On November 1, 2023, the revival of the Arena Football League announced the return of the Nashville Kats and new ownership structure. The team was originally co-owned by Tamara Dadd Alan, founding partner and CEO; Nancy Eckert, founding partner, COO and general counsel; and Chuck McDowell, largest individual stakeholder and chairman of the franchise. Jeff Fisher, former Tennessee Titans Head Coach, was a partner and president of football operations for the organization (also now-commissioner of the league). Sports talk host Greg Pogue also serves as partner and vice president of community relations. Longtime broadcaster Eli Gold, former voice of the original AFL for TNN and NBC Sports and also known as the former voice of the Alabama Crimson Tide and NASCAR, was named the new radio voice of the Kats. The team play at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, with one game at F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville.[1] They made it to the semi-finals for ArenaBowl XXXIII, only to lose to the eventual champion Billings Outlaws 35-32.
On September 4, 2024, the Kats, along with the other seven surviving members of the collapsed AFL, joined the newly formed Arena Football One. Jeff Fisher was named permanent commissioner of the new league while maintaining his position with the Kats. They compete in the East Division along with the Albany Firebirds and Orlando Predators. Shortly after switching leagues, head coach Dean Cokinos quietly left the team and was named head coach of the Berlin Thunder of the European League of Football. During the schedule revival, Jeff Fisher announced the search for a new head coach. On February 18, 2025, the Kats announced that former four-time ArenaBowl championship head coach Darren Arbet would become the team's newest head coach.
On October 18, 2024, Nashville Arena Sports, LLC, owners of the Kats, filed a lawsuit in Chancery Court for Davidson County, Tennessee, against chairman Chuck McDowell seeking an alleged delinquent payment which was loaned to the franchise. The suit alleged that McDowell failed to pay on a signed $2.5 million (USD) promissory note to the club. They were also seeking to have McDowell expelled from the franchise ownership group.[2] Jeff Fisher announced that the team still planned to play in the league's inaugural season with its current owners despite this latest legal challenge. McDowell and the remaining owners reached a settlement with each other, culminating in a public reconciliation during the Kats' Week 4 game, in which McDowell led a ceremonial coin toss, and McDowell's amicable exit from the ownership group.[3]
On May 4, 2025, it was announced that Jeff Fisher was officially named as the new majority owner of the Kats. He is joined by partners Pogue and Bobby Devoursney (who will serve as chief executive officer).[4] The next day, the Kats announced the addition of Jon Gruden, former NFL coach and brother of Arena Football Hall of Famer Jay Gruden, to the ownership group leading football operations.[5] Former professional auto racer Michael Waltrip was added to the ownership group on June 20.[6]
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