We’ve shaken off the effects of a pandemic-induced eleven-month hibernation, flipped the sign in the window, and opened the door once again to a new and much-needed spring football season. Let’s open with a view from the top of the arena and indoor landscape. Hey, thanks for hanging in there with us! The arena offseason … More FCFL’s Inaugural Season Justifies Its Top-Tier Status

The sun is not supposed to set on football. Arena and indoor leagues are here to ensure it never does. They carry us from the final moments of the Super Bowl to the FBS kickoff on Week Zero, and for the past 33 springs and 33 summers they’ve discharged their mission. But this year, for … More Belichick’s Socialism Bad For Pro Football

One week after opening their seasons on a positive note, both the AAL and IFL have plans in the works that will put those seasons on hold. In what he described as an “unprecedented situation,” Commissioner Todd Tryon announced yesterday the suspension of the IFL “until further notice” after two scheduled games in Oakland and … More AAL, IFL Take Front Line Against Coronavirus

Two arena leagues got underway last weekend, with the Music City Fire shocking the West Michigan Ironmen, 47-37, in the AAL opener on Friday night, and the Quad City Steamwheelers routing the Cedar Rapids River Kings, 54-39, in IFL start-up action on Saturday. These are two very different leagues, bookends on the spectrum of professional … More AAL, IFL Openers Make Very Different Statements

Another arena football season is here, with the AAL kicking off tonight and the IFL on Saturday. The CIF and MAIFL – a/k/a the AAL East Division – get underway next weekend, the AWFC on March 17, and the NAL on April 4. Among the developmental or “non-professional” leagues, the Indoor Football Association actually got … More Go on, git: 2020 Arena Football Edition

“I want people to be proud of what the Roughriders have done.”
West Virginia Roughriders Former Operations Manager, Marketing, Sales
Jesse Heninger
… More Jesse Heninger: The Wheel Behind Wheeling

The relationship between the American Arena League and Gregg Fornario has not exactly been symbiotic. Sure, it started on mutually beneficial footing when the late Jack Bowman took Fornario and his-then Richmond Roughriders into Arena Pro Football, the AAL’s predecessor. APF got a foundational franchise and Fornario got a ring in his first year. But as … More Fornario’s Departure Is Completely On The AAL

This weekend the West Virginia Roughriders will host the New England Cavalry of the New England Arena League. It will be the 15th time a non-league opponent has made its way onto the American Arena League schedule this season. That’s a quarter of all games played, the heaviest use of imports anywhere in arena or … More Southern Steam Walkoff Suggests The AAL Goes Too Far With Non-League Play

Yesterday’s decision by owner Cynthia Hudson to fold the New England Bobcats creates a conundrum for the American Arena League. For one thing, it leaves a gaping hole in the Northern Division. Only the top two teams in each of the league’s four divisions will make the playoffs, and given the wide disparity between teams … More What New England’s Departure Means For The AAL

I did not know Jack Bowman. I never met him, never talked to him. Mine is a vicarious reverence for this man who dedicated much of his career to the advancement of arena and indoor football. It is only through the recollections of others that I’ve come to understand the depth of Bowman’s lifetime achievements, and they are impressive. In … More AAL Honors Jack Bowman This Weekend