|
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 City and Chicago, the af2 fields teams in cities such as Wilkes-Barre, Bakersfield, and Spokane.
Bakers 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. * 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.* 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. Past ArenaCup results Current af2 teams (in applicable 2006 divisions) Eastern Division Southern Division Midwest Division Western Division 2007 Expansion Teams These teams have been formally announced. Rumored to begin play in 2007 Inactive Markets/Possible Expansion See also | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
| |