· History: The Arena Football League will begin its 22nd season in March. The AFL is the second-longest running professional football league in U.S. history, trailing only the NFL.
· All Fan League: The AFL is devoted to its fanatics more than any sports league as proven by the League’s Mission Statement, Fans’ Bill of Rights and mandatory player autograph sessions following every game.
· Value: When Commissioner David Baker began his tenure in 1996, teams were reportedly worth $400,000. Recent transactions have been reported at a value in excess of $18 million. The current price of an expansion team is $20 million.
· Attendance: In an era when most sports leagues are seeing a decline in attendance, the AFL is growing. Total attendance for the 2007 regular season was 1,887,054, which ranks as the highest total in League history. Total attendance for the regular-season increased by 59,475 over the previous record (1,827,579 in 2004). Including the playoffs, for the first time in League history, the AFL eclipsed the 2 million mark.
· Television: The 2007 season featured the most comprehensive television coverage in AFL history. In place is a new five-year agreement with ESPN that calls for the network to annually broadcast a minimum of 26 regular-season and playoff games, including the ArenaBowl. As part of the agreement, ESPN has purchased an equity share in the AFL and guaranteed promotion across all 15 of its media platforms. Additional television agreements are expected to be announced prior to the start of the 2008 season.
· Ownership: The AFL’s ownership has improved in both quality and commitment in recent years. NFL owners include: Tom Benson, New Orleans VooDoo (New Orleans Saints); Arthur Blank, Georgia Force (Atlanta Falcons), Jerry Jones, Dallas Desperados (Dallas Cowboys); John Elway, Pat Bowlen (Denver Broncos), and Stan Kroenke, Colorado Crush (Denver Nuggets & Colorado Avalanche; minority owner, St. Louis Rams). NFL owners with rights to future teams include: Denise DeBartolo York (San Francisco) and Daniel Snyder (Washington, D.C.).
Other high-profile AFL owners include: Jon Bon Jovi, Philadelphia Soul (front man, Bon Jovi); Dan DeVos, Grand Rapids Rampage (vice chairman, Orlando Magic); Mike Ditka, Chicago Rush (NFL Hall of Fame TE); Charles Wang, New York Dragons (owner, NHL’s New York Islanders); and Casey Wasserman, Los Angeles Avengers (Wasserman Media Group).
· NFL: The Arena Football League has an ongoing relationship with the NFL. Both organizations are committed to growing the game of football both domestically and internationally. Four AFL teams are operated by NFL owners. The NFL also oversees the AFL’s officiating department.
· arenafootball2 (af2): Serving as the AFL’s developmental league, af2 consists of nearly 30 teams in small- to medium-sized markets with the purpose of training players, coaches and officials for higher levels of football. Several former af2 coaches have joined AFL teams, and more than 100 players have advanced to the AFL over the past three years.
· National Sponsors: Current sponsors and licensees include: Aaron’s Sales and Lease Ownership, ADT Security Services, Champ Sports, Discover Card, Mitsubishi, Russell Athletic, Schutt, and Spalding.
· Expansion: Seventeen teams will take the field in 2008. Recent expansion teams successfully launched in 2006 in Kansas City (Brigade) and Salt Lake City (Utah Blaze). Current cities with significant expansion interest are Boston, Miami, San Antonio and Washington D.C. In the next five years, the AFL hopes to expand to approximately 25 teams with the ultimate goal of reaching 28-32. Combined with the proliferation of af2, arena football will likely reach more than 100 markets in the next decade.
