Arena Football 1 To Launch In April '10 With At Least 16 Teams

Jerry Kurz Will Serve As Commissioner Of AF1

Details of a new indoor football league called Arena Football 1 were announced at a press conference yesterday, with select markets of both the shuttered AFL and the af2 to be part of what is now a 16-team league beginning play in April '10. More teams are expected to be announced by October 9. Jerry Kurz, who was an investor in the shuttered AFL, will serve as commissioner of AF1. Tulsa will be the HQs for the new league. "The owners of this new league have put together a model that is a blueprint for success rather than disaster," said Kurz. "It is a brand new league, not a combination of others." Teams can begin signing players and coaches on November 1. Kurz refused to disclose any other league specifics on player salaries, or future franchises (John Lombardo, SportsBusiness Journal). In Tulsa, Mike Brown reports former AFL franchises including the Orlando Predators, Chicago Rush and Arizona Rattlers are "part of the new league," and Kurz said that the league also is "negotiating with the AFL's San Jose SaberCats." Players are expected to be paid "somewhere between the af2's $200 per game and the AFL's $1,800 per game minimum," and Kurz said that salaries and "other structural details will be announced in the weeks to come" (TULSA WORLD, 9/29). SaberCats VP Hank Stern "wouldn't discuss possible road blocks" to joining the new league, "or whether the team would consider an alternative indoor league that hopes to begin in 2011." Stern: "We will continue to explore all the options we have to bring Arena Football to San Jose" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 9/29).

TEAMING UP: In Phoenix, Richard Obert reports a "total of 24 teams submitted applications for membership" in the new league, and "more could be considered." Rattlers Managing Partner Brett Bouchy: "I think there's going to be significantly more than 16 teams." Bouchy added, "What we've done is create an economic model that works." Bouchy said that season-ticket deposits for the canceled '09 AFL season "will be honored by the Rattlers for the 2010 season." But Obert writes the "trick will be luring fans back" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 9/29). Kurz said of the league, "We'll grow as it fits us in a smooth economic model. Other leagues in many different sports have just grown to grow and we don't want to do that. We want to make sure we go into markets that want us" (AP, 9/28).