The expansion AFL Baltimore Brigade played their inaugural home game Sunday, and Owner Ted Leonsis said he is doing everything he can to "get the league relaunched" because arena football has "unbelievable potential" to reach young fans, according to Jonas Shaffer of the Baltimore SUN. Leonis said kids "just want to be exposed to lots of action, and traditional football, while it's the No. 1 sport, there's just not a lot of action in it." The Brigade hosted the Tampa Bay Storm on Sunday in front of an announced crowd of 5,915 at Royal Farms Arena, and while there were "some operational errors," the fans who "did show up could not have mistaken the atmosphere for any other sport's." The "Brigade Fun Zone" provided the "other entertainment." Schaffer: "It was like a mix of after-prom activities and boardwalk sideshows." Brigade cheerleaders were "offering signatures" as fans "tried to throw footballs through holes on a Brigade-branded inflatable." Others "posed for photos with Brigade footballs and helmets in front of a green screen as images were superimposed onto the background." There was "even a game of cornhole going on." Leonsis said he was "hopeful" that the game would be the first in a history with "a lot of -- a lot of -- seasons for it" (Baltimore SUN, 5/8). In DC, Peter Santo wrote for the expansion AFL Washington Valor, which Leonsis also owns, there "seems to be an appetite, at least locally," as 15,700 people attended Verizon Center for the Valor’s April 7 home opener against the Brigade. That is "well above" the '16 league average of 9,342. Valor coach Dean Cokinos said that the atmosphere was "fantastic." If attendance numbers from the Valor's debut are an indication, Leonsis "could be onto something" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 5/9).
