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Storm Announce 2012 Regular Season Schedule

October 6, 2011 - Arena Football League (AFL)
Tampa Bay Storm News Release


TAMPA BAY - The Tampa Bay Storm will open the franchise's 25th season in the Arena Football League on Sunday, March 11 at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois against the Chicago Rush. The game is the only Sunday game on the 2012 schedule for the Storm. Tampa Bay will play its home opener on Friday, March 16 against the South Division rival Georgia Force in the St. Pete Times Forum following a $40 million arena renovation.

Tampa Bay will play 14 games against American Conference Opponents with eight of those games against South Division rivals, Georgia Force, Jacksonville Sharks, New Orleans VooDoo and Orlando Predators. The Storm plays its division opponents twice, home and away, as well as the American Conference opponents Philadelphia Soul and Cleveland Gladiators. Four games are against teams from the National Conference - Chicago Rush, Kansas City Command, San Antonio Talons and Spokane Shock.

Highlights of the home schedule include a visit from the defending ArenaBowl XXIV champion Jacksonville Sharks on Friday, March 30, and the War on I-4 against Orlando on Saturday, May 5. The San Antonio Talons, formerly the Tulsa Talons, pay Tampa Bay a visit on Saturday June 23. Former Storm quarterback and offensive coordinator Pat O'Hara will make his return to the Times Forum as the head coach of the New Orleans VooDoo in the final home game of the season on Saturday, June 14.

Tampa Bay will open and finish the season on the road. Of the Storm's 18 games, eight occur on a Friday night (5 Home and 3 Away), while eight others occur on a Saturday night (4 home and 4 away). The team will also have one road game apiece on a Sunday and Monday. The team will have its bye weeks in Weeks 3 and 14, with a stretch of 10 games between bye weeks.

Arena Football Friday on NFL Network

The Storm will make five appearances on the national broadcast of Arena Football Friday on NFL Network during the 2012 season. Two of the five games will be home games, the season-opener March 16 versus Georgia and on April 27 against the Kansas City Command. The other three games are April 6 at New Orleans, April 20 at Philadelphia and June 15 at Orlando. Tampa Bay and the Cleveland Gladiators lead the AFL with five appearances each on the national televised broadcast of Arena Football Friday on NFL Network.

Coming off of the Bye Week

Tampa Bay will play two games prior to its first bye week, then play 10 straight weeks prior to its second bye and finish the season with six consecutive games. After each bye week the Storm returns to play a South Division rival. Tampa Bay will host Jacksonville after its first bye week and then head to Orlando after its second bye week.

Quick turn around

This season the Storm has a Sunday and a Monday game each followed by a Friday game. Fortunately for Tampa Bay each of the Friday games are played at home. This will be the ninth time the Storm has played on a Monday and 60th time the team has played on a Sunday. The team currently owns a 6-2 record on Monday and a 34-25 mark on Sunday.

Monthly Breakdown

Month Home Away Total

March 2 1 3

April 2 2 4

May 2 2 4

June 1 2 3

July 2 2 4

2012 Tampa Bay Storm AFL Schedule

Week Date Opponent

1 Sunday, March 11 at Chicago Rush

2 Friday, March 16 GEORGIA FORCE - (NFLN)

3 BYE WEEK

4 Friday, March 30 JACKSONVILLE SHARKS

5 Friday, April 6 at New Orleans VooDoo - (NFLN)

6 Friday, April 13 CLEVELAND GLADIATORS

7 Friday, April 20 at Philadelphia Soul - (NFLN)

8 Friday, April 27 KANSAS CITY COMMAND - (NFLN)

9 Saturday, May 5 ORLANDO PREDATORS

10 Saturday, May 12 at Georgia Force

11 Monday, May 21 at Cleveland Gladiators

12 Friday, May 25 MILWAUKEE MUSTANGS

13 Saturday, June 2 at Jacksonville Sharks

14 BYE WEEK

15 Friday, June 15 at Orlando Predators - (NFLN)

16 Saturday, June 23 SAN ANTONIO TALONS

17 Saturday, June 30 PHILADELPHIA SOUL

18 Saturday, July 7 at Pittsburgh Power

19 Saturday, July 14 NEW ORLEANS VOODOO

20 Saturday, July 21 at Spokane Shock

* Kickoff times to be determined

NFLN - References NFL Network televised games

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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