Arena Football League

About Arena Football League

The Arena Football League (AFL) was founded in 1987 as an American football indoor league. The AFL's attendance has increased dramatically over the last few years, rising to an average of 12,415 people per game in 2007. The AFL also maintains a minor league called af2.

Eventual Arena Football League founder Jim Foster, a former National Football League and United States Football League executive, originally had a contract in 1983 to play an exhibition on the NBC television network. He abandoned the plan, though, when the USFL was formed and did not return to the new sport until 1986. He set up a "playtest" in Rockford, Illinois at the (Rockford MetroCentre). He set up two teams, the "Miami Vice" and the "Chicago Politicians", made up of semi-pro and former college football players to play against each other to see how his idea would work. The Vice defeated the Politicians 30-18.

The AFL was founded in 1987 as an American football indoor league. The league's inaugural season featured four teams: the Chicago Bruisers, Denver Dynamite, Pittsburgh Gladiators, and Washington Commandos. The teams played a six-game season, culminating in Arena Bowl I, where Denver defeated Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh.