List of Arena Football League teams

The Tampa Bay Storm, formed as the Pittsburgh Gladiators in 1987, are the oldest franchise in the AFL.

The following is a list of Arena Football League (AFL) teams. The AFL is a professional indoor American football league based in the United States. Fourteen franchises fielded a team in 2014. AFL's inaugural 1987 season featured four teams; the Chicago Bruisers (2–4), the Denver Dynamite (4–2), the Pittsburgh Gladiators (4–2), and the Washington Commandos (2–4). Pittsburgh was relocated to Florida in 1991 and renamed the Tampa Bay Storm. They are the only franchise in the league that played in the inaugural 1987 season. The Los Angeles Kiss and the Portland Thunder were established before the 2014 season, making them the AFL's newest franchises. At its height, the AFL has featured 19 teams (2001, 2004, 2007).

Current franchises

Expansions and contractions

The Arena Football League had expanded and contracted many times throughout its history. Every year in the AFL there has been at least one team which did not play the previous season with the same name. There have never been two consecutive seasons in which the league had exactly the same lineup of cities. The league reached its maximum size in the 2004 and 2007 seasons, in which 19 teams competed in each instance. The league last expanded in 2011, when it went from 15 teams to 18 teams, and has been in a contraction mode since that time, dropping teams proving to be financially unfeasible.

Year	# of Teams	Expansion Teams	Folded Teams	Suspended Teams	Returning Teams	Relocated Teams	Name Changes
1987	4	Chicago Bruisers Denver Dynamite Pittsburgh Gladiators Washington Commandos
1988	6	Detroit Drive Los Angeles Cobras New England Steamrollers New York Knights		Denver Dynamite Washington Commandos
1989	5		Los Angeles Cobras New England Steamrollers New York Knights		Denver Dynamite Maryland Commandos		Maryland Commandos (from Washington)
1990	6	Albany Firebirds Dallas Texans	Chicago Bruisers				Washington Commandos (from Maryland)
1991	8	Columbus Thunderbolts New Orleans Night Orlando Predators	Washington Commandos			Pittsburgh → Tampa Bay Storm
1992	12	Arizona Rattlers Charlotte Rage Cincinnati Rockers Sacramento Attack San Antonio Force	Denver Dynamite			Columbus → Cleveland Thunderbolts
1993	10		New Orleans Night San Antonio Force			Sacramento → Miami Hooters
1994	11	Fort Worth Cavalry Las Vegas Sting Milwaukee Mustangs	Cincinnati Rockers Dallas Texans			Detroit → Massachusetts Marauders
1995	13	Connecticut Coyotes Iowa Barnstormers Memphis Pharaohs St. Louis Stampede San Jose SaberCats	Cleveland Thunderbolts	Massachusetts Marauders Fort Worth Cavalry
1996	15	Texas Terror				Las Vegas → Anaheim Piranhas Fort Worth → Minnesota Fighting Pike (dormant from 1995)	Florida Bobcats (from Miami Hooters)
1997	14	Nashville Kats New Jersey Red Dogs New York CityHawks	Charlotte Rage Connecticut Coyotes Minnesota Fighting Pike St. Louis Stampede			Memphis → Portland Forest Dragons
1998	14		Anaheim Piranhas			Massachusetts Marauders → Grand Rapids Rampage (dormant for three years)	Houston Thunderbears (from Texas Terror)
1999	15	Buffalo Destroyers				New York → New England Sea Wolves
2000	17	Carolina Cobras Los Angeles Avengers				Portland → Oklahoma Wranglers
2001	19	Chicago Rush Detroit Fury				Albany → Indiana Firebirds Iowa → New York Dragons New England → Toronto Phantoms	New Jersey Gladiators (from New Jersey Red Dogs)
2002	16	Dallas Desperados	Florida Bobcats Houston Thunderbears Milwaukee Mustangs Oklahoma Wranglers			Nashville → Georgia Force[1]
2003	16	Colorado Crush	Toronto Phantoms			New Jersey → Las Vegas Gladiators
2004	19	Austin Wranglers New Orleans VooDoo Philadelphia Soul				Buffalo → Columbus Destroyers
2005	17	Nashville Kats	Carolina Cobras Detroit Fury Indiana Firebirds
2006	18	Kansas City Brigade Utah Blaze		New Orleans VooDoo
2007	19				New Orleans VooDoo
2008	17		Austin Wranglers[2] Nashville Kats			Las Vegas → Cleveland Gladiators
2009	0		New Orleans VooDoo Los Angeles Avengers	Arizona Rattlers Chicago Rush Cleveland Gladiators Colorado Crush Columbus Destroyers Dallas Desperados Georgia Force Grand Rapids Rampage Kansas City Brigade New York Dragons Orlando Predators Philadelphia Soul San Jose SaberCats Tampa Bay Storm Utah Blaze
2010	15	Alabama Vipers* Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings* Dallas Vigilantes Iowa Barnstormers* Jacksonville Sharks Milwaukee Iron* Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz* Spokane Shock* Tulsa Talons* (* Promoted from af2)			Arizona Rattlers Chicago Rush Cleveland Gladiators Orlando Predators Tampa Bay Storm Utah Blaze
2011	18	Pittsburgh Power	Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz		Kansas City Command Philadelphia Soul San Jose SaberCats	Alabama Vipers → Georgia Force Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings → New Orleans VooDoo[3]	Kansas City Command (from Kansas City Brigade) Milwaukee Mustangs (from Milwaukee Iron)
2012	17		Dallas Vigilantes			Tulsa Talons → San Antonio Talons
2013	14		Georgia Force Kansas City Command	Milwaukee Mustangs
2014	14	Los Angeles Kiss		Chicago Rush Utah Blaze		Milwaukee Mustangs → Portland Thunder
2015	12	Las Vegas Outlaws	Iowa Barnstormers (transferred to Indoor Football League)	Pittsburgh Power San Antonio Talons
2016	8		Las Vegas Outlaws New Orleans VooDoo Spokane Shock (transferred to Indoor Football League) San Jose SaberCats				Portland Steel (from Portland Thunder)
2017	9	Washington[4][5]

Defunct franchises

Team	First AFL season	Final AFL season	Previous name(s)	Previous name(s) season(s)	Notes
Alabama Vipers	2010	2010			Franchise moved to Georgia and became the Georgia Force
Anaheim Piranhas	1994	1997	Las Vegas Sting	1994–1995	Reason for cession of operations: Owner C. David Baker became league Commissioner.
Austin Wranglers	2004	2007			Moved to af2, folded.
Carolina Cobras	2000	2004
Charlotte Rage	1992	1996
Chicago Politicians	1986	1986			Playtest game only.
Chicago Bruisers	1987	1989
Chicago Rush	2001	2013			Suspended operations.
Cincinnati Rockers	1992	1993
Cleveland Thunderbolts	1991	1994	Columbus Thunderbolts	1991
Colorado Crush	2003	2008
Columbus Destroyers	1999	2008	Buffalo Destroyers	1999–2003
Connecticut Coyotes	1995	1996
Dallas Desperados	2002	2008			Replaced by Dallas Vigilantes
Dallas Texans	1990	1993
Dallas Vigilantes	2010	2011
Denver Dynamite	1987	1991			Inactive for 1988.
Detroit Fury	2001	2004
Florida Bobcats	1992	2001	Sacramento Attack, Miami Hooters	1992, 1993–1995
Fort Worth Cavalry	1994	1994
Georgia Force	2002	2012			Inactive for 2010 season.
Grand Rapids Rampage	1998	2008
Houston ThunderBears	1996	2001	Texas Terror	1996–1997
Indiana Firebirds	1990	2004	Albany Firebirds	1990–2000	Albany Firebirds name and logo returned in af2 in 2009, replacing the Albany Conquest.
Iowa Barnstormers	2010	2014			Original franchise became the New York Dragons following 2000 season; the revived franchise launched in AF2 in 2008 and rejoined the AFL in 2010. Team left following the 2014 season for the Indoor Football League.
Kansas City Command	2006	2012	Kansas City Brigade	2006-2008
Las Vegas Outlaws	2015	2015
Los Angeles Avengers	2000	2008
Los Angeles Cobras	1988	1988
Massachusetts Marauders	1988	1994	Detroit Drive	1988 - 1993
Miami Vise	1987	1987		Showcase game only.
Milwaukee Mustangs	1994	2001
Milwaukee Mustangs	2010	2012	Milwaukee Iron	2010
Minnesota Fighting Pike	1996	1996
Nashville Kats	1997	2007			Returned as the Nashville Kats in 2005.
New England Steamrollers	1988	1988
New Orleans Night	1991	1992
New Orleans VooDoo	2004	2008			Did not play 2006 season.
	2011	2015	Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings	2010	Bossier-Shreveport moved to New Orleans and became the VooDoo after coming back from the af2.
New York Dragons	1995	2008	Iowa Barnstormers	1995–2000	Barnstormers name returned in 2010 with a new AFL team.
New York Knights	1988	1988
Oklahoma Wranglers	1995	2001	Memphis Pharaohs, Portland Forest Dragons	1995 - 1996, 1997 - 1998
Oklahoma City Yard Dawgs	2010	2010
Pittsburgh Power	2011	2014			Suspended operations.
Rockford Metros	1986	1986			Playtest game only.
San Antonio Force	1992	1992
San Antonio Talons	2012	2014	Tulsa Talons	1999-2011	Franchise started as the Tulsa Talons in af2 back in 1999. Joined the new AFL in 2010 and relocated to San Antonio in 2012.
San Jose SaberCats	1995	2015
Spokane Shock	2010	2015			Franchise started in af2 in 2005. Joined the new AFL in 2010. Team left for the IFL after 2015 season.
St. Louis Stampede	1995	1996
Toronto Phantoms	1997	2002	New York CityHawks, New England Sea Wolves	1997 - 1998, 1999 - 2000
Utah Blaze	2006	2013			Suspended operations.
Washington Commandos	1987	1990	Maryland Commandos	1989	Did not play the 1988 season.

See also

• List of Arena Football League arenas

References

1. The history of the Kats stayed in Nashville, similar to the agreement made between the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens of the NFL.
2. The Austin Wranglers changed leagues from the AFL to af2.
3. Nakia Hogan, The Times-Picayune. "The New Orleans VooDoo and the Arena Football League are returning". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
4. Ted Leonsis close to securing Arena Football League team to play at Verizon Center, Jonathan O'Connell and Dan Steinberg, Washington Post, February 10, 2016
5. Ted Leonsis to announce D.C. is getting an Arena Football League team, Scott Allen, The Washington Post, March 10, 2016

External links

• Arena Football League Official Website