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February 11 Is Special Day in AFL History

February 10, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Utah Blaze News Release


NEW YORK - In honor of the AFL's 20th Season, the league is celebrating critical dates in its history. February 11, 1981 is arguably the league's most important date because it is the genesis of the indoor football industry and the Arena Football League.

On the historic date, AFL founder Jim Foster, who was then a promotions manager for the NFL, attended a Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) game at Madison Square Garden in New York City. While watching the contest, Foster thought, "if you can play soccer indoors, you can play football." He quickly pulled out a 9" x 12" manila envelope and began sketching diagrams and rules for what would one day become Arena Football. A new sport was born.

It took Foster six years to bring his vision to fruition, but he was confident of his invention after a few test games.

"They didn't come out of the game going, 'Wow I just saw an imitation of an NFL game.' They came out saying 'Wow - that was something different,'" said Foster.

The inaugural AFL season in 1987 featured four teams -- Chicago, Denver, Pittsburgh and Washington -- playing a six-game schedule. The season ended with a 45-16 Denver Dynamite win over the Pittsburgh Gladiators in ArenaBowl I.

Today, in its 20th season, the AFL boasts 18 teams, including two expansion squads in Kansas City and Utah. NBC Sports broadcasts games throughout the season -- as it has done for the past three years -- including the playoffs and ArenaBowl XX, and Fox Sports Net televises games regionally. Nike supplies team uniforms, Champs Sports sells AFL apparel and Upper Deck flips Arena Football trading cards. EA Sports recently unveiled its first-ever AFL video game.

The sport of indoor football, including 24 teams in the AFL's developmental league arenafootball2 (af2), is played at many levels across the country, including professionally in more than 80 markets, and has an estimated annual economic impact of $500 million.

The AFL has come a long way since Foster's idea first germinated and is positioned to continue its unprecedented growth well into the future.

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