2025 Arena Football One season | |
---|---|
League | Arena Football One (2025) |
Sport | Arena football |
Duration | March 7 – June 15 (Regular season) June 20 – July 12 (Playoffs) |
Number of teams | 11 |
TV partner(s) | Vice TV |
The 2025 season is the upcoming first season of the new Arena Football One. The regular season will begin on March 7, 2025, and run through June 15, 2025.
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: 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 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 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 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. [1] (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 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. [2]
On September 6, 2024, AF1 formally announced its launch with 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 the teams to play the 2025 season. [3] 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. [4] 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. [5]
On September 9, 2024, AF1 announced the Stockton Crusaders as their first expansion team joining the eight former AFL teams for the 2025 season. [6] On September 10, AF1 announced another expansion team to be based out of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania [7] and owned by Matt Rowland, a college friend of league president Jared Widman's. [8] On September 12, the Monterrey Kings were announced as the first AF1 team in Mexico. [9] Firebirds owner Mike Kwarta indicated in an interview that the twelfth team, which is scheduled to be formally announced the last week of September, would be Arizona. [10] The league had not ruled out further expansion before the season starts, with the schedule to be finalized by the end of October. [10]
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 the existing teams allowed to protect 15 players. [10] 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. [10] The league will follow traditional arena football rules and restrictions otherwise. [10] The season structure will feature two divisions (East and West) of six teams each, assuming no further expansion, all playing 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. [10]
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 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. [11] 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 the AIF's teams joined the National Arena League. [12]
On November 15, the Arizona Bandits, previously announced as a 2025 AFL expansion team, were officially announced as members of AF1. [13] 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. [14] On November 18, the AF1 divisional alignment was announced, [15] with the Monterrey Kings and Stockton Crusaders electing to postpone their inaugural seasons until 2026. [16] On December 27, 2024, Wichita Regulators' owner Chris Zachary announced on the team's social media sites that the team was going dormant for the 2025 season, but would return in 2026.
Teams will play 12 games over 15 weeks, featuring both divisional and cross-division games. There will be three weeks of playoffs: the Wild Card, the semifinals, and then a week off before ArenaBowl XXXIV on July 12. [17]
Division | Team | Location | Arena | Capacity | Founded | Head coach |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
East | Albany Firebirds [18] | Albany, New York | MVP Arena | 13,785 | 2023 | Damon Ware |
Nashville Kats | Nashville, Tennessee | Nashville Municipal Auditorium | 8,000 | 1997 | Dean Cokinos | |
Orlando Predators | Orlando, Florida | Kia Center | 17,192 | 1991 | E. J. Burt | |
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Mavericks | Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania | Mohegan Sun Arena | 8,300 | 2024 | TBD | |
Central | Corpus Christi Tritons | Corpus Christi, Texas | American Bank Center | 10,000 | 2023 | Johnny Anderson |
Salina Liberty | Salina, Kansas | Tony's Pizza Events Center | 7,583 | 2015 | Heron O'Neal | |
Southwest Kansas Storm | Dodge City, Kansas | United Wireless Arena | 5,300 | 2021 | Gary Thomas [19] | |
West | Arizona Bandits | Tempe, Arizona | Mullett Arena | TBA | 2023 | TBA |
Billings Outlaws | Billings, Montana | First Interstate Arena | 8,700 | 2021 | Cedric Walker | |
Oregon Lightning | Redmond, Oregon | First Interstate Bank Center | 4,000 | 2021 | Chuck Jones | |
Washington Wolfpack | Everett, Washington | Angel of the Winds Arena | 8,149 | 2023 | J.R. Wells |
2025 Arena Football One Standings | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
East Division | |||||||||
Team | W | L | PCT | GB | DIV | PF | PA | DIFF | STK |
Albany Firebirds | - | - | – | - | 0-0 | - | - | 0 | - |
Nashville Kats | - | - | – | - | 0-0 | - | - | 0 | - |
Orlando Predators | - | - | – | - | 0-0 | - | - | 0 | - |
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Mavericks | - | - | – | - | 0-0 | - | - | 0 | - |
Central Division | |||||||||
Team | W | L | PCT | GB | DIV | PF | PA | DIFF | STK |
Corpus Christi Tritons | - | - | – | - | 0-0 | - | - | 0 | - |
Salina Liberty | - | - | – | - | 0-0 | - | - | 0 | - |
Southwest Kansas Storm | - | - | – | - | 0-0 | - | - | 0 | - |
West Division | |||||||||
Team | W | L | PCT | GB | DIV | PF | PA | DIFF | STK |
Arizona Bandits | - | - | – | - | 0-0 | - | - | 0 | - |
Billings Outlaws | - | - | – | - | 0-0 | - | - | 0 | - |
Oregon Lightning | - | - | – | - | 0-0 | - | - | 0 | - |
Washington Wolfpack | - | - | – | - | 0-0 | - | - | 0 | - |
(x)–clinched playoff berth; (y)–clinched division; (e)–eliminated from playoff contention |
Date | Away team | Result | Home team | Arena | Broadcast | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 7-10 | Orlando Predators | - | - | Southwest Kansas Storm | United Wireless Arena | TBA | |
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Mavericks | - | - | Corpus Christi Tritons | American Bank Center | TBA | ||
Date | Away team | Result | Home team | Arena | Broadcast | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 14-16 | Albany Firebirds | - | - | Orlando Predators | Kia Center | TBA | |
Arizona Bandits | - | - | Oregon Lightning | First Interstate Bank Center | TBA | ||
Nashville Kats | - | - | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Mavericks | Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza | TBA | ||
Billings Outlaws | - | - | Washington Wolfpack | Angel of the Winds Arena | TBA | ||
Southwest Kansas Storm | - | - | Corpus Christi Tritons | American Bank Center | TBA | ||
Date | Away team | Result | Home team | Arena | Broadcast | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 21-23 | Southwest Kansas Storm | - | - | Albany Firebirds | MVP Arena | TBA | |
Salina Liberty | - | - | Arizona Bandits | TBA | TBA | ||
Oregon Lightning | - | - | Washington Wolfpack | Angel of the Winds Arena | TBA | ||
Orlando Predators | - | - | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Mavericks | Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza | TBA | ||
Date | Away team | Result | Home team | Arena | Broadcast | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 28-30 | Billings Outlaws | - | - | Orlando Predators | Kia Center | TBA | |
Salina Liberty | - | - | Corpus Christi Tritons | American Bank Center | TBA | ||
Wilkes Barre/Scranton Mavericks | - | - | Southwest Kansas Storm | United Wireless Arena | TBA | ||
Albany Firebirds | - | - | Nashville Kats | Nashville Municipal Auditorium | TBA | ||
Date | Away team | Result | Home team | Arena | Broadcast | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 4-6 | Albany Firebirds | - | - | Salina Liberty | Tony's Pizza Events Center | TBA | |
Arizona Bandits | - | - | Washington Wolfpack | Angel of the Winds Arena | TBA | ||
Orlando Predators | - | - | Nashville Kats | Nashville Municipal Auditorium | TBA | ||
Date | Away team | Result | Home team | Arena | Broadcast | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 11-13 | Billings Outlaws | - | - | Albany Firebirds | MVP Arena | TBA | |
Oregon Lightning | - | - | Arizona Bandits | TBA | TBA | ||
Corpus Christi Tritons | - | - | Washington Wolfpack | Angel of the Winds Arena | TBA | ||
Southwest Kansas Storm | - | - | Salina Liberty | Tony's Pizza Events Center | TBA | ||
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Mavericks | - | - | Nashville Kats | Nashville Municipal Auditorium | TBA | ||
Date | Away team | Result | Home team | Arena | Broadcast | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 18-20 | Southwest Kansas Storm | - | - | Corpus Christi Tritons | American Bank Center | TBA | |
Arizona Bandits | - | - | Billings Outlaws | MetraPark First Interstate Arena | TBA | ||
Nashville Kats | - | - | Washington Wolfpack | Angel of the Winds Arena | TBA | ||
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Mavericks | - | - | Orlando Predators | Kia Center | TBA | ||
Oregon Lightning | - | - | Salina Liberty | Tony's Pizza Events Center | TBA | ||
Date | Away team | Result | Home team | Arena | Broadcast | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 25-27 | Washington Wolfpack | - | - | Oregon Lightning | First Interstate Bank Center | TBA | |
Arizona Bandits | - | - | Southwest Kansas Storm | United Wireless Arena | TBA | ||
Salina Liberty | - | - | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Mavericks | Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza | TBA | ||
Orlando Predators | - | - | Billings Outlaws | MetraPark First Interstate Arena | TBA | ||
Albany Firebirds | - | - | Nashville Kats | Nashville Municipal Auditorium | TBA | ||
Date | Away team | Result | Home team | Arena | Broadcast | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 2-4 | Billings Outlaws | - | - | Arizona Bandits | TBA | TBA | |
Albany Firebirds | - | - | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Mavericks | Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza | TBA | ||
Oregon Lightning | - | - | Washington Wolfpack | Angel of the Winds Arena | TBA | ||
Salina Liberty | - | - | Southwest Kansas Storm | United Wireless Arena | TBA | ||
Corpus Christi Tritons | - | - | Nashville Kats | Nashville Municipal Auditorium | TBA | ||
Date | Away team | Result | Home team | Arena | Broadcast | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 9-11 | Nashvile Kats | - | - | Albany Firebirds | MVP Arena | TBA | |
Southwest Kansas Storm | - | - | Billings Outlaws | MetraPark First Interstate Arena | TBA | ||
Washington Wolfpack | - | - | Arizona Bandits | TBA | TBA | ||
Salina Liberty | - | - | Orlando Predators | Kia Center | TBA | ||
Corpus Christi Tritons | - | - | Oregon Lightning | First Interstate Bank Center | TBA | ||
Date | Away team | Result | Home team | Arena | Broadcast | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 16-18 | Washington Wolfpack | - | - | Billings Outlaws | MetraPark First Interstate Arena | TBA | |
Southwest Kansas Storm | - | - | Oregon Lightning | First Interstate Bank Center | TBA | ||
Date | Away team | Result | Home team | Arena | Broadcast | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 23-25 | Oregon Lightning | - | - | Arizona Bandits | TBA | TBA | |
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Mavericks | - | - | Albany Firebirds | MVP Arena | TBA | ||
Corpus Christi Tritons | - | - | Southwest Kansas Storm | United Wireless Arena | TBA | ||
Nashville Kats | - | - | Orlando Predators | Kia Center | TBA | ||
Billings Outlaws | - | - | Salina Liberty | Tony's Pizza Events Center | TBA | ||
Date | Away team | Result | Home team | Arena | Broadcast | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 30-June 1 | Arizona Bandits | - | - | Albany Firebirds | MVP Arena | TBA | |
Oregon Lightning | - | - | Billings Outlaws | MetraPark First Interstate Arena | TBA | ||
Washington Wolfpack | - | - | Salina Liberty | Tony's Pizza Events Center | TBA | ||
Nashville Kats | - | - | Corpus Christi Tritons | American Bank Center | TBA | ||
Orlando Predators | - | - | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Mavericks | Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza | TBA | ||
Date | Away team | Result | Home team | Arena | Broadcast | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
June 6-8 | Albany Firebirds | - | - | Orlando Predators | Kia Center | TBA | |
Arizona Bandits | - | - | Billings Outlaws | MetraPark First Interstate Arena | TBA | ||
Corpus Christi Tritons | - | - | Oregon Lightning | First Interstate Bank Center | TBA | ||
Salina Liberty | - | - | Southwest Kansas Storm | United Wireless Arena | TBA | ||
Nashville Kats | - | - | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Mavericks | Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza | TBA | ||
Date | Away team | Result | Home team | Arena | Broadcast | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
June 13-15 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Mavericks | - | - | Albany Firebirds | MVP Arena | TBA | |
Billings Outlaws | - | - | Oregon Lightning | First Interstate Bank Center | TBA | ||
Corpus Christi Tritons | - | - | Salina Liberty | Tony's Pizza Events Center | TBA | ||
Orlando Predators | - | - | Nashville Kats | Nashville Municipal Auditorium | TBA | ||
Washington Wolfpack | - | - | Arizona Bandits | TBA | TBA | ||
On November 18, Arena Football One announced, along with the divisional alignments, that the postseason format will feature 6 teams. The three division winners and three teams with the next best records, regardless of division, will make the playoffs. [20] The division winner with the worst record gets to host a wild card game against the sixth-seeded team (third wild card). The two top division winners get first-round byes to the semifinals. The top two wild card teams, seeded fourth & fifth, play each other in the wild card round. The semifinals has lowest-remaining seed plays the top seed & the other winner plays the runner-up. The semifinal winners will play in ArenaBowl XXXIV.
The AF2 was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup championship in August. The AF2 continued to operate while the AFL suspended operations for its 2009 season. The league was effectively disbanded in September 2009 when no team committed to playing in 2010, but several of the stronger franchises transferred into the reconstituted AFL.
The Indiana Firebirds were a team in the Arena Football League. The team was based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Home games were played at the Conseco Fieldhouse, also the home of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association and Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association.
The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 2001, the team qualified for the playoffs 11 out of 12 seasons and won one AFL championship, ArenaBowl XX in 2006. During their history, the Rush won five divisional titles and competed in the AFL Conference Championship six times, including four consecutive appearances from 2004 to 2007. They also had the largest market in the AFL. The team was intended to become members of the third incarnation of the Arena Football League, but due to their collapse and their eight surviving teams jumping to the new Arena Football One, the Rush's membership is on hold. They are the second incarnation of the Chicago Rush team to play Area football. The original team played at the Allstate Arena from 2001 to 2013. They were a member of the Central Division of the National Conference of the AFL.
Arena football is a variety of gridiron football designed to be played indoors. The game is played on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, and features between six and eight players for each team playing at any given time depending on the league, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game that can be played on the floors of indoor arenas. The sport was invented in 1981, and patented in 1987, by Jim Foster, a former executive of the National Football League and the United States Football League. The name is trademarked by Gridiron Enterprises and had a proprietary format until its patent expired in 2007.
The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 ; and until 2015, they belonged to the AFL's National Conference. Over nineteen seasons of play, the SaberCats emerged as one of the Arena Football League's most successful franchises; at the conclusion of the 2015 season, the SaberCats boasted a lifetime regular season record of 198–98. Moreover, the SaberCats had won a total of four AFL Championships. Their lifetime postseason record stood at 19–12.
American Indoor Football (AIF) is a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America.
Jerry B. Kurz is a founding father of the now-defunct Arena Football League. He was one of the earliest leaders of Arena football, and was part owner of Gridiron Enterprises, original owner of the proprietary, formerly patented, Arena football system.
Champions Indoor Football (CIF) was a professional indoor American football minor league created in 2014 out of the merger between the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) and Lone Star Football League (LSFL), plus one team from the Indoor Football League and two expansion teams.
The Salina Liberty are a professional indoor football team based in Salina, Kansas. They began play in 2016 as members of the Champions Indoor Football (CIF) and played in the Arena Football League in 2024. In 2025, they will become inaugural members of the newly-formed Arena Football One. The team plays their home games at the Tony’s Pizza Events Center.
The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. As of the end of the 2024 season, the league consisted of five teams.
The 2017 National Arena League season was the inaugural season of the National Arena League (NAL). Playing with eight teams spread across the eastern and southern United States, the league's regular season kicked off on March 17, 2017, when the Columbus Lions hosted the Jacksonville Sharks and lost 41–56. The regular season ended 14 weeks later on June 17, 2017, with the Sharks hosting the Monterrey Steel and the Lions visiting the Georgia Firebirds. The playoffs were held in two rounds, with the top seed hosting the fourth seed and the second seed hosting the third seed, with the winners of these games facing in the 2017 NAL Championship hosted by the highest remaining seed.
The Albany Empire were a professional indoor football team based in Albany, New York. They were members of the National Arena League from 2021 to 2023 and played home games at MVP Arena. They are named after the defunct Arena Football League (AFL) team of the same name that won the last ArenaBowl before the AFL folded.
The Billings Outlaws are a professional indoor football team that began play as a member of Champions Indoor Football for the 2022 season. Based in Billings, Montana, the Outlaws play their home games at MetraPark First Interstate Arena. For 2024, they have been announced as members of the revived Arena Football League. They are the 2024 AFL champions, defeating the Albany Firebirds 46–41 at the American Dream Mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In 2025, they will become inaugural members of the newly-formed Arena Football One.
The Corpus Christi Tritons are a professional indoor football team based in Corpus Christi, Texas. They started as an expansion team in American Indoor Football in 2024 and play their home games at the American Bank Center; as of 2025, they are members of Arena Football One. The team follows in the history of indoor football in the city with the now-defunct Corpus Christi Hammerheads/Fury, who played in several leagues between 2003 and 2016, the Corpus Christi Sharks from the af2 from 2007 to 2009 and the Corpus Christi Rage, who folded halfway through their lone season in the NAL in 2017.
The Oregon Lightning are a professional indoor football team based in Redmond, Oregon. They were founded in 2020 and began playing football as members of the American West Football Conference in 2021, known then as the Oregon High Desert Storm. It is the first team to play in Central Oregon. They are owned by Chuck Jones, former head coach of the Arena Football League's Oregon Blackbears, along with Sara Gumm and Jay Jenkins. They play their home games at the First Interstate Bank Center at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds in Redmond and are now members of Arena Football One.
The Arizona Bandits are a future professional indoor football team based in Tempe, Arizona. They were announced as one of the inaugural teams for the revived Arena Football League (AFL), but months after that league's collapse, they have joined the new Arena Football One that will begin play in 2025. They are expected to play their home games at Mullett Arena, home of Arizona State Sun Devils hockey and the Valley Suns of the NBA G-League.
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.
Arena Football One is a future professional arena football league based in Nashville, Tennessee, set to play in 2025. The league 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.
The Stockton Crusaders are a future professional indoor football team based in Stockton, California. They were announced as one of the inaugural teams for the new Arena Football One, but will begin play in 2026.
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Mavericks are a future professional arena football team based in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, founded in 2024 as an expansion team in Arena Football One and owned by local businessman Matt Rowland. The Mavericks will play their home games at the Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre Township, Pennsylvania beginning in the 2025 season.