AFL fully ceases operations

By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher

For the second-time in the last decade, the Arena Football League has gone under. The once-promising league has been in financial trouble in recent years.

Due to their financial crisis, it has caused teams that were previously involved in the league to either shut down completely, or move to other leagues. Several of those former teams moved to the Indoor Football League in recent years, as the teams claimed they were more suited for playing well into the future.

In a press release posted on social media – one day before Thanksgiving – the team has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The league is completely ceasing operations.

“We’re all disappointed that we couldn’t find a way forward and we wanted to thank our fans, our players, coaches, everyone, who loved the Arena Football League,” AFL Commissioner Randall Boe said in a statement. “We all love the game and tried very hard to make it successful, but we simply weren’t able to raise the capital necessary to grow the League, resolve the substantial legacy liabilities, and make it financially viable.”

In October, the league shut down all of its six local business operations. At that time, the league said they were looking into options before making this decision to completely shut down.

The press release also said that all refunds will be processed within the next several weeks.

“We are thankful for the fans, athletes, coaches, personnel, partners, and sponsors over the years, who poured immense passion into the League,” Boe also said in the release.

Following the 2008 AFL Championship that the Philadelphia Soul won when they defeated the San Jose SaberCats, the league folded. The league was forced to cancel their 2009 season, before it returned in 2010.