MIDDLETOWN, DE — The Arena Football League announced in a statement on Tuesday, that Jeff Fisher, former NFL head coach and current President of Football Operations for the Nashville Kats, will become interim commissioner of the beleaguered league.
Fisher was unanimously voted into the role by the remaining ownership groups in alignment with G6 Sports Investment Group, who owns the AFL and its intellectual property.
An announcement was made back in July of 2023 by then-league president Lee Hutton with plans to have a 16-team. The relaunch promised solid ownership groups, the return of many legacy franchises, and a vision of returning to the leagues' glory days.
But as the beginning of the season drew closer, the league has been marred by many issues. Some of those ranging from being unable to secure proper arenas, no national broadcast or streaming service, few legacy teams, and poor funding for league-owned franchise.
The league continued to suffer through more problems once the season began, as reports began to circulate of players and coaches not being paid and multiple franchise owners claiming the league had failed to fulfill its promises, which included financial compensation for player salaries. The league also had a partnership with the NFL Network to televise games, but those broadcasts were pulled from the channel due to nonpayment to the production company.
Prior to Tuesday's announcement, 4 of the original 16 franchises had folded. The first was the Iowa Rampage who folded after the opening week of the season. The Georgia Force and Philadelphia Soul, both legacy franchises, announced on May 10 they would be putting their team on pause with hopes of returning in 2025.
Then yesterday, the Minnesota Myth announced they would be ceasing operations. Minnesota owner Diana Hutton, wife of the ex-commissioner, cited negative publicity from media and sabotage by the other ownership groups.
The remaining two teams — the Oregon Black Bears and Louisiana Voodoo — have not folded, but were not mentioned in a statement made by Chris Chetty, Managing Member of G6 Sports.
In the statement, Chetty named the 10 teams that will continue the season. However, he also left the door open for the remaining league-owned teams to be involved.
"Moving forward, the AFL will retain a 10-team league consisting of — Albany Firebirds, Billings Outlaws, Nashville Kats, Orlando Predators, Rapid City Marshals, Salina Liberty, SW Kansas Storm, Washington Wolfpack, West Texas Desert Hawks, and Wichita Regulators. The league ownership group and league office will also be speaking with other teams not mentioned, to discuss and perhaps, include in current games/seasons."
Comments