Af2

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Af2
Sport	Arena Football
Founded	2000
No. of teams	30
Country	United States
Current champions	Spokane Shock
Official website	www.af2.com

af2 (short for arenafootball2) is the name of the Arena Football League's minor league, which started play in 2000. The rules are the same as for the parent league. af2 plays its season from April to July.

Like most other minor sports leagues, the af2 exists to develop football players, and also to help players adapt to the style and pace of arena football. In addition, the af2 is similar to other minor leagues because af2 teams play in smaller cities and smaller venues. While the AFL is played in larger cities like Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York City and Chicago, the af2 fields teams in cities such as Wilkes-Barre, Louisville, Bakersfield, Spokane, Youngstown and Corpus Christi.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Merge with Xtreme Football League 2 ArenaCup 2.1 Past ArenaCup results 3 Current af2 teams 3.1 American Conference 3.1.1 East Division 3.1.2 Midwest Division 3.1.3 West Division 3.2 National Conference 3.2.1 Central Division 3.2.2 Southwest Division 3.2.3 South Division 4 Mentioned as likely 2008 expansion cities 5 Inactive markets 6 Possible expansion 7 References 8 See also 9 External links

[edit] History

In a June 2003 interview with Sports Illustrated, AFL commissioner David Baker briefly mentioned the af2, saying how one day, he envisions the league growing to 100 teams. As of 2006, this vision seems rather unlikely. The af2 is fielding 30 teams for 2007. The af2 fielded 23 teams in 2006 and twenty teams in 2005, down from twenty-five in 2004. In fact, the league saw declines in the number of teams every year since the 2002 season, when they fielded thirty-four teams, until the 2006 season saw the addition of three teams into the fold. The 2007 season will continue the expansion with a net gain of seven teams (the Macon Knights and Memphis Xplorers have ceased operations). This is partially due to the league growing too quickly (the league saw thirteen new teams in 2001, and ten in 2002) and partially due to higher expenses compared to similar leagues. Historically, massive expansions have little success (the National Indoor Football League, a rival indoor league, has seen large amounts of expansion teams since they began in 2001 but many struggle financially). Franchise fees in the league range from $600,000 to $1 million.^[1] Nine new expansion teams were approved for 2007 in the af2: the Boise Burn, the Cincinnati Jungle Kats, the Fort Wayne Fusion, the Laredo Lobos, the Lubbock Renegades, the Mahoning Valley Thunder, the Texas Copperheads, the Tri-Cities Fever, and the Corpus Christi Sharks. The Texas, Laredo, and Tri-Cities teams are all moving to the af2 from other indoor football leagues.

[edit] Merge with Xtreme Football League

The Xtreme Football League was a proposed indoor football league that was formed in early 1999, with the intent to begin play in 2000. The cities that were to take part in the league were: Birmingham, Greenville, Huntsville (Tennessee Valley), Jacksonville, Norfolk, Pensacola, Richmond, Roanoke and Tallahassee. Although a logo was developed and venues had begun to be lined up, the league merged with the af2 on July 29, 1999, one year before either league took the field.

[edit] ArenaCup

The ArenaCup is the af2's championship game, held each August. For the league's first five years, it was held at the arena of the higher seeded team. However, as their parent league, the AFL, has changed, the af2 has changed too. The 2005 Arena Cup was the first to be played at a neutral site in Bossier City, Louisiana. The 2006 ArenaCup was played in Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan.^[2]

For the 2000 and 2001 ArenaCups, the game was televised nationally by TNN (now Spike TV), who carried AFL games on Sunday afternoons at the time. However, when the AFL announced their televised games would be shown on NBC rather than TNN, the ArenaCup telecast was lost. The 2002 ArenaCup was televised by the Vision Network, and the 2003 game was televised by KWHB, a local station in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After having no television coverage in 2004, the game was telecast nationally by Fox Sports Net in 2005 and Comcast Sports Net in 2006.

[edit] Past ArenaCup results

Date Played	Winning Team		Losing Team		Site
August 10, 2000	Quad City Steamwheelers	68	Tennessee Valley Vipers	59	Moline, Illinois
August 10, 2001	Quad City Steamwheelers	55	Richmond Speed	51	Moline, Illinois
August 23, 2002	Peoria Pirates	65	Florida Firecats	47	Peoria, Illinois
August 23, 2003	Tulsa Talons	58	Macon Knights	40	Tulsa, Oklahoma
August 27, 2004	Florida Firecats	39	Peoria Pirates	26	Estero, Florida
August 27, 2005	Memphis Xplorers	63	Louisville Fire	41	Bossier City, Louisiana
August 26, 2006	Spokane Shock	57	Green Bay Blizzard	34	San Juan, Puerto Rico

[edit] Current af2 teams

(in 2007 divisions)

[edit] American Conference

[edit] East Division

• Albany Conquest
• Mahoning Valley Thunder
• Manchester Wolves
• Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers

[edit] Midwest Division

• Cincinnati Jungle Kats
• Fort Wayne Fusion
• Green Bay Blizzard
• Louisville Fire
• Quad City Steamwheelers

[edit] West Division

• Bakersfield Blitz
• Boise Burn
• Central Valley Coyotes
• Everett Hawks
• Spokane Shock
• Stockton Lightning
• Tri-Cities Fever

[edit] National Conference

[edit] Central Division

• Amarillo Dusters
• Arkansas Twisters
• Lubbock Renegades
• Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz
• Tulsa Talons

[edit] Southwest Division

• Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings
• Corpus Christi Sharks
• Laredo Lobos
• Rio Grande Valley Dorados
• Texas Copperheads

[edit] South Division

• Alabama Steeldogs
• Florida Firecats
• South Georgia Wildcats
• Tennessee Valley Vipers

[edit] Mentioned as likely 2008 expansion cities

Source: ^[3]

• Albuquerque or Rio Rancho, New Mexico
• Biloxi, Mississippi (not the same franchise as the proposed Mississippi Headhunters)
• Iowa Barnstormers - probable reactivation

[edit] Inactive markets

• Columbus (GA) Wardogs
  • Biloxi, Mississippi - Formerly the Wardogs; team never began due to Hurricane Katrina damaging arena in Biloxi
    • Mississippi Headhunters - Originally to have been the Biloxi team; possible start 2008
• Jacksonville Wizards
• Peoria Pirates - possible return 2008
• Richmond Speed - possible return 2008^[4]

[edit] Possible expansion

• Dayton, Ohio or Toledo, Ohio
• Fort Pierce, Florida^[5]
• Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
• Portland, Maine
• Reno, Nevada
• Sarasota, Florida
• San Bernardino, California or Ontario, California
• San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Tucson, Arizona or Prescott, Arizona^[6]
• Yuma, Arizona, if they have a standard arena

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Defunct af2 teams
• List of leagues of American football

[edit] External links

• arenafootball2 Official Site
• af2 at ArenaFan.com
• af2 at ArenaFootballNetwork.com

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af2
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
EASTERN DIVISION Albany Conquest Mahoning Valley Thunder Manchester Wolves Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers		MIDWESTERN DIVISION Cincinnati Jungle Kats Fort Wayne Fusion Green Bay Blizzard Louisville Fire Quad City Steamwheelers		WESTERN DIVISION Bakersfield Blitz Boise Burn Central Valley Coyotes Everett Hawks Spokane Shock Stockton Lightning Tri-Cities Fever
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
CENTRAL DIVISION Amarillo Dusters Arkansas Twisters Lubbock Renegades Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz Tulsa Talons		SOUTHWESTERN DIVISION Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings Corpus Christi Sharks Laredo Lobos Rio Grande Valley Dorados Texas Copperheads		SOUTHERN DIVISION Alabama Steeldogs Florida Firecats South Georgia Wildcats Tennessee Valley Vipers
Related Articles: Arena Football League | af2 | Arena football | Indoor football