The Many Rises & Falls Of Arena Football | The Touchback

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The Arena Football League is coming back. It is another shocking rise for a sport that has suffered more peaks and valleys than the Rocky Mountains. That is, of course, if the peaks are a PS2 game and coverage on ABC and the valleys are going bankrupt and letting KISS have carte blanche over branding a franchise.
Anyway, slated to begin play in April 2024, this is the umpteenth time someone has tried to make indoor football a thing in America. Unsurprisingly, the group behind the new AFL is dreaming big.
Anyone who has followed the history of arena football will be familiar with that fluffy marketing speak and over-the-top bravado. It’s two parts fantasy, one part hyperbole with a little disillusion sprinkled on top. The reality is that any fleeting success will be followed by a decline that has derailed all previous attempts to make the sport ‘bigger and better’ as Rossi claims.
This is the story of the many rises and falls of arena football. It's an unbelievable tale.
Full article: thetouchback.com/the-many-ris...
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The Touchback is the world’s best sports and culture website…or something like that. The site is the brainchild of Andrew Davis and Cheyenne Hollis, two American expats wanting to bring a different perspective to sports, fantasy, betting and a bunch of other random stuff. You’ll either really like it or really hate it. But it’s worth reading either way.

[@mactheknife7049]

I attended the first-ever AFL game in Pittsburgh, and the first "ArenaBowl," held there later that summer. No one really was sure what the hell we were watching, but it was fun to see.

[@donnie2832]

I enjoyed the AFL. The teams like San Jose, Arizona, Iowa, Tampa Bay, Grand Rapids and Orlando were very entertaining. But when the celebrities like Elway, Bon Jovi and others got involved with their own teams the networks seemed to mainly focus on those teams, and Iowa was gone. I just lost interest. Don’t let ESPN and NBC have to much control over your league or conference.

[@CSDonohue11]

Real Talk. Every time anyone lets someone else make calls for their vision It always goes bad

[@stephengering1986]

Jacksonville sharks 🦈

I'm an old school fan. The very first game I ever went to was Arena Bowl 90. The Detroit Drive beat the Dallas Texans 51-27. My brother was a maintenance guy where some of the Drive players lived during the season. Met John Corker, David Evans, Reggie Mathis, and Alvin Rettig. The Drive were ridiculously good. Played from 1988 to 1993. Made the Arena Bowl every year of their existence winning 4 out of 6 including 3 in a row their first 3 years of existence. Eventually Mr. Illitch sold them because he bought the Tigers. They played 94 as the Massachusetts Marauders then the franchise went into bankruptcy. Eventually the Grand Rapid ownership group bought the franchise out of bankruptcy, and became the Grand Rapids Rampage who also won an Arena Bowl. They put another franchise in Detroit in 2000 with the Fury, but it wasn't the same. The team wasn't good and played at the Palace. To put it in perspective Arena Bowl 90 at Joe Louis was SRO with over 19,000 in an attendance for a 4 year old league and 3 year old franchise.

[@higgy04]

One of my favourite team names that existed (or might still exist) was the Omaha Beef. Their mascot was named Sir Loin, they had an all-male dance troupe called The Rump Roasters, and the occasional NFL Preseason game would mention a player trying to win a spot on a roster spent time playing for the Beef.

[@thetouchback]

The Omaha Beef are still alive and kicking with Sir Loin as the mascot.

[@BroadwayJoe99]

The son of an old friend of mine from when I sang and played drums on the Reno-Tahoe casino cabaret circuit played/plays for the Beef, Cliff Porter Jr.

[@captainzorikh]

YES! I loved seeing that team name and helmet on the websites! That was back when I could have fun just reading the standings and looking at the helmet and uniform designs that broke fotball aesthetic traditions. Knowing they had a Male Dance team is a bonus!

[@avrysportsshow]

Really great video! The AFL also tried to go international, dabbling into the Canadian sports market for a bit in the late 90s and 2000s, too! There was a neutral site game in Ottawa and the Toronto Phantoms were in the league for 2001 and 2002!

[@tonyarmbrust]

Nice deep dive on the subject. I went to a few Bakersfield Blitz AF2 games, and one LA Avengers game. As a sport, it definitely has a niche, and keeps football fans entertained until the fall. Oh, and you're kind of right about Spokane. I lived for a couple of years down the road in Lewiston, ID. I would drive up a few times for some Spokane Chiefs games. And went to a bunch of WSU and UI games. (Go Vandals!l

[@thetouchback]

To this day, the smell of Lewiston haunts me. I know folks who lived there got used to it but man, I didn't enjoy it. Driving up the ol' Goat Trail in winter was always an adventure as well.

[@tonyarmbrust]

@@thetouchback Yeah, you never really got used to the stench. I worked at Lewiston's only TV station, KLEW. I was there because it was close to Seattle, and family. I left for California in 2005.

[@CSDonohue11]

Why does it smell so bad ??? What does Lewiston make that smells so terrible ?? When I lived in Florence, SC there was this part of town on your towards Myrtle Beach that had a plastic mill and it smelled so bad Making plastics smells so bad and would make me very light headed every single time we drove through there and it was pretty often because We lived all the way out on the edge of Florence close to Glendale So whenever We went into town We got to get that terrible smell Vegas has spot on Craig Rd between Lamb & Pecos that has a food plant , I can’t remember if they make Ramen seasonings or Ketchup lol but it usually smells pretty bad when you pass by right there . It’s not as bad as plastics though

[@georgeblangfordjr.1771]

AFL was on NBC from 2003-2006

[@DjFIL007]

Amazing recap. Glad it came up on my feed with all the AFL drama that's going on. I knew about it quite early in late 80's early 90's (even as a Canadian, just because my grandparents had an American satellite dish with ESPN/ESPN2 available)... but this was great getting even older history around the concept. While the peak days of AFL will always have a special memory, it's really nice to see the stability the IFL has been able to establish to keep indoor football going. RIP Spokane, maybe they can have a new franchise one day.

[@Jfraire99]

Missed opportunity to talk about 4th and Loud AMC's series about the Los Angeles KISS

[@pbcash7788]

You make great videos. I like how the topics are unique and not just trying to game an algorithm. Solid amount of research as well. Keep it up !

[@thetouchback]

Many thanks. I'm just having fun talking about things I find interesting. It kind of blows my mind that there are other people out there who enjoy it.

[@pbcash7788]

@@thetouchback you’ve got passion bout what you talk about & are authentic. I’m sure that’s what others are noticing too. Keep up the good work brother.

[@captainzorikh]

Thank you for this terrific review of arena football history. Being in NYC, i enjoyed the brief opportunities i had to see pro fuitball at MSH for an affordable price. I even did a website article about a CiyHawks game with pictures (now living in the Wayback Machine, if i can rememberthe URL). Unfortunately you are exactly right about big cities and indoor, small-field football. Too much to do around hear to be interested in teams that only won four or five games in three years (including the NY Knights), none at home. You did forget one small part of the history, though. Professional Women's Football has had its biggest success in the indoor, small-field game and combined with micro-uniforms and hockey helmets. The Legends Footba Leage (firmery Lingerie Football League) put together so seasoms of arena-like football of such high quality that they really didn't need the scanty outfits to get my attention.

[@georgeblangfordjr.1771]

Now you got an Arena Football team in Salem Oregon with the team name called the Black Bears and in Council Buff Iowa Arena Football team name is the Rampage but a Gorilla as it mascot

[@user-bd8dk1tu5i]

I went to alot of the AFL2 Shreveport Battle Wings games since i live about 45 from Shreveport. Were always fun games to watch

[@baldridgeroy]

I went to a try-out for the Tulsa Talons as an OL/DL. I didn't make the team. Loved going to games, but when the Tulsa Shock and WNBA showed up, we lost the Talons to Dallas. 😢

[@RavenStorm332]

the Barnstromers and the Ratters are in the Indoor Football League and are still going strong

[@zacorre]

I can't remember what league the Mississippi houndogs were in but it was great having them in tupelo for a year. It was something different and games were fun to go to

[@nastynate915]

Got to watch fred jackson in sioux city as a kid they had a touchdown counter for him, dont remember what his total was. Was crazy seeing him make the leauge!

[@victorplayer7326]

The AFL2 was really the first IFL that was working, because all but two teams were owned by one person. The AFL2 bought them out. I played in the NIFL it was low budget, but organized and fun

[@TheBritishPunter]

Great in-depth video. You should do one about NFL Europe 👍🏻

[@dirtybirdperson4020]

Man i was a season ticket holder for Georgia Force and later Jacksonville Sharks in two different AFL eras I lived all this, thanks for the video. One of things I always wondered maybe contributed to the downfall was the first bankruptcy sorta coinciding around the time we started talking alot more about CTE and the long-term hazards of playing football. You had all these NFL execs and celebrities pumping money into the league that suddenly didnt really produce the same return on investment or the solid foundation that NFL and college football do. I remember their being alot of talk back then about the potential of all the leagues being sued and it probably also was a factor in what kind of compensation smaller leagues like the AFL might try to come at thier players union with. I never saw anything official along those lines mind you but i always sort of wondered. I member at its late 2000s ESPN height, we had a few select stars like Clint Dozel and Tony Graziani making a good bit of money for non NFL/CFL players

[@AllGoodThings607]

1990s was really the formative years of Arena Football. I remember being shocked, sometime in the mid '90s, when I found out the league still existed. It was soo under the radar, but apparently on the way to firmly establishing its brand.

[@tylerbuchmann9690]

My favorite team was the Spokane shock

[@rolyrod69]

You cover some really unique and interesting topics, my dude.

[@zackcamp1912]

I loved this video so much. However dissing the AFL video game is WILD. I love that game 😂

[@leethecomedian]

The Bear game also helped evolve the forward pass. I trust anyone go look up the end to that game. ✌

[@teto85]

Indoor leagues have risen and fallen with regularity ever since the AFL first started back in the late 1980s.

[@Xmarblemanx]

Tulsa Talons loved them and they dominated af2. Sad to see them go to San Antonio and then they died. Hope new IFL team can do as good

[@CSDonohue11]

I caught the 1st ever XFL Game in Vegas The Outlaws Game I had an XFL Ball I bought there that I kept put up for a decade Until My X’s younger brother got a hold of it while I was out of town Luckily it hasn’t gone on to matter at all 😁

[@thetouchback]

That's awesome! I still remember watching that first XFL game on TV and thinking it was the coolest thing ever. I recently got my hands on one of the old Outlaws and Demons XFL jerseys that just have the team name and number 1 on the back.

[@tomservo75]

Now that the league is (supposedly) underway, it's evident that This video unfortunately didn't age well :( I remember the Arena League in its heydey, late 90s to 00s. My dad and I had season tickets to the New Jersey Red Dogs (later Gladiators) before they betrayed us and moved to Las Vegas. The problem as I saw it at the time with the league was that even in this golden age, I don't think the league had the same lineup of teams 2 years in a row. Teams coming, going, folding, relocating, renaming was tough to keep track of and build a fan base. I was patient about it at the time because the NFL founded in 1920 had this happening even through the 1940s, so all new leagues go through some instability. But it's been 37 years now, and AFL still doesn't have its act together. Too much bad ownership and incompetent management at the team and league level.

[@Rockhound6165]

Couple things. #1, how could you not mention the Zubaz era? #2, the reason why the AFL ended up having issues is because they started throwing money around like it was going out of style. Same thing that eventually killed the original USFL. To me the league was fun. I used to write a column for a sports blog site called Sportsphan from 2005-2008 and had press credentials. I covered Arena Bowl 22 in New Orleans as the Soul was the team I covered. I got to meet people like Bon Jovi, Ron Jaworski, David Baker, Dick Vermeil, Mike Golic, Mike Greenberg, Bernie Kosar, and John Elway. It was sad when the league died.

[@georgeblangfordjr.1771]

The Arena Bowl broadcast on ABC was in 1998 not 1988

[@RoxorTehCoxor]

YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE IT IN ROB AIKEY'S VOICE

[@kevinfavron]

Second vid of yours I watched subbed

[@MrTakaMOSHi]

As a Bay Area kid, I miss the Sabercats

[@GulsCult]

I never could fully get into arena football because of the inconsistency. I live in New York City, and by the time I learned that there was an arena football team here, it was gone already. 😂 You mix lack of advertisement/info with lack of consistency, you're missing out on developing a solid fanbase in larger markets. It's hard enough to gain fans in those places with other hometown sports teams as it is. Maybe in locations lacking a professional sports presence, but you're losing the large money markets. And without money, there's no league.

[@David9PM]

I’m excited for my new local IFL team fishers freight.

[@jackurban894]

The small leagues (8 and fewer teams) need to merge and get to a size of 16 or more. The IFL has been around for 16 years now and are now at a high professional level. I consider them the current gold standard today. They continue to add teams. My favorite team is Omaha in The NAL but they only have 6 teams. This amounts to a pick-up game league. It doesn’t make sense to offer a playoff in a league of this size. I would like to see a larger league to compete with the IFL. Competition is good for the sport and will improve the game keeping game tickets available and inexpensive for the average fan.

[@CJY213]

Arena football was cool and was an interesting alternative to NFL that was different. I watched a lot of Chicaho Rush games in the early 2000s

[@joeyyoho3670]

So with that first indoor football game for the NFL that you mentioned the rule changes, one of them being no field goals. There was a field goal post in the picture you showed, and the winning team somehow scored 9 points? How did they do that without field goals?

[@joeyyoho3670]

Makes doubt everything you said in this video

[@joeyyoho3670]

Not to mention the article explaining how field goals were handled

[@joeyyoho3670]

Damn, you didn't even mention the Ohio valley Greyhounds, one of the best teams from the NIFL

[@thetouchback]

@@joeyyoho3670 I actually made an entire video on the game which you can watch here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5CviYCPnLyeq9k

[@darkdiamonds4337]

I remember going to gladiators games all the time because I could just take the train downtown to Cleveland

[@chrisd6287]

Go Vandals!!

[@georgeblangfordjr.1771]

The Salina Liberty are in the relaunch AFL in 2024 and 15 other team as well

[@Trollyaccount]

Man I was a Los Angeles Avengers and Kiss fan I really enjoy AFL

[@farhanatashiga3721]

It's funny watching this now that back when you upload this you pretty much nail down the problems and quick demise of afl 3.0 but i suppose to thoae who have been following the sport for awhile like you the faults are obvious from the start lol

[@kingmo8789]

I loved the AFL

[@Thederanged1]

24:29 ya skipped over the other two Arena Football video games dude. There was a PC game that was called just Arena Football(no relation to the EA game) and Kurt Warner’s Arena Football Unleashed which was made by Midway and ran the same engine NFL Blitz did except a little more violent 😅.

[@thetouchback]

I actually spent a little time playing the PC Arena Football game while doing research. It is text-based and felt like doing work. But you are correct and I just felt that those first two video games did much for the sport as a whole. There was also a Jaguar game that got scrapped in the mid-1990s as well that would have let you play as the Miami Hooters.

[@DJPez913]

Tonys is from Salina, Kansas. So thats why they own those rights

[@AllGoodThings607]

AF2 was a good idea gone bad. Its business model was actually better than the AFL.

[@b.o.b3461]

You forgot about the LFL bro😂

[@Savethepeople2004]

Every good Arena video needs PlayStation reference 🚗🔥

[@christopherjustice6411]

The Indoor Football League seems to have succeeded where the AFL Failed.

[@ianhouse95]

Miss My Spokane Shock.

[@slobberkissintl3548]

I don't understand why futsal isn't bigger

[@WannaBeRockStar800]

Kurt Warner arena football was a fun game

[@bbb4228]

You made this video about a year too early

[@darkdiamonds4337]

I think the UFL is going to steal the thunder from it

[@CSDonohue11]

Trent Dilfer’s Son is the Ch Host

[@georgeblangfordjr.1771]

By the way they have an arena football team in Toronto,🇨🇦

[@tiejen1110]

The phantoms?

[@georgeblangfordjr.1771]

Hey Touch Back KZbin guy do a story about arena football came to 🇨🇦

[@ClintMcCollum]

#LAKISS

[@tomservo75]

Hey WTF, stop insulting small cities! I live in Spokane, we are not a "random city", we have 225,000 people, the largest city between Minneapolis and Seattle. There is a lot here besides the Shock!

[@Jimbo-wx9pu]

Aaaaand it’s gone! 😂

[@Dan-7550]

The Sabercats ended in 2015...They didn't play at all on 2016. Also... Not being rude... But are you ok? Because you sound like you got a few concussions. Like you were struggling to talk.

[@JosephPerdue1789]

24:28 Quit Spewing Fake News, Boy! Those Arena Football Games were awesome