Kansas City AFL Team?

[wazzie]

Is there going to be an AFL team in KC this upcoming year? If so, what is the team name, head coach, etc.? Thanks if you can help me.

[Fran]

Kansas City is not coming in 2006, they couldn't get a lease finalized for the sprint center.

They were going have to play in Kemper till the Sprint Center was done. They couldn't risk starting in 2006 unless they had a deal with the Spint Center.

Hopefully 2007

Fran

[Football Chick]

I know a kicker who isn't going to be pleased to hear this news!!!

[kicker]

Football Chick is right, I ain't happy.

[SuperSonicStuart]

Yeah, I was looking forward to Kansas City getting an AFL expansion team.

[wazzie]

I hate for this to sound bad but the N.O. Voodoo don't have a home, why not bring it here and see if it would work out in KC for a season or two.

[SuperSonicStuart]

The New Orleans VooDoo is inactive for the 2006 season, Kansas City got an AFL expansion team but got some of the players from the VooDoo. But I'm excited that Kansas City is getting an Arena Football team!

[Football Chick]

In today's Topeka Cap Journal:

New Orleans players headed to KC arena team

The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Fifteen New Orleans-based Arena Football players will play in Kansas City this winter for a new expansion franchise.

The 18-team league reached an agreement with K.C. Arena Sports and Entertainment, which has signed a two-year lease to play its games at Kemper Arena. The new team has not yet been named. It paid the league a $16 million expansion fee and will get players under contract with the New Orleans VooDoo.

The New Orleans franchise will not field a team next season because of the effects of Hurricane Katrina, but Tyler Prochnow of the Sports and Entertainment group said the Kansas City team would clearly be related to the VooDoo.

"It will be the Kansas City team," he said, "but we will certainly reach out to them and make sure it's still their team, too, and welcome their support as they follow us throughout the year."

Kevin Porter, a former safety with the Kansas City Chiefs, is expected to be head coach of the new team. He had been defensive coordinator for the VooDoo, 9-7 last season under coach Mike Neu, who is expected to remain with the New Orleans franchise.

"This is not the way we planned it, but it is the result of a lot of good people who are excited about arena football being in Kansas City," league commissioner David Baker said Monday.

Baker said the league expected to approve a Kansas City expansion for 2007, but decided to move that up because of the circumstances involving Katrina.

"This is such a great opportunity for the people of Kansas City," Prochnow said. "We feel great we were able to step in and help not only those players but give the people of New Orleans their team to root for."

Michael Roth of the Anschutz Entertainment Group, which will manage the Sprint Center, said his organization hopes to be able to negotiate an agreement for the new Kansas City team to play there after starting out at Kemper.

The VooDoo franchise belongs to Tom Benson, who is also the owner of NFL's New Orleans Saints. He will retain rights to the team's franchise, nickname and colors.

Arena League teams play with eight men on a side, and teams carry 24-man rosters with 20 active for each game. The season begins in January.