The AFL Tampa Bay Storm, the winningest team in the league's history, is "ceasing operations indefinitely," according to Joe Smith of the TAMPA BAY TIMES. The Storm won a "league-best five ArenaBowl titles in its rich history" and has been in Tampa since '91. But with the "struggling league down to five teams last season," Tampa Bay Sports & Entertainment, which owns the team, decided to "reallocate its resources." TBSE President Steve Griggs said that the decision was "tough but inevitable." Griggs: "From a local level, we put as much effort as we put into the Lightning. But ... was becoming very, very expensive to manage the league. There were no revenues. There were no expansion teams. So with that, it became inevitable that we had to make a decision that was a difficult one knowing how much this team means to this city." Smith notes Storm season-ticket holders will be "contacted by their membership representatives to discuss options for money the organization had collected" for '18. Griggs said that TBSE would "consider bringing back the Storm if there’s a 'stronger, reinvented' Arena League" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 12/22).
