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- The correct title of this article is af2. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.
af2 (short for arenafootball2) is the name of the Arena Football League's minor league, which started play in 2000. The rules are the same as for the parent league. While the parent league moved its season opening to February to accommodate a television contract with NBC in 2003, af2 stayed with the "traditional" Arena season of April-July.
Like most other minor sports leagues, the af2 exists to develop football players, and also to help players adapt to the style and pace of arena football. In addition, the af2 is similar to other minor leagues because af2 teams play in smaller cities and smaller venues. While the AFL is played in larger cities like Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York and Chicago, the af2 fields teams in cities such as Wilkes-Barre, Bakersfield, Spokane and Lubbock.
[edit] Baker's Vision
In a June 2003 interview with Sports Illustrated, AFL commissioner David Baker briefly mentioned the af2, saying how one day, he envisions the league growing to 100 teams. As of 2006, this vision seems rather unlikely. The af2 is fielding 23 teams for 2006, and fielded twenty teams in 2005, down from twenty-five in 2004. In fact, the league saw declines in the number of teams every year since the 2002 season, when they fielded thirty-four teams, until the 2006 season saw the addition of three teams into the fold. This is possibly due to the fact that the league grew too quickly (the league saw thirteen new teams in 2001, and ten in 2002), since historically, massive expansions have little success (the National Indoor Football League, a rival indoor league, has seen large amounts of expansion teams since they began in 2001 but many struggle financially). Three new expansion teams were approved for 2006 in the af2: the Stockton Lightning (California), the Everett Hawks, and the Spokane Shock (both of Washington state). In addition, the Tennessee Valley Vipers returned to af2 after a one-year stint in United Indoor Football as the Tennessee Valley Raptors. Despite new ownership, the 2006-forward team maintains the records and history of the original franchise. The league is adding the Mahoning Valley Thunder (based in Youngstown, Ohio) and teams in Boise, Idaho for that season. The af2 is also looking to expand further in Texas, including the addition of a team into Corpus Christi for the 2007 season and creating a Southwestern Division made up entirely of Texas teams. [1]
[edit] ArenaCup
The ArenaCup is the af2's championship game, held each August. For the league's first five years, it was held at the arena of the higher seeded team. However, as their parent league, the AFL, has changed, the af2 has changed too. The 2005 Arena Cup was the first to be played at a neutral site in Bossier City, Louisiana. The 2006 ArenaCup was played in Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan.[2]
For the 2000 and 2001 ArenaCups, the game was televised nationally by TNN (now Spike TV), who carried AFL games on Sunday afternoons at the time. However, when the AFL announced their televised games would be shown on NBC rather than TNN, the ArenaCup telecast was lost. The 2002 ArenaCup was televised by the Vision Network, and the 2003 game was televised by KWHB, a local station in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After having no television coverage in 2004, the game was telecast nationally by Fox Sports Net in 2005 and Comcast Sports Net in 2006.
[edit] Past ArenaCup results
| Date Played |
Winning Team |
Losing Team |
Site |
| August 10, 2000 |
Quad City Steamwheelers |
68 |
Tennessee Valley Vipers |
59 |
Moline, IL |
| August 10, 2001 |
Quad City Steamwheelers |
55 |
Richmond Speed |
51 |
Moline, IL |
| August 23, 2002 |
Peoria Pirates |
65 |
Florida Firecats |
47 |
Peoria, IL |
| August 23, 2003 |
Tulsa Talons |
58 |
Macon Knights |
40 |
Tulsa, OK |
| August 27, 2004 |
Florida Firecats |
39 |
Peoria Pirates |
26 |
Estero, FL |
| August 27, 2005 |
Memphis Xplorers |
63 |
Louisville Fire |
41 |
Bossier City, LA |
| August 26, 2006 |
Spokane Shock |
57 |
Green Bay Blizzard |
34 |
San Juan, PR |
[edit] Current af2 teams
(in 2007 divisions)
[edit] American Conference
[edit] East Division
- Albany Conquest
- Mahoning Valley Thunder
- Manchester Wolves - formerly the Mohegan Wolves
- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers
[edit] Midwest Division
- Cincinnati Jungle Kats
- Fort Wayne Fusion
- Green Bay Blizzard
- Louisville Fire
- Quad City Steamwheelers
[edit] West Division
- Bakersfield Blitz
- Boise Burn
- Central Valley Coyotes - formerly the first Bakersfield Blitz
- Everett Hawks
- Spokane Shock
- Stockton Lightning
- Tri-Cities Fever
[edit] National Conference
[edit] Central Division
- Amarillo Dusters
- Arkansas Twisters
- Lubbock Renegades
- Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz
- Tulsa Talons
[edit] Southwest Division
- Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings - formerly the Bossier City Battle Wings
- Corpus Christi, Texas
- Laredo Lobos
- Rio Grande Valley Dorados
- Texas Copperheads
[edit] South Division
- Birmingham Steeldogs
- Florida Firecats
- South Georgia Wildcats - formerly the Cape Fear Wildcats.
- Tennessee Valley Vipers
[edit] Inactive Markets/Possible Expansion
- Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Biloxi, Mississippi-team never began due to Hurricane Katrina damaging arena in Biloxi; Biloxi could get expansion team as soon as arena is fixed possibly in 2008.
- Dayton, Ohio
- El Paso, Texas - also an Arena Football option.
- Fairbanks, Alaska or Anchorage, Alaska.
- Glendale, Arizona in the Phoenix, Arizona area.
- Honolulu, Hawaii - also an Arena Football option.
- Iowa Barnstormers - possible return 2008.
- Jacksonville Wizards
- Mississippi Headhunters - possible return 2008.
- Ontario, California of the Inland Empire, California region.
- Peoria Pirates - possible return 2008.
- Portland, Maine
- Portland, Oregon - also an Arena Football option.
- Redding, California
- Reno, Nevada
- Rio Rancho, New Mexico [3]
- Sarasota, Florida
- San Diego Riptide - a possible return 2007.
- San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Toledo, Ohio
- Tucson, Arizona or Prescott, Arizona
- Yuma, Arizona or Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico
[edit] See also
- Defunct af2 teams
- List of leagues of American football
[edit] External links
| af2 |
|
| AMERICAN CONFERENCE |
EASTERN DIVISION
Albany Conquest
Manchester Wolves
Mahoning Valley Thunder
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers
|
|
MIDWESTERN DIVISION
Cincinnati Jungle Kats
Fort Wayne Fusion
Green Bay Blizzard
Louisville Fire
Quad City Steamwheelers
|
|
WESTERN DIVISION
Bakersfield Blitz
Boise Burn
Central Valley Coyotes
Everett Hawks
Spokane Shock
Stockton Lightning
Tri-Cities Fever
|
|
| NATIONAL CONFERENCE |
CENTRAL DIVISION
Amarillo Dusters
Arkansas Twisters
Lubbock Renegades
Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz
Tulsa Talons
|
|
SOUTHWESTERN DIVISION
Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings
Corpus Christi
Laredo Lobos
Rio Grande Valley Dorados
Texas Copperheads
|
|
SOUTHERN DIVISION
Birmingham Steeldogs
Florida Firecats
South Georgia Wildcats
Tennessee Valley Vipers
|
| DEFUNCT TEAMS |
| Augusta Stallions | Baton Rouge Blaze | Carolina Rhinos | Charleston Swamp Foxes | Cincinnati Swarm | Columbus Wardogs | Fresno Frenzy | Greensboro Prowlers | Hawaiian Islanders | Iowa Barnstormers | Jacksonville Tomcats | Lafayette Roughnecks | Laredo Law | Lincoln Lightning | Macon Knights | Memphis Xplorers | Mobile Wizards | New Haven Ninjas | Norfolk Nighthawks | Peoria Pirates | Pensacola Barracudas | Richmond Speed | Roanoke Steam | Rochester Brigade | San Diego Riptide | Tallahassee Thunder | Wichita Stealth |
| Related Articles: Arena Football League | af2 | Arena football | Indoor football |
| Professional American Football |
| National Football League |
| Minor League Football |
Outdoor: All American Football League | Canadian Football League | Minor League Football Association | NFL Europa
Indoor Football: American Indoor Football Association | American Professional Football League | Arena Football League & af2 | Continental Indoor Football League | Eastern Indoor Football League | Intense Football League | National Indoor Football League | North American Indoor Football League | United Indoor Football | World Indoor Football League
|
| Semi-Professional Football |
Alliance Football League | Empire Football League | Mid Continental Football League | North American Football League | Southern States Football League
|
| Non-North American American Football Leagues |
| American Football Northern Conference | American Football Wellington | Auckland Premier Gridiron League | British American Football League | British Collegiate American Football League | Danish American Football Federation | German Football League | Irish American Football League | Norway American Football Federation | Southside Football League | X-League |
|
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