2024 Arena Football League Review: Examining the Wreckage

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2024 Arena Football League Review: Examining the Wreckage

by Paul Reeths
July 25, 2024 - Arena Football One (AF1)


The Arena Football League completed its 2024 season July 19th when the Billings Outlaws topped the Albany Firebirds, 46-41, in the ArenaBowl held at the American Dream Mall in East Rutherford, NJ. Making it to the finish line could be considered a minor miracle for a league which showed cracks in its foundation even before kickoff and a propensity for making the wrong headlines on a weekly basis.

It all began with so much promise. Lee Hutton III, a Minneapolis attorney, became the face of the newly-launched circuit as its commissioner. Poorly-vetted media articles referred to him as the first Black commissioner of an American sports league, ignoring Michael Huyghue who spearheaded the original United Football League for several years, for example.

Behind Hutton, an investment group out of Canada called G6 Enterprises had purchased the AFL names and logos, or at least some of them, after the league closed up shop in 2019. It would be the third iteration of the league following two previous bankruptcies. With G6 content to sit back and let Hutton operate the league and send them royalty checks, the AFL unveiled itself at a sparsely-attended party in Las Vegas on September 27, 2023.

"The Arena Football League brand has always sat at the promontory of indoor football by offering gridiron entertainment, fast action, and iron tough athletes in conjunction with delivering a family fun experience that uniquely engages the pig skin enthusiast," proclaimed Hutton. "Ultimately, the professional sports brand speaks for itself and is proud to announce, 'We're back!'"

Hutton's grandiose plans called for 16 teams spread across the country, many in markets which previously hosted arena football franchises including Austin, Tex.; Boise, Idaho; Bakersfield, Calif.; Chicago; Denver; St. Paul, Minn.; Lake Charles, La.; Cincinnati; Orlando; Salem, Oreg.; Philadelphia; St. Louis; Tallahassee, Fla.; Nashville; Everett, Wash. and Odessa, Tex.

Players would be paid at least $1,000 per game, several times what many were earning in other indoor leagues.

Hutton trumpeted an agreement with the NFL Network which would provide television coverage by broadcasting Thursday and Sunday games. Unbeknownst to outsiders, the deal called for the league to pay the network $1.3 million per season for three years in addition to production costs.

"We are thrilled to have NFL Network as a partner and extend thanks to them for their ongoing commitment to spring football," Hutton declared. "We truly live in exciting times."

Other plans revealed at a New York press conference included expansion to Chicago and Phoenix in 2025 and eventually into international markets. The postseason would be a completely neutral-site offering with playoffs in Las Vegas and the championship slated for Minnesota. Oddly, Hutton announced the league had also invested in a little-known technology company called HUMBL which would provide some ticketing services for AFL teams.

Almost immediately the league's claims came into question. The AFL failed to do so much as contact some of the arenas in their announced cities.

The first team to officially sign on was the Billings (Mont.) Outlaws, refugees from the dying Champions Indoor Football league, and representing a city not among those the league had announced. Four other CIF teams, none on the list of league cities, followed Billings' lead. Also joining were a pair of franchises from the National Arena League, another indoor circuit, representing Odessa and Orlando.

Hutton claimed that interference from other leagues caused the change in league markets.

Several owners later revealed that the league promised to pay as much as $750 of their players' $1,000 weekly game checks in order to lure them to the AFL.

Five teams - the Albany Firebirds, Orlando Predators, Georgia Force, Philadelphia Soul and Nashville Kats - directly took the names of previous Arena teams, while the Louisiana VooDoo was close, being named after the New Orleans VooDoo.

Curiously, the Minnesota Myth franchise would be owned by Hutton's wife Diana. Ownership information for many of the other new teams was missing altogether.

The league boasted an unnamed celebrity would own the VooDoo in Lake Charles, and NFL player Kayvon Thibodeaux would helm the Salem franchise, the Oregon Blackbears. When finally contacted, Thibodeaux stated he had not bought into the team. No celebrity ownership ever emerged in Louisiana.

Just over a week before the season opener, the Lake Charles Event Center kicked out the VooDoo for non-payment, forcing them to move to Lafayette's aging Blackham Coliseum. The Georgia Force never secured an arena, and the only scheduled home games for the Philadelphia Soul were to be played late in the season in Trenton, NJ.

The opening weekend featured all 16 teams in action and would prove to be the only time that happened. After being evicted from the team hotel and having travel plans evaporate, the Philadelphia Soul were represented by replacement players from Dallas to open the season. Louisiana's hastily-assembled field required the dasher boards to be held in place by staff. A home-made netting system dangled awkwardly at both ends of the field.

Hutton suspended the VooDoo after the poor showing allegedly until they could get their facility in compliance, a suspension which proved to be permanent, leaving a $30,000 unpaid bill for arena rent in Lafayette.

Oregon set up shop in a rodeo facility whose roof was too low to allow much of a kicking game, a hallmark of the arena style of play. After the team ordered the wrong dasher boards, pads were instead attached to rodeo fencing surrounding the field.

After opening with a win, the Iowa Rampage owners immediately called it quits in a blistering statement when the league's promised financial support failed to arrive. Somehow the team played on the road in Week Two before disappearing.

"Lee Hutton and his team have destroyed not only the revival of the AFL, but they have destroyed the hopes of the players all over the US, coaches who have dedicated time and energy through training camp, the staff of these teams who have worked tirelessly because they believe and communities that have put their faith and money into these teams," read the Rampage statement.

The opening weekend did not feature any broadcasts on the NFL Network. The NFL pulled the plug on the deal completely after the league failed to pay them. Hutton pivoted broadcasts to a little-known app and a league website.

Contrary to showing itself open to criticism, that week's AFL podcast concluded with a bizarre rant against the league's critics. It was pulled down the next day. All mentions of an interview scheduled later that week with Hutton disappeared just hours before it was supposed to air. Several owners claimed to have a hard time reaching the commissioner.

"The best thing that could happen for the AFL right now would be if Lee Hutton resigns this instant as commissioner," said Billings owner Steve Titus on May 4. "All he has done as of late to team owners is lie."

A lawsuit brought by the National Arena League, former home of the West Texas franchise, threatened to take the Odessa-based West Texas Desert Hawks off the field before a quick settlement allowed them to play a week three road game.

The dominos toppled in the succeeding weeks. Without league help, some teams including the Rapid City (SD) Marshals attempted to stem losses by reducing player pay. Several of the Rapid City players walked out, while a few remained with the team joined by replacements. With Billings warming up in front of the arriving Rapid City crowd on May 11, the Marshals refused to take the field, resulting in a forfeit. The damaged Rapid City franchise never played again.

The Minnesota Myth reportedly could not afford to travel to Albany, NY, while players and staff remained unpaid. The team folded soon after, an embarrassment considering the close ties to Hutton.

"You need to look into this fraud immediately," read a tweet reposted by Myth Head Coach Rickey Foggie and tagging Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

Gone in quick succession were the ownerless Force, Soul and Blackbears. Players faced not only the death of their pro football dreams, but many were left scrambling to find a way home when they weren't paid.

Their patience exhausted, G6 stepped in and ended Hutton's tenure on May 14, replacing him with former NFL coach and Nashville Kats executive Jeff Fisher as interim commissioner. G6 claimed Hutton never paid them for use of the AFL intellectual property.

"They signed a licence agreement and than [sic] never paid for it; which means they never had the rights," tweeted G6 co-owner Anthony Rossi on May 3. "At this point Lee and (Deputy Commissioner) Travelle (Gaines) are acting illegally & unethically while lying to fans, sponsors, partners and team owners."

Still the bleeding continued. The West Texas Desert Hawks dropped out on June 18, leaving the league with just eight of its original 16 teams.

"The owners, they're struggling," said West Texas owner Zach Bugg during his departure. "There are owners who have canceled home games and owners who have taken bye weeks just for financial reasons. Owners are struggling in the AFL. Mark my words, teams will not be a part of the AFL next year if it continues like this."

The AFL moved all its broadcasts to YouTube. Attendance failed to exceed 6,000 for any game in 2024, with many crowds under 2,000 in several markets.

With the schedule in constant flux, franchises scrambled to protect their home dates. Some resorted to using non-league, replacement teams to fill holes in their schedules. They also moved several games from Thursdays and Sundays to Fridays and Saturdays, resulting in almost weekly re-schedulings. Orlando ended up playing just twice in front of home fans during the regular season. The league called off three of four Week Ten games, all of which had playoff implications, in order to allow teams to prepare for a twice re-worked postseason.

The AFL's new front office worked out a deal with CBS Sports Network to televise both playoff games and the ArenaBowl. Further, the league announced the title contest would take place at American Dream Mall, the second largest shopping mall in the country. The facility features an NHL-sized skating rink with no permanent seating. The agreement with the mall appeared on the verge of collapse just days before the ArenaBowl, but the title game was played as scheduled in front of what appeared to be a few hundred fans and shoppers.

With a disastrous, tumultuous inaugural season behind it, perhaps the Arena Football League's biggest challenge looms this offseason. It remains to be seen how many of the current eight teams have the means or desire to remain in the league and if the AFL's leadership can find additional owners and investors.

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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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