Once upon a time, the Arena Football League was a big deal. In fact, during the 1990s, Arena Football was touted to be the indoor sport of the future. Americans can’t get enough football, and the arena version of the game offered plenty of offense, excitement, and quality entertainment.
Arena football is played on artificial turf on top of a hockey rink configuration, boards included. The game offers hard hits, running, and passing that immediately draw potential fans. Additionally, gamblers love to get action on the Arena Football betting odds.
However, the Arena Football League was a case of being too much too fast. Arena football expanded rapidly, flooding the market with too many teams in too short a time. It was difficult for gamblers and fans to keep up. Subsequently, the league folded, returned, and struggled to stay afloat. Still, the sport has enough potential to draw fans and owners to keep it alive.
A year after its second shutdown, the Arena Football League trademarks and logo were bought out by Darren Arbet in 2020. Namely, Arbet is a former San Jose SaberCats head coach and the Indoor Football League’s Bay Area Panthers head coach.
The trademark remained inactive until 2022 when a new website was set up. The website was first noticed on December 12, 2022. Subsequently, the new management assumed control of the Instagram account around December 27 and deleted all posts around January 6. They then took control of the Facebook account on January 16. On January 16, 2023, a month after the first tweet, the Twitter account posted a picture of the league’s 2003-18 logo.
The 2024 online wagering season began April 27 with six games. However, the league was overshadowed by numerous problems and controversies. Especially during the first few weeks of the season. Including the closures of multiple franchises, numerous cancellations of games, the abrupt departure of the Philadelphia Soul players and staff, and the lack of payments handed out to most teams, resulting in questions about the league’s future.
The league’s original commissioner, Lee Hutton, was ultimately removed from his post following week 3. In a unanimous vote among the remaining team owners, Nashville Kats chief advisor Jeff Fisher was replaced as interim commissioner.
Overall, Eight of the 16 teams that started the 2024 season survived to the end of the regular season. Late on, the Billings Outlaws won Arena Bowl XXXIII over the de facto defending champion Albany Firebirds on July 19. The eight surviving teams formed Arena Football One.
In 2024, the CIF merged with the latest incarnation of the Arena Football League. Accordingly, the remaining members were the Rapid City Marshals, Salina Liberty, and Southwest Kansas Storm. Meanwhile, the Omaha Beef, Sioux City Bandits, and Topeka Tropics opted for the National Arena League, and the Gillette Mustangs folded. The league faced massive turmoil.
Despite all of the Arena Football lines turmoil, the Outlaws played on and made the playoffs as the #1 seed in the revamped system. They would make it to Arena Bowl XXXIII, which was played at American Dream Mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Billings faced the Albany Firebirds. In turn, the Outlaws won the championship 46–41 over the Firebirds. The win was their first championship of any kind since the original Outlaws won their last title in 2010.