American Arena League

Arena Pro Football and the Can-Am Indoor Football League

Arena Pro Football

Can-Am Indoor Football League

Arena Pro Football (APF) was originally announced as the National Arena Football League in 2016 following the dissolution of American Indoor Football (AIF).^[2] The league announced their first three teams as the Birmingham Outlawz, Myrtle Beach Sharks, and Savannah Coastal Outlaws. The league changed its name to Arena Pro Football (APF) in September 2016 after the Birmingham Outlawz accidentally posted the NAFL logo of the North American Football League as their league logo. They added expansion teams in the Cape Fear Wildcats and Richmond Roughriders. The league also added the Florida Tarpons and River City Raiders from the recently defunct AIF. The Central Florida Jaguars and Palm Beach Phantoms were also listed as members until both moved to the Jaguars' self-created league, Elite Indoor Football Conference. The Cape Fear Wildcats were later postponed to a presumed 2018 season. The Birmingham Outlawz later changed their name back to Alabama Outlawz after they failed to secure an arena in Birmingham. The Myrtle Beach Sharks announced they had joined the outdoor Gridiron Developmental Football League on March 7 and had left the APF.^[3]

The Can-Am Indoor Football League (Can-Am) was also formed from the remnants of the AIF when Tim Viens, the owner of the announced 2017 AIF expansion team Vermont Bucks, started his own league. With Viens serving as league president, the league added the Buffalo Blitz and Ontario-Niagara Spartans (both run by owners of established semi-professional teams, the Buffalo Gladiators and Steel City Patriots, respectively), as well as the Connecticut Chiefs (travel-only), Glens Falls Gladiators (travel-only), Niagara Falls Thunder (also operated by the Blitz ownership), New Hampshire Brigade, Rochester Kings and Vermont Bucks. During the Can-Am's first few months, it added and removed the Baltimore Lightning,^[4] Cleveland Saints, an unnamed team in Erie, Pennsylvania, Lockport Lightning, and Reading Raptors as league members without playing a game.

Prior to its first season, the APF formed several agreements with other upstart leagues. The first affiliation was with United States Indoor Football, a summer league that was to play all its games in Savannah, Georgia, and operated by the Coastal Outlaws (the organization that also runs the Savannah Coastal Outlaws). On November 3, 2016, the league announced inter-league play with the Central Florida Jaguars' Elite Indoor Football Conference.^[5] However, all references to the EIFC were removed in January 2017 even after the Jaguars and Phantoms had attended the December 2016 league meetings as APF affiliates. None of these inter-league games were ever played and the EIFC played one weekend outdoors before ceasing operations.

On November 14, 2016, both the APF and Can-Am announced an alliance with each other where the playoff champions of each league meet for an inter-league championship game. During the two league's first seasons, the Can-Am's founder Tim Viens announced on April 14, 2017, that for the 2018 season the APF and Can-Am leagues would officially merge and create the American Arena League, which the APF would later confirm.^[6][1] The championship between the two leagues was never played or referenced by either league again.

The APF played its first game on March 10, 2017, between the Alabama Outlawz and Florida Tarpons, which Florida won, 42–18. After playing three away games, all losses, the Alabama Outlawz canceled its first home game. On April 26, they then announced that they had canceled the rest of their season, which had originally been scheduled as all home games. The Myrtle Beach Sharks appeared to have to rejoined the APF mid-season, however, it was for away games only and the team called the Sharks were wearing the defunct Myrtle Beach Freedom uniforms. After playing all five home games to open the season, the River City Raiders declined to travel to play the Richmond Roughriders for their scheduled May 20 game. The Roughriders were able to secure an opponent in the Atlanta Furious, a team that primarily played in the Southern Steam's Elite Indoor Football (although many of those league's games were played outdoors). The only other away games the Raiders had originally been scheduled for was one of the canceled Alabama home games and against the Myrtle Beach Sharks. By the end of the season, the only remaining teams operating were the Richmond Roughriders and Florida Tarpons. The Roughriders would defeat the Tarpons 74–61 in the championship game on June 10, 2017, after the Roughriders finished the season undefeated.^[7]

The Can-Am also had significant inconsistencies in team members and scheduling. By the end of the season, there were only five teams remaining: the Buffalo Blitz, Glens Falls Gladiators (as a travel-only team, had a short winless season and were disqualified from playoff participation), Rochester Kings, Vermont Bucks, and the Tim Viens-owned Boston Blaze, a travel-only team that only played the second half of the season. The Rochester Kings finished their season undefeated with the Vermont Bucks and Boston Blaze each losing one game (Vermont lost to Boston, and Boston to Rochester). The Kings announced they were to host the Buffalo Blitz in the Western Division championship on June 3. The Bucks were to host the Boston Blaze in the Eastern Division championship. However, the Bucks later announced they were facing the semi-professional Central Penn Chargers, a team that primarily played in the Mid-Atlantic Indoor Football League, in their postseason game.^[8] The Kings defeated the Blitz 64–12 and the Bucks defeated the Chargers 46–6. The Bucks defeated the Kings in Rochester for the league championship on June 12 by a score of 61–41.

American Arena League

In June 2017, the now-merged league announced its inaugural members over its social media page. From the Can-Am, the league added the Boston Blaze, Buffalo Blitz, Connecticut Chiefs, Glens Falls Gladiators, Rochester Kings, Vermont Bucks, and the Central Penn Chargers (the team that played in Can-Am playoff game against the Bucks). From the APF, the league added the Florida Tarpons, Richmond Roughriders, and the announced expansion team Hampton Roads Riptides.^[9][10] The Roughriders had previously stated that they were looking to join to the Indoor Football League (IFL) or the National Arena League (NAL) and that they had not committed to joining the AAL yet. The AAL then deleted all references of the Roughriders from their social media posts within two days and the Roughriders later announced they had joined the National Arena League (NAL). By early July, the only teams that had not been deleted from their social media posts were the Bucks, Gladiators, Kings, and Tarpons. On July 13, the league added the Georgia Doom of Macon, Georgia. The Doom organization had played a few games as a travel team fill-in for the Dayton Wolfpack of the NAL the previous season.^[11][12][13] The league also added the Triangle Torch and Upstate Dragons after they previously played in Supreme Indoor Football (SIF),^[14] with the SIF's Cape Fear Heroes (the ownership group that operates the SIF) joining the AAL shortly thereafter.^[15] By September 13, the Roughriders returned to the AAL when the NAL had increased its criteria for new teams. On September 20, the High Country Grizzlies, formerly of the NAL, also joined the AAL.^[16]

By fall 2017, the teams began releasing their inaugural schedules and expansion teams, the Atlanta Havoc (owned by league president Viens) and the Carolina Energy, were added to the league. The AAL also added three affiliated teams that would fill in for home games of the league members and count for league games: the Austin Wild (formerly the Cap City Bulls of Austin, Texas, and played as a travel team in the SIF during 2017), the New England Cavalry (operated by the outdoor semi-professional organization out of Concord, New Hampshire), and the Savannah Coastal Outlaws (originally announced as an AAL member from the APF merger). In December 2017, another previously announced NAL expansion team, the Jersey Flight of Trenton, New Jersey, was added to the league. In January 2018, Tim Viens sold his first team, the Vermont Bucks, to solely operate the Atlanta Havoc. The new Bucks' owners then folded the team a month later and another new team, called the Peach State Cats (originally announced in the semi-professional Elite Indoor Football), was added as the 12th member but were only scheduled for away games. The Outlaws would also never play an AAL game and many their games would be replaced with the Carolina Cowboys, also originally of Elite Indoor Football.

Partway through the first AAL season, co-founder Tim Viens resigned from his positions within the league on April 14, 2018, and would also no longer be involved with his team, the Atlanta Havoc.^[17] The league then moved their website and retroactively claimed to have been founded as Arena Pro Football and changed its name when the Can-Am teams joined.^[18][19] The league continued to have scheduling issues and canceled games, leading to the Florida Tarpons,^[20] East Carolina Torch (formerly the Triangle Torch until they were forced to relocate), and Upstate Dragons^[21] choosing to end their seasons early. The last Can-Am team, the Rochester Kings, also appeared to have ceased playing league games altogether during the season. The Georgia Doom defeated both the league-leading teams, the Atlanta Havoc and Richmond Roughriders, but then chose not to participate in the playoffs.^[22] The Havoc went on to win the championship over the top-seeded Roughriders 58–50.

Shortly after the 2018 season ended, the Atlanta Havoc announced their relocation to Florence, South Carolina, as the Carolina Havoc and that they would host the All-Star Game at their new arena. The AAL then announced the game would be broadcast on ESPN3 with Mick Moninghoff as play-by-play commentator on August 25. The game was held and the Stripes defeated the Stars by a score of 34–29, but the game was broadcast on Facebook instead and all references to their ESPN3 announcement were taken down on game day.^[23]

On August 15, 2018, Richmond Roughriders' owner Gregg Fornario announced his intentions of creating a new league called Northern Arena Football (NAF).^[24] His Roughriders team, despite the possibility of losing its home arena in Richmond for 2019, was not initially planning on leaving the AAL with the NAF only having teams north of the Maryland-Pennsylvania border.^[25] The AAL affiliate team, the New England Cavalry, were the first team added to the NAF. However, by August 28, Fornario had rebranded the new league as Professional Arena Football (PAF) with multiple divisions, Northern Arena Football and Southern Arena Football,^[26] and the Roughriders were announced as part of Professional Arena Football on August 30, leaving the AAL.^[27]

By September 2018, the AAL confirmed five teams were returning for a 2019 season: the Cape Fear Heroes, Carolina Energy, Georgia Doom, High Country Grizzlies, and Peach State Cats (with the Cats relocating to Athens, Georgia, and no longer a travel-only team).^[28] The Florida Tarpons left the league and formed a new Florida-based league while rebranding as the Lakeland Tarpons.

Current members

As of October 10, 2018.

Map of teams

Heroes

Energy

Havoc

Torch

Doom

Grizzlies

Flight

Cats

Kings

Dragons

Current AAL team locations (Confirmed 2019 members in blue; 2018 members with unconfirmed continued membership in red)

Former AAL members

• Atlanta Havoc – AAL in 2018; after one season where the team won the inaugural AAL championship playing out of Buford, Georgia, the Havoc relocated to Florence, South Carolina.
• Austin Wild – SIF team in 2017 as the Cap City Bulls; affiliate AAL member during the inaugural 2018 season as a travel-only team with announced intentions to become a full member in 2019. Withdrew from the league after the 2018 season.
• Florida Tarpons – APF team in 2017; played half their 2018 season in the AAL before they decided to stop traveling to away games and eventually cancelled the remainder of the season. Started their own Florida-based league for the 2019 season, the A-League.
• New England Cavalry – Affiliate AAL member during the inaugural 2018 season as a travel-only team with announced intentions to become a full member in 2019. Withdrew from the league after the 2018 season. Announced as the first team to join the new league called Professional Arena Football.
• Richmond Roughriders – APF team in 2017; AAL in 2018; after one season in the AAL, in which the Roughriders advanced to the championship game, they left the league when the owner started his own league, Professional Arena Football.

Former listed AAL members

• Boston Blaze — Can-Am team in 2017; announced as one of the inaugural 2018 AAL teams. A paper franchise created to fill schedule dates by the owner of the Vermont Bucks, the Blaze, despite being listed among the teams included in the merger, had already ceased operations between the 2017 regular season and the playoffs.^[8]
• Buffalo Blitz — Can-Am team in 2017; announced as one of the inaugural 2018 AAL teams. Ceased operations before August 2017.
• Central Penn Chargers — Members of the semi-pro Mid-Atlantic Indoor Football League; played in the Can-Am playoffs with intention to join the AAL in 2018.^[8] Dropped from the league before August 2017.
• Connecticut Chiefs — Can-Am team that played one game in the 2017 season before folding midseason; for reasons unknown, the team was included in the initial list of teams.
• Glens Falls Gladiators — Can-Am travel team in 2017; announced as one of the inaugural 2018 AAL teams. However, two weeks before the season started, it was announced that they would not play in 2018 and are planning to return to the AAL in 2019.^[30][31]
• Hampton Roads Riptides — Announced as an APF expansion team in 2017; announced as one of the inaugural 2018 AAL teams. Dropped from the league before August 2017.
• Savannah Coastal Outlaws — APF team in 2017; announced as one of the inaugural 2018 AAL teams but were removed from the AAL website in September 2017; re-added as an AAL affiliated travel team in November 2017 but do not appear to have ever played in the league despite being credited with a loss. Appears to have been replaced by the Carolina Cowboys, formerly of Elite Indoor Football, on the schedule.^[32]
• Vermont Bucks — Can-Am team and league champions in 2017; announced as one of the inaugural 2018 AAL teams but have since folded due to financial difficulties. Original owner Tim Viens sold the team after the 2017 season local ownership after Viens started another AAL team called the Atlanta Havoc.