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66-705: The Blackbears were the third official (and likely final) Oregon-based team to play in the Arena Football League , but were the first to play outside of the Portland, Oregon , area. They were also the first "major" sports team based in Salem. The first team representing the state of Oregon in the Arena Football League were the Portland Forest Dragons , who played from 1997 to 1999 before relocating to Oklahoma City and being rebranded as

132-534: A 12-game regular season (up from 10 in 2024) and an eight-team playoff culminating in a yet-unnamed championship to be held at the home arena of the highest-seeded team. On October 22, the Oregon Lightning , partially owned by the head coach of the 2024 AFL's Oregon Blackbears Chuck Jones, were announced as AF1's newest expansion team. The expansion marks the continuation of arena football in Oregon under

198-745: A converted ice rink at the American Dream Meadowlands shopping center in East Rutherford, New Jersey , with the Outlaws defeating the Firebirds 46–41. On September 4, 2024, each of the eight surviving AFL teams from the end of the 2024 season released a one-sentence statement: "A new era begins today." Concurrently, the Arizona Bandits, a planned 2025 AFL expansion team, released their own statement: "Something big

264-552: A letter from the USPTO rendering Hutton's and Gaines' claims to ownership of the AFL logo to be invalid. The trademark and all other trademarks from the AFL and af2 solely belong to G6 Sports Group. The league would announce the hiring of its new president and chief operating officer Jared Widman on May 28, 2024, along with the announcement that the league was contracting to nine teams, again removing Oregon (who had been briefly removed from

330-770: A new structure—legally, a continuation of the Oregon High Desert Storm of the American West Football Conference —following the Blackbears' entanglements with Hutton and its unsuccessful efforts to remain in the AFL in 2024. On November 13, the Corpus Christi Tritons were announced to be joining AF1; the Tritons had been part of American Indoor Football for the 2024 season but had been excluded when most of

396-482: A pre-launch merger with the existing Champions Indoor Football . Three weeks into the season, after numerous controversies, unfulfilled commitments and teams suspending operations, the ownership group fired founding commissioner Lee Hutton and reorganized as a ten-team league (shortly thereafter restored to eleven, by the end of the season shrinking to eight), hiring former NFL coach Jeff Fisher as its interim commissioner and bringing back general counsel Jerry Kurz from

462-423: A press release and new social media feeds, confirming that the new league would carry over Jeff Fisher as commissioner (now on a permanent basis) and Jerry Kurz , the founding commissioner of the 2010s AFL and a veteran of the original league, as chief executive officer along with the existing front office staff. In the statement, AF1 indicated that additional " expansion teams in emerging markets" would be among

528-574: A press release announced that the team would be called the Oregon Blackbears . The ownership group was announced to have been led by former Oregon Ducks standout and current New York Giants linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux and that their head coach is former player Chuck Jones. In a statement to Arena Insider , Thibodeaux stated that he was never an owner of the team and that "(t)he league used my name for publicity.". Travelle Gaines, who served as league president under commissioner Lee Hutton,

594-563: A suburb of Bend , and takes on the history and intellectual property of the former Oregon High Desert Storm , which played three seasons in the American West Football Conference before that league dissolved in 2023. Due to the coexistence of another Storm team in AF1 (the Southwest Kansas Storm ), and continued entanglements over the Blackbears brand, the new team will bear the name Oregon Lightning . Johnson also carries over to

660-414: Is coming." Later that day, hype videos featuring a revamped logo began to be released. Albany was the first team to confirm it had withdrawn from the AFL, but would not elaborate further, stating that further news would follow September 5. According to sources, including ArenaFan and Arena Insider , the teams were to unite under a new banner, Arena Football One , a name that was originally slated for

726-590: The Minnesota Myth . These problems have prompted calls for Hutton to resign, including from Billings Outlaws owner Steven Titus. Marshals owner Wes Johnson noted that the league structure centered all power in the commissioner, whom the owners had no leverage to fire. On May 9, 2024, it was announced that the Georgia Force had abruptly folded and the Soul had suspended operations for the remainder of

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792-604: The Oklahoma Wranglers . Oregon would not see the AFL again until 2013 when the Portland Thunder were established by Clackamas billionaire Terry Emmert and would take the field a few months later. The Thunder were rebranded as the Portland Steel in 2016 after the league took control of the franchise from Emmert, then abruptly folded at season's end with no explanation. The second incarnation of

858-544: The Southwest Kansas Storm in place of the Billings Outlaws "due to unforeseen circumstances," the Blackbears were briefly removed from the Arena Football League's list of teams on May 27 without their knowledge before being restored later that day. On May 28, 2024, coinciding with the naming of new league president/ chief operating officer Jared Widman, the league officially removed the team from

924-629: The Stockton Crusaders as their first expansion team joining the eight former AFL teams for the 2025 season. On September 10, AF1 announced another expansion team to be based out of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and owned by Matt Rowland, a college friend of league president Jared Widman's. On September 12, the Monterrey Kings were announced as the first AF1 team in Mexico. Firebirds owner Mike Kwarta indicated in an interview that

990-485: The women's national team . On May 13, 2024, in an email from owner Diana Hutton, the Minnesota Myth became the fourth team to suspend operations, blaming it on an inability to raise necessary sponsorships because of "negative publicity" and accusing the owners of "sabotage" in order to force her husband Lee Hutton to resign as commissioner; Hutton confirmed the team's closure publicly a day later. Hours later,

1056-576: The 2024 season with hopes of returning in 2025. On May 12, 2024, kicker Melissa Strother made an extra point while playing for the Washington Wolfpack , making her the first female player to score a point in the Arena Football League. Strother, who had previously been on the Marshals roster prior to the CIF merger with the AFL, was a 13-year veteran of women's leagues and a former member of

1122-641: The 2024 season, while he mentioned the league might expand in the future to 24 teams, as the Chicago Rush and Arizona Bandits are expected to join in 2025 along with other possible teams in markets that were part of the league's original market announcement. Hutton also declared that the league game "will be broadcast , streamed and will also be available in VR ". He also referred to the original list of cities and revealed that other "leagues and individuals" (none specified) were trying to cancel teams contracts with

1188-439: The AFL and join AF1. In a statement to Arena Insider, G6 executive Chris Chetty noted that after the league had narrowly completed the 2024 season, it had been left with numerous unpaid debts that he, though he would maintain responsibility, had been advised not to immediately pay off, but that the team owners had stipulated the debts be paid as a condition for returning. On September 6, 2024, AF1 formally announced its launch with

1254-440: The AFL had selected the following cities that would be receiving new teams: Austin, Texas ; Boise, Idaho ; Bakersfield, California ; Chicago, Illinois ; Denver, Colorado ; St. Paul, Minnesota ; Lake Charles, Louisiana ; Cincinnati, Ohio ; Orlando, Florida ; Salem, Oregon ; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; St. Louis, Missouri ; Tallahassee, Florida ; Nashville, Tennessee ; Everett, Washington and Odessa, Texas . Several of

1320-602: The AIF's teams joined the National Arena League . On November 15, the Arizona Bandits , previously announced as a 2025 AFL expansion team, were officially announced as members of AF1. That same day, the AF1 announced it would be aligned into three divisions with a twelve-game schedule across a 14-week regular season, with the specific schedule and alignment to be announced on November 19. On November 18,

1386-512: The American arm of Toronto, Ontario -based hedge fund ForceOne Capital), a new ownership group that had acquired the league's trademarks and social media accounts, announced the league's launch, as a revival of the previous Arena Football League that operated in two incarnations from 1987 to 2008 and 2010 to 2019. The league launched in April 2024 with 16 teams, six of which were absorbed through

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1452-775: The Firebirds) after the AFL's bankruptcy. Two other existing clubs revive the names of former AFL teams : the Orlando Predators (also coming from the NAL) and the Nashville Kats ; several other such revivals were included at the start of the season but were among those contracted in the reorganization. On February 1, 2023, over a year after Darren Arbet , who had acquired the league's trademarks out of bankruptcy, sold them to an investment group called G6 Sports Investment Group and sub-partner F1 Sports & Entertainment,

1518-580: The Lightning as a senior advisor. Arena Football League (2024) The Arena Football League ( AFL ) was a professional indoor American football league founded in 2023 with their first, and only, season beginning in 2024. The recent AFL took its identity, history, some of the rulebook and some team names from, but is not directly connected to, the previous iteration of the Arena Football League founded by Jim Foster in 1986. On February 1, 2023, G6 Sports Group (a Delaware corporation operating as

1584-480: The Outlaws defeating the Firebirds 46–41. (**) Arenas that had been announced as each home team's arena but never hosted any games before their teams folded. For the 2024 return , the AFL had initially signed a national television deal with the NFL Network to broadcast over 30 AFL regular season games (games were to have been streamed on NFL+); but this never materalized, as NFL Network dropped plans to carry

1650-518: The United States. January 16, 2024, the league announced a partnership with American 7s Football League (A7FL) for player development, as players can transfer between leagues, with the A7FL functioning as its de facto minor league. As part of the partnership, both leagues "will collectively align on marketing efforts that will elevate the visibility of leagues athletes". In November 2023,

1716-470: The arenas and participated in "anti-competitive practices" to try disturb the league progress, which caused a move to different locations. Hutton also mentioned he's in preliminary talks about conducting international exhibitions games, and with that in mind they changed the official website from "TheAFL.com" to "ArenaFootballUSA.com", as they plan to globalize the game. Following the inaugural week of competition in 2024, numerous problems began to emerge with

1782-463: The cities' arenas indicated they had never been contacted or had only limited conversations before being awarded teams, with Cincinnati's arenas indicating they had in fact rejected the league's advances. Hutton purposely avoided confirming any news reports, stating that he would only release information "on our time," and threatened any news outlets who reported critically on the league with "egg on their faces come April 2024." On August 29, 2023,

1848-402: The commissioner mentioned that the league would have a salary cap of $ 700,000, but the league will allows additional salary spending for "franchise players". Players were promised a $ 1,000 per-game salary, substantially higher than that of other indoor leagues and in line with the AFL's previous incarnations. On July 18, 2023, TMZ Sports initially reported, and the league soon confirmed, that

1914-531: The current AFL teams has direct ties to the former AFL: the Albany Firebirds ; the Firebirds had previously played as the Albany Empire the previous three seasons in the National Arena League after its ownership group acquired the intellectual properties of the Albany Empire of the AFL (the final champions of that league and itself a successor to two previous AFL and AF2 franchises known as

1980-617: The existing teams allowed to protect 15 players. The league will offer a base salary of $ 400 per game—less than the $ 1,000 that the AFL had initially promised in 2024 but higher than other indoor leagues, with teams allowed to pay higher salaries at their own discretion— and will not require players to play "ironman" on both offense and defense as they had under previous iterations of the league. The league will follow traditional arena football rules and restrictions otherwise. The season structure will feature two divisions (East and West) of six teams each, assuming no further expansion, all playing

2046-566: The games before they were played. The league announced on March 29 that much of the league's schedule will be carried on Gray Television owned-and-operated stations in each team's home market and in regional syndication. Select AFL games were livestreamed through the Vyre streaming app before the league moved its remaining games to a league-managed YouTube account midway through the regular season. The 2024 playoffs were carried via CBS Sports Network , with DAZN holding simulcast rights outside

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2112-493: The league announced a multi-year partnership with USA Football naming the AFL as an "official national team development & scouting partner", with the AFL helping USA Football recruiting players who want to represent the United States in international competition. Arena Football One Arena Football One is a future professional arena football league based in Nashville, Tennessee , set to play in 2025. The league

2178-422: The league kicked off, which provided the legal justification for revoking the license on the AFL trademarks. The change in commissioner did not completely restore stability; Oregon pulled out of a last-minute assignment "due to unforeseen circumstances" on May 24, forcing the temporarily independent Cedar Rapids River Kings to step in the Blackbears' stead; Rapid City, having faced continued labor strife tied to

2244-834: The league officially announced that the Billings Outlaws , formerly of Champions Indoor Football , would be the inaugural members of the new version of the league. On August 31, the West Texas Desert Hawks (formerly the Warbirds) were the second team confirmed. The Orlando Predators were the third team announced on September 25; with the announcement of the Predators, the league announced its intent to instead have 20 teams in its 2024 season, as it planned on absorbing three additional teams from Champions Indoor Football. On October 5, 2023, Hutton appeared with

2310-693: The league officially announced the return of original AFL co-founding partner and former commissioner Jerry Kurz , this time as general counsel and senior advisor of player operations. On June 5, 2024, the league announced the addition of former AFL player Gary Compton as director of football operations. On June 8, 2024, the front office staff added Tracey Leinin as President of Football Administration. On June 24, 2024, they then added Laurie Voke as Vice President of Sales. On June 25, 2024, one day later they added former professional player and coach Dr. Jennifer Welter as Chief Marketing Officer. The 2024 season finished July 19, 2024 with ArenaBowl XXXIII on

2376-439: The league web site, then restored, the previous day) for the remainder of the season. Oregon announced a return to play in 2025 on social media and have also retained its previous online broker for ticket sales for "any future home games." Oregon was ultimately unable to return due to entanglements with former league president Travelle Gaines, who had owned the majority stake in the Blackbears and never sold it. On June 4, 2024,

2442-547: The league would fold three years later. Both teams played their home games at the Moda Center . Four years after the original AFL folded for the second time, it was announced on February 1, 2023 that the league intended on relaunching in 2024. On July 18, the 16 intended market cities were announced, including Salem. Like some other locations, Salem city officials were surprised about the announcement, but stated that they "look forward to learning more". On October 25, 2023,

2508-674: The league's teams. The Philadelphia Soul coach and roster all departed abruptly before their contest (forcing an American Arena League team from Dallas to don the Soul's uniforms for the game) against the Louisiana VooDoo , who themselves were forced to move their home schedule from Lake Charles to Lafayette days before the game after the manager of Lake Charles's arena accused the VooDoo of failing to cover rent or insurance expenses. The Oregon Blackbears ' home arena in Salem, Oregon

2574-506: The name with a working title used by the 2010s AFL before its launch. The trademark was filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on September 1, 2024, by Outlaws owner Steven Titus dba Arena Football One, LLC, of Gillette, Wyoming . (G6 Sports Group still owns the AFL logo and its intellectual properties, but not the team IP's.) The new league will be a full separation from G6, as all eight teams leave

2640-524: The new owners confirmed plans to relaunch the Arena Football League. The relaunched league, led by chairman Chris Chetty, president Anthony Rossi, president of operations Shan Singh, and commissioner Lee A. Hutton III, will feature 16 teams playing a 10-game season over the course of the summer months, followed by a postseason format that has yet to be determined. In a later interview, Chetty indicated that G6 planned no involvement or spending, with its only role being to collect licensing royalties from Hutton, who

2706-545: The original that operated from 1987 to 2008, and the second—coincidentally also known as Arena Football 1 before acquiring rights to the AFL name prior to its first season—from 2010 to 2019. The 2024 AFL's lone season began with 16 teams, six of which had joined through a pre-launch merger with Champions Indoor Football . Within three weeks, five of the 16 teams had folded. After multiple complaints of promises that were left unfulfilled to teams, to players, and to G6 Sports and Entertainment (the holding company that had been licensing

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2772-466: The ouster of commissioner Lee Hutton on May 14, 2024, the Blackbears were initially left out of the reorganized ten-team league. League officials expressed openness to continuing to schedule games against the Blackbears. In a statement, Johnson expressed surprise that his organization had not been involved in the decision and that he would accept the ruling and disband the team, beginning negotiations with other leagues to ensure Blackbears players could finish

2838-464: The ouster was made with the full cooperation of G6 Sports Group (owners of the trademarks and connected to the original F1 group that had founded the revival), who had suggested Fisher for the position. Chairman Chris Chetty, who had initially expected to remain in Canada and not to have an active role in league operations, noted that Hutton had breached multiple clauses of his contract with G6 even before

2904-596: The owners of three remaining CIF teams—the ICT Regulators of the Wichita metropolitan area, Salina Liberty and Southwest Kansas Storm in Dodge City —and CIF commissioner Mike McCoy as they announced the remainder of that league was merging into the AFL, with McCoy being named AFL deputy commissioner three weeks later. On November 16, 2023, at the AFL relaunch event, Hutton revealed the 16 teams set play in

2970-466: The previous incarnation of the league. On September 6, 2024, all eight teams, along with Fisher and Kurz, announced their joint departure from the AFL to establish a new league, Arena Football One , separate from the legal entanglements that ensnared the AFL. The original Arena Football League , created in 1981 and founded in 1986 by Jim Foster , had previously existed in two interrelated incarnations between 1987 and 2008, and 2010 to 2019. Only one of

3036-597: The promises made by the Hutton regime, folded following their May 23 game. West Texas reportedly followed suit on June 18, with the River Kings again stepping in to fill in for the Desert Hawks' final game. In more twists of fate in the ongoing turmoil surrounding former ownership in the "new" AFL, Arena Insider reported that former commissioner Lee Hutton and former president Travelle Gaines tried to apply for

3102-537: The remainder of the 2024 season schedule. The team continued to negotiate with the league while also exploring other options and the team announced the renewal of its contract with HUMBL (which had been the AFL's online platform under Hutton) for ticket sales for "any future home games." On June 17, after the team was unable to find opponents for their two remaining scheduled home games, the Blackbears formally concluded their season, finishing 3-1 in their inaugural season. Gaines and Hutton left rent bills of $ 30,000 unpaid for

3168-439: The role of temporary commissioner for the remainder of the season. Following ArenaBowl XXXIII , the surviving members of the AFL, including champions the Billings Outlaws , began hyping up "Arena Football is back" in various team social sites posing an image on September 4, 2024, saying, "A new era begins today." The next day it was announced that they would be playing in a newly-formed league called Arena Football One , sharing

3234-449: The same Arena Insider reported that sources with the AFL stated that, in a unanimous vote among the remaining owners, Lee Hutton was ousted as league commissioner and that Nashville Kats president (and former NFL and USFL head coach) Jeff Fisher was appointed interim commissioner. The official announcement was made May 14. This is despite a league bylaw that was believed to have granted Hutton total immunity from ouster by league owners;

3300-642: The season elsewhere. In a statement to the Statesman-Journal , he indicated plans to discuss the team's exclusion with the other ten remaining owners before taking any further action. As of May 16, the Blackbears are still scheduled to play the Washington Wolfpack on May 18. filling a schedule hole left when the Rapid City Marshals , one of the ten surviving teams, cancelled an upcoming game amid in-team turmoil that had forced

3366-465: The second incarnation of the AFL in 2010. The new league, whose intellectual properties will be owned by the Billings Outlaws, will be a full separation from G6, as all eight teams leave the AFL and join AF1. In a statement to Arena Insider, Chetty noted that after the league had narrowly completed the 2024 season, it had been left with numerous unpaid debts that he, though he would maintain responsibility, had been advised not to immediately pay off, but that

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3432-421: The sudden forfeiture of that team's previous game. The Blackbears announced an agreement to finish the 2024 season on May 17 after a local ownership group was found to cover the league's shares in the team; ultimately, Gaines and Hutton never sold their stakes, and the entanglement of these "legal relationships" ultimately prevented the team from returning to the field. After declining a Week 5 reassignment to play

3498-528: The team owners had stipulated the debts be paid as a condition for returning. On September 6, all eight teams announced their departure from the AFL to form Arena Football One. Arizona officially joined AF1 in mid-November. Much of the Oregon Blackbears staff accepted positions with AF1's Oregon Lightning , a new team (formed from the existing Oregon High Desert Storm of the American West Football Conference , which had been inactive since 2023) that

3564-522: The teams to play the 2025 season. Of those teams, the Arizona Bandits , a team that had previously been announced to be joining the AFL in 2025, released its own teaser at the same time as the eight inaugural teams. In an interview with the Billings Gazette , Titus indicated that one of the expansion teams would be based in Mexico, and others would be in cities that had previously hosted arena football teams. On September 9, 2024, AF1 announced

3630-498: The three games held at the fairgrounds. Attempts to reach team officials went unanswered in early September, and the team has not made any social media posts since June 17. On October 22, 2024, Arena Football One , which absorbed the eight surviving teams from the end of the 2024 AFL season, announced it would return to Oregon with a new team co-owned by former Blackbears coach Chuck Jones. The new team will play in Redmond, Oregon ,

3696-403: The trademark of the AFL shield logo which was rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office citing "likelihood of confusion". "Trademark Act Section 2(d) bars registration of an applied-for mark that is so similar to a registered mark that it is likely consumers would be confused, mistaken, or deceived as to the commercial source of the goods and/or services of the parties," stated in

3762-424: The trademarks and intellectual property to the league), a hasty reorganization ousted founding commissioner Lee Hutton. With direct backing from G6, the remaining teams committed to finishing the 10-week season; three additional teams would fold over the course of the season, leaving eight by the end of the regular season. Jeff Fisher , who had originally joined the league as an advisor to the Nashville Kats , assumed

3828-471: The twelfth team, which is scheduled to be formally announced the last week of September, would be Arizona. The league had not ruled out further expansion before the season starts, with the schedule to be finalized by the end of October. In an interview with the Albany Times-Union , league sources indicated that an expansion draft would be held to allot players to the four new AF1 teams, with

3894-445: Was deemed unsafe, forcing a slew of schedule changes. The Iowa Rampage folded after its inaugural contest, accusing Hutton of reneging on promises to cover increased expenses, while the Rapid City Marshals granted six players their release and renegotiated lower salaries for their remaining players after they also did not receive the promised compensation from the league, a tactic the Washington Wolfpack also used. Their final game

3960-474: Was established to be separate from the ownership entanglements that had ensnared the Blackbears. Attempts to reach G6 in late September 2024 regarding the AFL's 2025 plans went unanswered. AFL deputy commissioner Mike McCoy, who had joined with the AFL's merger with CIF prior to the 2024 season, departed for American Indoor Football . The ArenaBowl Championship Game has been a staple of the AFL since its inception in 1987. Upon relaunch, this year's first game

4026-506: Was expelled from his post as league commissioner. On June 27, 2024, the league announced that the championship game, ArenaBowl XXXIII, was played on July 19, 2024, at the American Dream Meadowlands , a large shopping center and entertainment complex at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey . The Billings Outlaws and the Albany Firebirds faced off in the first ArenaBowl in five years with

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4092-468: Was founded by the eight teams who had survived the 2024 Arena Football League season . The eight founding teams added multiple expansion teams in advance of the 2025 AF1 Season. All eight of the inaugural teams in Arena Football One had played the 2024 season in the Arena Football League , which had been launched that year as a revival of two leagues bearing the Arena Football League name:

4158-426: Was given mostly free rein to build out the league: "everything down the line, turnkey . As an investor this sounds good to me. Hey, it doesn’t sound like I have to operate." The league returned its logo to the one used from 2003 to 2018. The new iteration of the league announced plans to feature "streaming, betting, technology, (and) virtual reality" elements, per Rossi. In a February 2023 interview with ArenaFan.com,

4224-481: Was on May 4, 2024, on the road at Southwest Kansas, losing 34–18. Rossi disowned any connection to league operations in the wake of the controversy, instead stating that his company had licensed the Arena Football League trademarks to Hutton's company for a fee that Hutton did not pay. Documents related to the Louisiana VooDoo showed that Hutton had indeed operated the league through the business structure of

4290-518: Was planned to be played at a neutral site. ArenaBowl XXXIII was the first ArenaBowl hosted on a neutral site since ArenaBowl XXVI . Only a handful of ArenaBowls were held at neutral sites such as Las Vegas , New Orleans , and Orlando . This year's site was originally selected as the Target Center , home of the Minnesota Myth , but was dropped when the Myth folded and Myth co-owner Lee Hutton

4356-457: Was the listed majority owner of the team, through a limited liability company , with the league holding an additional minority stake. Before the start of the 2024 season, Patrick Johnson was named the team president. Their main rivals in the new AFL were the Washington Wolfpack and Billings Outlaws . On April 27, 2024, the Blackbears won the debut at home over the Wolfpack 47-40. With

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