af2 announces 2007 schedule

November 16, 2006 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release

CHICAGO - arenafootball2 (af2) opens its eighth season March 29, 2007 with 11 games over three days. The af2's opening weekend includes a number of interesting contests, highlighted by the introduction of Arena Football to the fans of Fort Wayne, Ind. and Youngstown, Ohio on Saturday, March 31. The first-year Fort Wayne franchise hosts the defending American Conference Champion Green Bay Blizzard, while the Mahoning Valley Thunder host the Tri-Cities (Wash.) club, another new addition. In all, the league's first weekend will feature six of the nine teams that are part of the af2's 2007 expansion class.

"This schedule encompasses the best af2 has to offer in terms of competition, rivalry and balance," says af2 President Jerry Kurz. "We're excited by the addition of nine new teams to our league family and feel that this, our eighth season, will be the finest we've ever had."

WEEK 1 (All times ET)
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Bakersfield at Laredo 8:05 p.m.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Boise at Louisville 7:30 p.m.
Birmingham at Tennessee Valley 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Manchester at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7:00 p.m.
Green Bay at Fort Wayne 7:00 p.m.
Tri-Cities at Mahoning Valley 7:05 p.m.
Quad City at Cincinnati 7:30 p.m.
Arkansas at South Georgia 7:30 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Florida 7:30 p.m.
Stockton at Spokane 8:00 p.m.
Everett at Tulsa 8:00 p.m.

Kicking off the season on Thursday, March 29 is the expansion Laredo Lobos, who play host to the Bakersfield Blitz at 8:05 p.m. ET. Other highlights of the Week 1 slate include another new league addition, the Cincinnati Jungle Kats, who host one of the af2's founding members, the Quad City Steamwheelers, on Saturday, March 31 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

A few other notable matchups on 2007 schedule include:

- The defending ArenaCup Champion Spokane Shock host the Stockton Lightning on Saturday, March 31 at 8:00 ET at Spokane Arena. The two teams, now in their second seasons, played each other in Spokane in the 2006 season opener. The host Shock won that contest, 41-40. Spokane finished 2006 with the league's best record at 14-2, and continued its success in the postseason, capping off a dream-like inaugural season with a 57-34 win over Green Bay in ArenaCup7.

- The Cincinnati Jungle Kats at the Louisville Fire in Week 3 on Friday, April 13 at 6:15 p.m. ET at U.S. Bank Arena. This will be the first of two meetings between the two teams in 2007. This matchup could quickly develop into quite a yearly border rivalry as the new Midwest Division opponents are just over 100 miles apart.

- The expansion Boise Burn host the Everett Hawks in the first-ever Arena Football game played in the state of Idaho. The game will be played on Saturday, April 21 at 9:00 p.m. ET at Qwest Arena.

Each team will play a total of 16 games (eight home/eight away). The alignment consists of the American and National Conference with three divisions per conference. The East, Midwest and West Divisions fall into the American Conference, while the Central, Southwest and South compose the National Conference. Sixteen (16) teams make up the American Conference and fourteen (14) make up the National Conference. The addition of nine new teams for 2007 created the need for the divisions to be realigned from 2006. They are as follows:

American Conference

WEST MIDWEST EAST
Spokane Green Bay W-B/Scranton
Boise Quad City Manchester
Everett Louisville Albany
Central Valley Cincinnati Mahoning Valley
Stockton Fort Wayne
Bakersfield
Tri-Cities

National Conference

CENTRAL SOUTHWEST SOUTH
Tulsa Bossier-Shreveport Birmingham
Oklahoma City Corpus-Christi Florida
Amarillo Texas South Georgia
Lubbock Rio Grande Valley Tennessee Valley
Arkansas Laredo

Optimal Planning Solutions Inc. (www.optimalplanning.com) assisted the af2 in producing the 2007 schedule. OPS is the leading provider of optimization-based professional sports-league scheduling. They also assisted the AFL in developing their 2006 schedule.

The league's 18-week, 240-game regular season schedule concludes on July 28.

About af2
With its seventh season completed in August, af2 serves as a vehicle to bring Arena Football to small to midsize cities and as a developmental league with an unmatched history of sending players, coaches and officials to major professional football leagues each year. af2 operates under the same Mission Statement and Fans' Bill of Rights as the Arena Football League, which concluded its 20th season in June. Log on to www.af2.com for more information.


2007 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE
ALL TIMES EASTERN

Week 1
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Bakersfield at Laredo 8:05 p.m.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Boise at Louisville 7:30 p.m.
Birmingham at Tennessee Valley 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Manchester at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7:00 p.m.
Green Bay at Fort Wayne 7:00 p.m.
Tri-Cities at Mahoning Valley 7:05 p.m.
Quad City at Cincinnati 7:30 p.m.
Arkansas at South Georgia 7:30 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Florida 7:30 p.m.
Stockton at Spokane 8:00 p.m.
Everett at Tulsa 8:00 p.m.
Bye: Albany, Amarillo, Bossier-Shreveport, Central Valley, Corpus-Christi, Rio Grande Valley, Lubbock, Texas

Week 2
Friday, April 6, 2007
Mahoning Valley at Albany 7:00 p.m.
Florida at Texas 8:30 p.m.
Lubbock at Amarillo 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Louisville at South Georgia 7:30 p.m.
Fort Wayne at Bossier-Shreveport 8:00 p.m.
Quad City at Spokane 8:00 p.m.
Rio Grande Valley at Corpus Christi 8:00 p.m.
Everett at Central Valley 10:00 p.m.
Bye: Arkansas, Bakersfield, Birmingham, Boise, Cincinnati, Green Bay, Laredo, Manchester, Oklahoma City, Stockton, Tennessee Valley, Tri-Cities, Tulsa, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

Week 3
Friday, April 13, 2007
Cincinnati at Louisville 6:15 p.m.
South Georgia at Birmingham 8:00 p.m.
Manchester at Green Bay 8:30 p.m.
Boise at Quad City 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Albany at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7:00 p.m.
Texas at Bossier-Shreveport 8:00 p.m.
Amarillo at Tulsa 8:00 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Corpus Christi 8:00 p.m.
Florida at Tennessee Valley 8:30 p.m.
Laredo at Rio Grande Valley 8:30 p.m.
Bakersfield at Tri-Cities 10:00 p.m.
Central Valley at Stockton 10:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Spokane at Fort Wayne 4:00 p.m.
Arkansas at Lubbock 4:05 p.m.
Bye: Everett, Mahoning Valley

Week 4
Friday, April 20, 2007
Arkansas at Amarillo 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Green Bay at Albany 4:00 p.m.
Cincinnati at Mahoning Valley 7:05 p.m.
Fort Wayne at Manchester 7:05 p.m.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Florida 7:30 p.m.
Tennessee Valley at South Georgia 7:30 p.m.
Lubbock at Spokane 8:00 p.m.
Louisville at Birmingham 8:00 p.m.
Tulsa at Laredo 8:05 p.m.
Quad City at Oklahoma City 8:05 p.m.
Bossier-Shreveport at Rio Grande Valley 8:30 p.m.
Corpus Christi at Texas 8:30 p.m.
Everett at Boise 9:00 p.m.
Stockton at Bakersfield 10:00 p.m.
Tri-Cities at Central Valley 10:00 p.m.

Week 5
Friday, April 27, 2007
Rio Grande Valley at Amarillo 8:30 p.m.
Laredo at Bossier-Shreveport 8:30 p.m.
Quad City at Green Bay 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Cincinnati at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7:00 p.m.
Mahoning Valley at Manchester 7:05 p.m.
Albany at Fort Wayne 7:00 p.m.
Tennessee Valley at Florida 7:30 p.m.
Corpus Christi at Arkansas 8:00 p.m.
Birmingham at Tulsa 8:00 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Boise 9:00 p.m.
Bakersfield at Central Valley 10:00 p.m.
Spokane at Stockton 10:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Texas at Lubbock 4:05 p.m.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Everett at Tri-Cities 10:00 p.m.
Bye: Louisville, South Georgia

Week 6
Friday, May 4, 2007
Manchester at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7:00 p.m.
Texas at Birmingham 8:00 p.m.
Green Bay at Tennessee Valley 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Florida at Albany 4:00 p.m.
Louisville at Mahoning Valley 7:05 p.m.
Fort Wayne at Cincinnati 7:30 p.m.
Bossier-Shreveport at Corpus Christi 8:00 p.m.
Arkansas at Laredo 8:05 p.m.
Tulsa at Oklahoma City 8:05 p.m.
South Georgia at Rio Grande Valley 8:30 p.m.
Boise at Bakersfield 10:00 p.m.
Central Valley at Everett 10:00 p.m.
Stockton at Tri-Cities 10:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Amarillo at Lubbock 4:05 p.m.
Bye: Quad City, Spokane

Week 7
Friday, May 11, 2007
Albany at Manchester 7:05 p.m.
Louisville at Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Rio Grande Valley at Corpus Christi 8:05 p.m.
Tri-Cities at Green Bay 8:30 p.m.
Laredo at Texas 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Mahoning Valley 7:05 p.m.
Tennessee Valley at Cincinnati 7:30 p.m.
Florida at South Georgia 7:30 p.m.
Bossier-Shreveport at Arkansas 8:00 p.m.
Quad City at Birmingham 8:00 p.m.
Bakersfield at Spokane 8:00 p.m.
Lubbock at Tulsa 8:00 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Amarillo 8:30 p.m.
Boise at Central Valley 10:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Stockton at Everett 6:00 p.m.

Week 8
Friday, May 18, 2007
Rio Grande Valley at Laredo 8:05 p.m.
Tulsa at Amarillo 8:30 p.m.
Manchester at Bossier-Shreveport 8:30 p.m.
Cincinnati at Green Bay 8:30 p.m.
Everett at Quad City 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Birmingham at Louisville 7:00 p.m.
Mahoning Valley at Florida 7:30 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Lubbock 8:05 p.m.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Tennessee Valley 8:30 p.m.
Corpus Christi at Texas 8:30 p.m.
Spokane at Boise 9:00 p.m.
Tri-Cities at Bakersfield 10:00 p.m.
Central Valley at Stockton 10:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
South Georgia at Arkansas 4:00 p.m.
Bye: Albany, Fort Wayne

Week 9
Friday, May 25, 2007
Albany at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7:00 p.m.
Manchester at Mahoning Valley 7:05 p.m.
Louisville at Quad City 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Tennessee Valley at Fort Wayne 7:00 p.m.
Birmingham at Cincinnati 7:30 p.m.
South Georgia at Bossier-Shreveport 8:00 p.m.
Central Valley at Spokane 8:00 p.m.
Arkansas at Tulsa 8:00 p.m.
Laredo at Lubbock 8:05 p.m.
Amarillo at Rio Grande Valley 8:30 p.m.
Stockton at Boise 9:00 p.m.
Texas at Tri-Cities 10:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Bakersfield at Everett 6:00 p.m.
Bye: Corpus Christi, Florida, Green Bay, Oklahoma City

Week 10
Friday, June 1, 2007
Tulsa at Manchester 7:05 p.m.
Tennessee Valley at Quad City 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Fort Wayne at Albany 4:00 p.m.
Green Bay at Louisville 7:00 p.m.
Mahoning Valley at Cincinnati 7:30 p.m.
Corpus Christi at South Georgia 7:30 p.m.
Birmingham at Florida 7:30 p.m.
Lubbock at Arkansas 8:00 p.m.
Everett at Spokane 8:00 p.m.
Laredo at Oklahoma City 8:05 p.m.
Bossier-Shreveport at Texas 8:30 p.m.
Tri-Cities at Stockton 10:30 p.m.
Bye: Amarillo, Bakersfield, Boise, Central Valley, Rio Grande Valley, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

Week 11
Friday, June 8, 2007
Albany at Manchester 7:05 p.m.
Quad City at Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Bossier-Shreveport at Birmingham 8:00 p.m.
Mahoning Valley at Green Bay 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at South Georgia 7:30 p.m.
Tulsa at Corpus Christi 8:00 p.m.
Amarillo at Oklahoma City 8:05 p.m.
Florida at Tennessee Valley 8:30 p.m.
Texas at Rio Grande Valley 8:30 p.m.
Lubbock at Central Valley 10:00 p.m.
Boise at Everett 10:00 p.m.
Spokane at Bakersfield 10:00 p.m.
Bye: Arkansas, Cincinnati, Laredo, Louisville, Stockton, Tri-Cities

Week 12
Friday, June 15, 2007
Cincinnati at Albany 7:00 p.m.
Stockton at Amarillo 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Birmingham at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7:00 p.m.
Fort Wayne at Louisville 7:00 p.m.
Quad City at Mahoning Valley 7:05 p.m.
Manchester at Florida 7:30 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Arkansas 8:00 p.m.
Green Bay at Tulsa 8:00 p.m.
Corpus Christi at Bossier-Shreveport 8:00 p.m.
Texas at Laredo 8:05 p.m.
South Georgia at Tennessee Valley 8:30 p.m.
Rio Grande Valley at Boise 9:00 p.m.
Spokane at Tri-Cities 10:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Central Valley at Bakersfield 6:00 p.m.
Bye: Everett, Lubbock

Week 13
Friday, June 22, 2007
Fort Wayne at Green Bay 8:30 p.m.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Quad City 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Albany at Florida 7:30 p.m.
Louisville at Cincinnati 7:30 p.m.
Laredo at Corpus Christi 8:00 p.m.
Boise at Spokane 8:00 p.m.
Amarillo at Lubbock 8:05 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Rio Grande Valley 8:30 p.m.
Central Valley at Tri-Cities 10:00 p.m.
Arkansas at Everett 10:00 p.m.
Bakersfield at Stockton 10:30 p.m.
Bye: Birmingham, Bossier-Shreveport, Mahoning Valley, Manchester, South Georgia, Tennessee Valley, Texas, Tulsa

Week 14
Friday, June 29, 2007
Bossier-Shreveport at Amarillo 8:30 p.m.
Green Bay at Quad City 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Louisville at Albany 4:00 p.m.
Mahoning Valley at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7:00 p.m.
Cincinnati at Fort Wayne 7:00 p.m.
South Georgia at Manchester 7:05 p.m.
Tennessee Valley at Birmingham 8:00 p.m.
Tulsa at Arkansas 8:00 p.m.
Florida at Oklahoma City 8:05 p.m.
Corpus Christi at Rio Grande Valley 8:30 p.m.
Lubbock at Texas 8:30 p.m.
Tri-Cities at Boise 9:00 p.m.
Spokane at Central Valley 10:00 p.m.
Laredo at Bakersfield 10:00 p.m.
Everett at Stockton 10:30 p.m.

Week 15
Friday, July 6, 2007
Albany at Green Bay 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Mahoning Valley at Louisville 7:00 p.m.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Fort Wayne 7:00 p.m.
Manchester at Cincinnati 7:30 p.m.
South Georgia at Florida 7:30 p.m.
Arkansas at Bossier-Shreveport 8:00 p.m.
Texas at Corpus Christi 8:00 p.m.
Tulsa at Lubbock 8:05 p.m.
Birmingham at Oklahoma City 8:05 p.m.
Rio Grande Valley at Laredo 8:05 p.m.
Bakersfield at Boise 9:00 p.m.
Stockton at Central Valley 10:00 p.m.
Tennessee Valley at Everett 10:00 p.m.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Amarillo at Tri-Cities 10:00 p.m.
Bye: Quad City, Spokane

Week 16
Friday, July 13, 2007
Albany at Mahoning Valley 7:05 p.m.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Manchester 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Quad City at Louisville 7:00 p.m.
Texas at South Georgia 7:30 p.m.
Green Bay at Cincinnati 7:30 p.m.
Florida at Birmingham 8:00 p.m.
Laredo at Arkansas 8:00 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Tulsa 8:00 p.m.
Tri-Cities at Spokane 8:00 p.m.
Rio Grande Valley at Bossier-Shreveport 8:00 p.m.
Amarillo at Corpus Christi 8:00 p.m.
Central Valley at Lubbock 8:05 p.m.
Fort Wayne at Tennessee Valley 8:30 p.m.
Everett at Bakersfield 10:00 p.m.
Boise at Stockton 10:30 p.m.

Week 17
Friday, July 20, 2007
Cincinnati at Quad City 8:30 p.m.
Louisville at Green Bay 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Manchester at Albany 4:00 p.m.
Bossier-Shreveport at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7:00 p.m.
Birmingham at South Georgia 7:30 p.m.
Arkansas at Oklahoma City 8:05 p.m.
Corpus Christi at Laredo 8:05 p.m.
Spokane at Amarillo 8:30 p.m.
Mahoning Valley at Tennessee Valley 8:30 p.m.
Lubbock at Rio Grande Valley 8:30 p.m.
Tulsa at Texas 8:30 p.m.
Central Valley at Boise 9:00 p.m.
Tri-Cities at Everett 10:00 p.m.
Stockton at Bakersfield 10:00 p.m.
Bye: Florida, Fort Wayne

Week 18
Friday, July 27, 2007
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Albany 7:00 p.m.
Fort Wayne at Quad City 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Tennessee Valley at Louisville 7:00 p.m.
Green Bay at Mahoning Valley 7:05 p.m.
Florida at Manchester 7:05 p.m.
Cincinnati at Birmingham 8:00 p.m.
South Georgia at Tulsa 8:00 p.m.
Amarillo at Arkansas 8:00 p.m.
Lubbock at Oklahoma City 8:05 p.m.
Bossier-Shreveport at Laredo 8:05 p.m.
Rio Grande Valley at Texas 8:30 p.m.
Boise at Tri-Cities 10:00 p.m.
Spokane at Everett 10:00 p.m.
Bakersfield at Central Valley 10:00 p.m.
Corpus Christi at Stockton 10:30 p.m.

arenafootball2 Stories from November 16, 2006

• 2007 road to the ArenaCup - Spokane Shock
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• Steamwheelers to Host 2nd Open Player Tryouts for 2007 Season - Quad City Steamwheelers
• 2007 Steamwheelers Schedule Announced - Quad City Steamwheelers
• Quad City Steamwheelers Welcome Back Shonn Bell - Quad City Steamwheelers
• af2 announces 2007 schedule - af2
• af2 welcomes two newcomers: Fort Wayne and Tri-Cities - af2

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