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Reports: Arena Football League to cancel 2009 season
by Dennis Manoloff, Plain Dealer reporter
Wednesday December 10, 2008, 2:07 PM

The Arena Football League is expected to cancel the 2009 season, several media sources are reporting today.

The Rocky Mountain News reported today that league officials are expected to make the announcement before the end of the week. The Kansas City Star later reported that Pete Likens, communications director for the Kansas City Brigade, said the AFL players' union agreed late Tuesday to the decision.

"It's pretty much a done deal to suspend the 2009 season and work toward a single entity-league," Likens said, according to The Star. "We plan to start up again in 2010."

A prominent AFL player, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he does not think the AFL ever will come back if 2009 is canceled. The player said reports were untrue that the AFL players union had agreed Tuesday to the decision to cancel the 2009 season. The player said he did not want to be identified in case there is a 2010 season.

Developmental league arenafootball2, which operates as a separate entity, will play in 2009.

Phil Tesar, media relations director of the Gladiators, said early this afternoon: "We've heard rumors and speculation about the future of the league for a while. For us, it's still business as usual. We're still selling tickets until we're told otherwise."

The AFL has been in existence since 1987.

The Gladiators made their Cleveland debut in the AFL last season. They reached the National Conference Championship Game before losing to Philadelphia.

Chris McCloskey, AFL executive vice president/communications, could not be reached.

The AFL released a statement this afternoon that said: "Despite rumors and reports to the contrary, all AFL teams are continuing to work towards ArenaBowl XXIII. As it has previously stated, the AFL continues to work on long-term structural improvement options. Some of the options may impact the 2009 season. There is currently no timetable for an announcement of any kind."

A key blow to the AFL as it grappled with economic hardships was the dissolution of a potential $100 million ownership agreement with Platinum Equity. The deal fell through when a number of team owners balked at the idea of giving up varying degrees of control of their franchises to Platinum, a source said.

The AFL player said ownership came back to the players and asked for a pay cut. The players said they would so everything possible to keep the league going, but that they needed more details on exactly what the cuts entailed. As of Tuesday night, the players were waiting to hear back from the owners.

Among the strong hints this offseason that the AFL was in trouble were multiple delays of a dispersal draft of New Orleans VooDoo players; failure to release the 2009 schedule for a league that begins in the spring; and failure to name a commissioner to replace David Baker, who resigned in July.

I was gonna make this thread and title it "Our WINNING football team won't play next year!"

This is a tragedy of epic proportions.

Quote:

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Developmental league arenafootball2, which operates as a separate entity, will play in 2009.

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You mean they actually take time to develop this form of crap? Seriously we have crap so now let's develop this crap to make what better crap?

Hope Arena League Europe is holding strong!

Hey,, look at the positive side of this,, Bernie is free to join the Browns if it happens

This is terrible. I really enjoyed going to and watching the Gladiators last year, gave me something to do after the Super Bowl and before the Indians.

Arena Football League votes not to suspend play in 2009
Dec. 10, 2008
CBSSports.com wire reports



PHILADELPHIA -- The Arena Football League's 2009 season is on -- for now.

The AFL's board of directors met via conference call Wednesday night but "despite rumors and reports to the contrary" did not suspend the upcoming season.

"The Board will continue to meet regularly to examine any and all long-term structural improvement options for the AFL," the league said in a statement.

The meeting came amid a tumultuous week in which the league seemed poised to cancel the season.

The 16-team league repeatedly has delayed the start of free agency and the release of its 2009 schedule after an offseason of uncertainty. No replacement has been named for longtime commissioner David Baker, who abruptly resigned in July two days before the ArenaBowl championship game.

"I have yet to hear anything from our ownership, but I am happy for the league and happy to possibly have the opportunity to defend our championship," Philadelphia Soul coach Bret Munsey said Wednesday evening.

"We all know there are some things that need to be corrected, and that's what they're working on. They're working on the economic model, and it needs to be corrected. Maybe this makes the league stronger. We're looking to be around for another 20 years."

The AFL's woes come at a time when the world of sports, once thought to be largely recession-proof, has felt the economic chill. The NFL has said it would cut 150 jobs, while the NBA and NASCAR also have laid off dozens of workers. The NHL is in a hiring freeze while the Internet operation for Major League Baseball also has trimmed positions.

It's still possible there could be big changes to the 22-year-old league.

Philadelphia Soul wide receiver Chris Jackson told the AP that the league's players had agreed to take pay cuts and had been told Tuesday that the season likely would be canceled.

Jackson said he still wasn't convinced the AFL would play in '09.

"I'm still reluctant to get too happy," he said. "There's still a lot to plan out. We need to figure out how many teams are going to be in it, the finances of it all, and a working financial model for the future. There's still a lot to be done."

Players' union spokesman Carl Francis declined to discuss specifics about the 2009 season.

"We definitely are in discussions with the Arena Football League on these issues," he said.

Officials from several teams said they were proceeding with business as usual for the time being.

"We're readying contracts right now for when we're ready to move forward with free agency," said Luke Stahmer, vice president of operations for the Colorado Crush. "We're buying helmets and jerseys as if it's a regular season. We don't want to get caught with our pants down, so to speak."

http://www.sportsline.com/arenafootball/story/11164170

Whew, what would John Elay and Jon Bon Jovi do if they cancelled the AFL =)

hooray, I get to go to another Gladiators game in Columbus this year.

hooray