The Arena Football League (AFL) can refer to one of three successive professional indoor American football leagues in the United States. The first of these was founded in 1986, and played its first official games in the 1987 season, running for 22 consecutive seasons until going bankrupt following the 2008 season. The second league, consisting largely of teams from the first AFL and arenafootball2, purchased the first league's assets out of bankruptcy and resumed play in 2010 as a continuation of the first AFL; this second AFL ran for ten further seasons, before again going bankrupt following the 2019 season. A third AFL, which is not directly connected to the previous two iterations of the league but claiming their histories and trademarks, intends to launch in 2024.
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 Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association and the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League. The franchise was originally based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and then later in Las Vegas, Nevada, before relocating to Cleveland for the 2008 AFL season. The Gladiators qualified for the playoffs eight times in their history, reaching the ArenaBowl in 2014.
The Georgia Force is the name of three separate versions of Arena Football League (AFL) teams based in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area of Georgia, United States, that played in the South Division of the American Conference.
The Nashville Kats is the name of three separate franchises in the Arena Football League all located in Nashville, Tennessee. The original incarnation of the Kats launched in 1997 and were coached by Pat Sperduto, who coached that team to two ArenaBowl appearances prior to their move to Atlanta in 2002, then becoming the original Georgia Force. The second incarnation of the Kats joined the league as an expansion team in 2005, also coached by Sperduto, lasted two seasons before folding in 2007. The third incarnation of the team is set to play in 2024 at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium. The first two teams played at what is now the Bridgestone Arena.
The Louisiana VooDoo are a professional arena football team based in Lake Charles, Louisiana. They are members of the Arena Football League and will play their home games at Sudduth Coliseum in Lake Charles starting in 2024.
Arena football is a variety of eight-man indoor gridiron football. The game is played indoors 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, 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 RiverCity Rage are a professional indoor football team. They played home games at the Family Arena in Saint Charles, Missouri, part of the metropolitan area of St. Louis, Missouri, in past seasons, played in the Scottrade Center in downtown St. Louis in the 2006 season, and returned to the Family Arena for the 2007 UIF season. The Rage were set to move to Council Bluffs and play at the Mid-America Center for 2024, but will now play in Coralville at the Xtream Arena for the 2025 season and are to be new members of the relaunched American Indoor Football.
The Iowa Barnstormers are a professional indoor football team based in Des Moines, Iowa. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). They play their home games at Wells Fargo Arena, known in indoor football circles as "The Well".
Clint Dolezel is an American football coach and former professional arena football player in the Arena Football League (AFL).
The Lincoln Haymakers were a professional indoor football team based in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Haymakers played their 2013–2014 home games at the Pershing Center.
The Jacksonville Sharks are a professional indoor football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, playing their home games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. As of 2024, they are members of the Indoor Football League (IFL).
The Cedar Rapids River Kings are a professional indoor football team based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They are current members of American Indoor Football and play their homes at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse.
The Dollar Loan Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Henderson, Nevada. Built on the site of the former Henderson Pavilion, it is the home of the Henderson Silver Knights of the American Hockey League, the Vegas Knight Hawks of the Indoor Football League and the NBA G League Ignite of the NBA G League. The City of Henderson is the building owner with the National Hockey League's Vegas Golden Knights as its operator. The Dollar Loan Center seats 5,567 for hockey and football. Initially called the Henderson Event Center, on March 30, 2021, the Golden Knights and Silver Knights announced a naming rights partnership with Dollar Loan Center, a Las Vegas-based short-term loan company, for the arena to be called The Dollar Loan Center. The name of the arena is disambiguated with the article "The" to differentiate it from the company.
The Albany Empire was 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 Washington Wolfpack are a professional indoor football team based in Everett in the U.S. state of Washington. They were announced as one of the inaugural teams for the revived Arena Football League (AFL), beginning play in 2024.
The Oregon Black Bears are a professional indoor football team based in Salem, Oregon. They were announced as one of the inaugural teams for the revived Arena Football League (AFL), beginning play in 2024. They will play their home games at the Oregon State Fairgrounds Pavilion.
The 2024 Arena Football League season will be the 33rd in the history of the Arena Football League (AFL) and the first season as the rebooted version of the league, after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy at the end of the 2019 season.
The Minnesota Myth are a professional indoor football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Myth play their home games at the Target Center. They were announced as one of the inaugural teams for the revived Arena Football League (AFL), beginning play in 2024.
The Wichita Regulators are a professional indoor football team based in Park City, Kansas. They were announced as one of the inaugural teams for the revived Arena Football League (AFL) as of 2024, beginning play as an independent semi-pro team in 2023 at Hartman Arena.
Current season 
