Columbus, Ohio is AFL’s sixth team location

By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher

According to ArenaFan.com, the Arena Football League is expanding to Columbus, Ohio. This would be their sixth franchise for the 2019 season.

It would also be the second expansion team announced in the past several weeks. In late Jan., the league announced an expansion team in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

This Atlantic City team is expected to receive its name this week. The Arena Football League set up a fan vote to select their new name.

The League has a placeholder for the team. It is http://www.columbusafl.com.

The Columbus team would be the first since the Columbus Destroyers that played from 2004-2008 in the city. The Destroyers, which were originally launched as the Buffalo Destroyers, before relocating, played their games at Nationwide Arena.

That is the likelihood to be the location of this new franchise. The last Destroyers head coach was Pat Sperduto, who actually never coached a game with the team before the old AFL folded before the 2009 season.

Sperduto is now a scout with the Kansas City Chiefs since the 2009 season.

Doug Kay was the last actual coach, who coached a game with the Destroyers. He went 19-30 from 2006 through 2008. He also had a 3-1 postseason record.

With the expansion team in Atlantic City, the Philadelphia Soul and Albany Empire ownership, also are a part of the Atlantic City ownership group. It’s not clear if the Columbus team will be the same.