Arena Football University Brings AF1 Teams Together
September 26, 2024 - Arena Football One (AF1) News Release
Arena Football One wrapped up a productive Arena Football University. Representatives from the founding AF1 teams, candidates for expansion, league staff, and league partners came together in Chicago to collaborate and plan for the 2025 AF1 season.
Throughout the past two days, Arena Football One teams, staff, and partners came together in a spirit of collaboration and togetherness to start the 2025 AF1 season off right. Arena Football University will be an annual event that will signify the start of the AF1 season.
With a packed schedule of meetings, round tables, partnership presentations, and a closed-door ownership meeting, Arena Football University has delivered results.
Albany Firebirds' Owner Mike Kwarta said, "It's phenomenal. It's something I wish they were doing when we first took over in Albany. It's so beneficial for teams coming in and even teams that are in to learn what other teams are doing. We're all coming together to create a great experience for the fans and stability for the league and teams."
AFU was a long-time staple of the Arena Football schedule, and Jerry Kurz was adamant about putting it back on the calendar to usher in the debut season of AF1. In his opening address, Kurz emphasized the importance of coming together and collaborating openly between teams. Calling upon the wealth of experiences in the room, Kurz reminded team owners, executives, and staff that coming together would build and solidify Arena Football for years to come.
Entering into the inaugural season for Arena Football One, it is critical to provide teams with the knowledge and skills to lay the foundation and re-introduce fans to Arena Football.
Attendees at AFU heard presentations from a variety of potential partners throughout the sessions on everything from balls to fields to uniforms. Potential partners came to the table excited about being involved with AF1, and many partnerships will come out of the time at AFU.
Miguel Morga, Washington Wolfpack Co-Owner & GM, said, "The experience has been incredible. We're excited to tap into the institutional knowledge of people who have spent their careers in Arena Football. This is what we needed before, and AF1 is off to a great start. With established teams, the expansion teams, this experience that we have here is why AF1 will be successful and be the premier league for Arena Football in America."
Earlier this month, multiple established teams came together in Nashville to finalize the proposal for Arena Football One. They came together and moved forward with a league that will build upon the strength of the teams. By starting fresh and with the collaborative spirit of AFU, Arena Football One is setting the standard for spring football.
Steve Titus, Owner of the Billings Outlaws, said, "AFU has been great. We have all of our teams and interested stakeholders here. We are all working on growing the league. We're all sharing strategies and ideas to make sure we all have viable and successful teams, now and in the future. The ideas that we are sharing from one team to another is really what we are all about."
In addition to established teams that came together to found AF1, the three approved expansion teams were represented as well. Members of the Monterrey Kings, Stockton Crusaders, and Wilkes-Barre team were all in attendance.
Matt Rowland, Wilkes-Barre Owner, said, "It's been a crash course. A crash course that I needed. I'm very excited for Jerry and Jared's [Widman] leadership. They've given me great ideas, but more importantly, meeting people and establishing relationships is the most important thing I'm getting so far."
Also in attendance were prospective expansion teams, who made presentations about potential membership to those in attendance. No final decisions were made about expansion during AFU, but more announcements will be made in the coming days.
Coaches, general managers, and league football operations staff met to begin the process of rule book finalization for the 2025 season as well. There will be some small tweaks coming to the rule book, but it will still be the action-packed game of Arena Football fans know and love.
Arena Football One is kicking off in 2025 with their League Year starting on October 1, 2024, with free agency opening for all teams. Other items coming up on the league calendar in the next month include the finalization of expansion for 2025, schedule release for the inaugural season, and much more.
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