Arena Football Association
American sports league
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Arena Football Association (AFA) was a professional indoor football league based in Texas, Kansas and Mississippi, United States. The league began operation in June 2021 with five teams,[1] known that season as the Lone Star Series. The league was founded by three African-American entrepreneurs and is "built upon the pillars of diversity, equity, and inclusion," placing its teams in underserved markets with populations from 200,000 to two million people.[1][2]
 | |
| Formerly | Lone Star Series (2021) |
|---|---|
| Sport | Indoor football |
| Founder |
|
| First season | 2021 |
| No. of teams | 4 |
| Country | United States |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Most recent champion | West Texas Warbirds (2021) |
| Broadcaster | FloSports (streaming) |
| Official website | arenafa |
As of 2023, the league's website was inactive and there have been no further developments.
History
2021 season
The league operated during 2021 as the Lone Star Series, after the West Texas Warbirds and Amarillo Venom, formerly of Champions Indoor Football (CIF), organized their own league.[3] Five teams competed in the inaugural season: Amarillo Venom, Arlington Longhorns, San Antonio Valor, Texas Jets, and West Texas Warbirds.[4][5] The Warbirds defeated the Venom in the championship game, 79–60, played on July 24.[6][7]
2022 season
As of the league's 2022 season, there were six teams: four in Texas, and one each in Mississippi and Kansas.[8] The Amarillo Venom had also planned to play, before suspending operations in February 2022.[9] After the first week, the North Texas Bulls were kicked from the league after their first home game for not meeting league standards.
The league's regular season schedule ran from April through June, with playoffs in July and a championship game scheduled for July 23.[10] North Texas Bulls joined from the American Arena League but were expelled from the league after only one game. The league planned for the championship game to be played on board the USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier that is now a museum ship in Corpus Christi, Texas.[11] This would not happen, as the AFA cited scheduling conflicts, and decided to hold a postseason "bowl game" style matchup instead.[12] The Wichita Force beat the Magnolia State Spartans, 52–6, at the Wichita Ice Center for the AFA Cup.
Standings
| 2022 Arena Football Association[13] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | |||||
| West Texas Warbirds | 6 | 0 | 1.000 | |||||
| Wichita Force | 6 | 2 | .750 | |||||
| Texas Jets | 2 | 1 | .667 | |||||
| Magnolia State Spartans[14] | 2 | 4 | .333 | |||||
| Rio Grande Valley Dorados | 0 | 2 | .000 | |||||
Teams
Source:[15]
| Team | Home city | Home venue | Capacity | Head coach | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magnolia State Spartans | Philadelphia, Mississippi | Neshoba County Coliseum | 2,500 | Dexter Allen | ms-spartans |
| Rio Grande Valley Dorados | Hidalgo, Texas | traveling team | - | Bennie King | rgv-dorados |
| Texas Jets | Humble, Texas | Humble Civic Center Arena | 7,500 | texasjets | |
| Wichita Force | Wichita, Kansas | Wichita Ice Center | 1,000 | Ene Akpan | wichitaforce |
Former teams
- Amarillo Venom (Amarillo, Texas) — Played the 2021 pandemic-affected season in the Texas-based Lone Star Series and helped form the AFA, but went dormant before the start of the 2022 season after the owners put the team up for sale.[16]
- North Texas Bulls (Fort Worth, Texas) — Joined from the American Arena League but were expelled from the AFA after one game.[17]
- West Texas Warbirds (Odessa, Texas) — Left for the National Arena League after the 2022 season.[18]