Avengers make a comeback in the IFL, like the Wranglers and more recently the Sharks have!

I remember playing HOURS of AFL 2008 it was so fun. Wish it was still running

you couldn't find more than two minutes of b footage?

As a huge arena football fan, I am absolutely sick with Lee Hutton actions. The NFL Network TV deal was a mirage, cutting off the streaming of certain team matchups, and the players/coaches not getting paid, poor field conditions, awful nets is abysmal. What really ticks me off is the Philadelphia Soul, Georgia Force didn't had any home games they were pretty much was travel teams. The fact that the players uncared for, not speaking up on the leagues problems, no true broadcasting deal, not making all games accessible, breaking the trust of fans just shows how horrible Lee Hutton as commissioner is. He completely ran the league into the ground and tarnishing the reputation of one of the most memorable alternative football leagues. Lee Hutton is so bad that he made Charlie Ebersol look like a angel.

Jon Bon Jovi for Arena Football League Commissioner

Man I remember the times I went to 2 San Jose SabreCats games. The first one was a surprise from my than-best friend, his wife, his younger brother, and another friend of his. I had no clue what was going on they just picked me up and we were on the freeway to destination unknown. They joked that we were going to see High School Musical the Concert. I was like “You better be joking. I ain’t going in. I’ll wait outside the entire show.” We get there and I found out it was the SabreCats. It was fun, SabreCats won. We went again with a bigger group. SabreCats won again and the halftime show was Brooke Hogan

FYI, The Omaha Beef, who are the ones you mentioned helping out thr Rampage fans are in the National Arena League NOT the IFL

I worked as an assistant equipment manager for an AF2 team. I worked 2 of the 3 years of the franchise

Present resident of San Jose and former fan of the San Jose Sabrecats. It was a good idea for almost 30 years, but this incarnation is a joke and scam as you said. Sad.

I have some teammates from college in the afl and ifl. From what I understand the afl is a mess guys were getting released not seeing any money they were promised after signing the contracts and are basically out of the job and hope they can get picked up but the ifl seems to be doing better from what i understand. It is still a good opportunity for small school guys to get a chance to play pro ball and not have to leave the country

I remember going to a Los Angeles Cobras game in the late 1980s.

Toronto had a team one year, but i didn't get a chance to go to a match

I didn’t think anything could top the AAF debacle. And yet here we are.

Went to a handful of chicago rush games back in the day. They were fun games to watch.

I remember one time I went to Hershey Park when I was a bit younger. I believe this was around 2010 or so. My family and I stayed in this cheap hotel that we found that was about a half hour or so away from the park to save some money. By cheap, I mean this place didn't even have a roadside sign. However the people who owned it were nice and the stay wasn't bad. On the last day we were there, the owner lady who was our waitress for breakfast told us that the Phili soul were staying at the hotel and how we could go meet them if they were outside. It was so strange to be staying at the same place as professional athletes. However, it also showed how cheap that league was.

Embrace the grinding of the gears

I was recruited by the Iowa rampage of the AFLand they ceased operations right before the week one game we never received jerseys that promised pay that was promised and any other promises that weren’t kept he said to see

I am so glad the Steamwheeler's came back in the IFL. Went to every game their first season and been sideline season ticket holder since season 2. The games are great.

Wow ETG! You went OFF homie!! And I’m 1000% in your corner! If the AFL had gotten their 💩 together a few years ago, this wouldn’t be happening! Don’t let Ron Jawarski off the hook either! I like the guy but he should’ve done more for the league as a whole instead of making the Soul the premier team in a dying league

I always enjoyed getting to watch Peoria Pirates games. They had an incredible fan base and the arena was always a great experience. They bounced around between leagues for some time before afl2 and ifl shut down. I don't know how you bring back that experience for a mismanaged league. It would have to be propped up by the NFL, but there are so many competing sports that it's hard to introduce something new gain fan support and generate revenue.

The only arena football my state of Arkansas had was The Arkansas Twisters of the AF2(2000-2010)

I went to several LA Kiss games and thought it was fun .

I remember before the AFL went to hell randomly getting invited with a friend to go to a Cleveland Gladiators game and becoming a huge AFL fan. Although some of the rules I thought were way to debilitating to defenses I still loved watching it.

Thanks for this man I wondered where the afl went

i agree all this does not look good. I was a diehard Soul fan and season ticket holder from the teams inception. My daughter was even a Soulmate Dancer for four years. i must admit Jaws, JBJ ran a first class organization. They were able to put together a top roster with Tony Graz, Matt D'Orazio, Chris Jackson and my favorite football player of all time, #11 Mike Brown. Jon Bon Jovi always said he was building a team of "character" not characters. After JBJ left, Jaws tries to keep the team and team viable, but it just didn't happen. I was holding out hope they would return, but the things I've read over several weeks seem to make it look like a very long shot! Great informative video...

There were NO wall pads at the Oregon Blackbears arena

Still have PS2 arena football video game when I get to play as Dallas Desperados vs Philly Soul. They once draw big numbers in Grand Rapids, Albany

My father, Grandfather and myself have a decade of memories watching the SaberCats. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

I heard Jeff Fisher is the intern league commissioner.The league voted unanimously voted to expel Lee Huton

for AFL Action they should look into the 6man rules for high school. Fewer players = lower operating cost, and it can be played in Pro College or High School Stadium

I miss the old AFL, Philadelphia Soul games back in the day were so fun to go to, I was so excited to hear Philly was getting the Soul back

I do miss the San Jose Sabercats, but I do enjoy the Bay Area Panthers (IFL).

The AFL during the 2010s was a fever dream. My cousin even got recruited by Gene Simmons after they met once. Granted my cousin was a former college OL, so it’s not like he was some regular Joe

Yo can you make a Video on the Top American Football 🏈 🔥 league In Each Country

Used to love the AFL, especially the Dragons and Sabercats. Great QBs like Dolezel, Garcia, Greib, Philyaw, Warner, etc...

i loved the Cleveland Gladitors it’s sad to see they can’t get league together

My favorite team was always the Philadelphia Soul. But my favorite NAME was the Dallas Desperadoes

AIF League is quality. Couple idiots got added before the relaunch season but they’ve been kicked so it can run correctly.

I used to attend Cleveland gladiator games way back when. Cheap entertainment downtown. that's how we looked at it.

AFL is going to be NFL as in not for long! I hope some of those teams join the IFL as in Orlando Predators' forming a rivalry with the Jacksonville Sharks. West Texas Desert Hawks forming a rivalry with the Frisco Fighters & Duke City Gladiators.

The rise, fall, re-rise, re-fall, and sinkhole that opened up beneath the grave of the AFL

I'm in Tulsa, and we have an IFL team, and I love watching the games. I had no idea there was also an "AFL" why would there be two leagues for a rather obscure and less popular sport? I don't even understand it. The IFL is the indoor arena league, this is just some dumb weird stuff.

Its sad because me and my brother were looking forward to watching games on live tv again. On the Nashville Kats web page they said their games would be aired on channel 4 WSMV(NBC) and NFL Network but when game time came just regular programming. Nothing but lies.. I’m really getting tired of this on again off again relationship the AFL has with its fans and players. They’re very inconsistent, I was ready to invest in the team but decided to wait until week 1 to see if the league was serious or not. Glad I saved my money. AFL you just played yourself! Get your shid together! 🤦‍♂️

I've never heard Lynn Swann's name pronounced that way before...

The NY Dragons?? I am a born and raised NYer, and I had no clue there was an arena football team here.

Always was a fan of the Cleveland Gladiators was a season ticket holder for five years!!

The AFL should stay dead, it had a good run (well, as good as a basketcase of a league could be)

Too bad for the AFL, I had more memories with the AF2 with season tickets for the Florida Firecats. When the AF2 became the new AFL, the Firecats were the only team that didn't transition over and folded.

Do a Midseason or season review of the UFL pls. It would be nice to see a unbiased perspective on if UFL is successful

Thank you for speaking out I've been saying this league came back

AF2 Carolina Rhinos...front row seats in the Greensboro Coliseum $25. So much fun!!!

I think if they can kick Hutton out and talk fisher to become commissioner this league will be fine. But Hutton has to go. Let huttons wife’s teams fold keep the rest and build off that they got good franchises not deep pockets but solid teams

Would love to see the IFL get a TV deal!

My AFL Team has bounced around because of all the closings. Originally I liked the Dallas Desperados but they closed. Then I was a New York Dragons fan before they closed. Then I was a fan of the Philadelphia Soul until they closed the second time. Now I'm a Billings Outlaws fan. Why not the "Soul" now? Because they're the Dallas Falcons not the Philadelphia Soul. My IFL Team is the Massachusetts Pirates. I have actually traveled to Arizona to see the Pirates play.