AFL moves to 18-game regular season schedule for 2011

AFL Press Release

AFL moves to 18-game regular season schedule for 2011


TULSA- The 2011 Arena Football League regular season has been extended from 16 games to 18, Commissioner Jerry Kurz announced today. The league will consist of 19 teams and each will play 18 regular season games, with the option of two preseason games (one home and one away). The change was passed in an ownership vote last week during the league’s Board of Directors meeting in Phoenix, AZ.

“There has never been a better time for the Arena Football League,” said Commissioner Jerry Kurz. “The product is exciting, our economic model is sound and fans are demanding affordable family entertainment. Extending our season is a great decision, both from a business and fan perspective,”

Read more here.

Arena Bowl XXIII goes to the Spokane Shock

The Spokane Shock had little difficulty in defeating the Tampa Bay Storm 69-57 in Arena Bowl XXIII.

The Storm had no answer for Shock QB Kyle Rowley, who threw 9 touchdown passes against highly rated Tampa Bay defense. The Shock scored on 9 out of 10 possessions and Rowley was named Arena Bowl MVP.

Congratulations Spokane Shock

Barnstormers handle snakes, destroy Rattlers 67-47

Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (Luke 10:19)

Now this is the Barnstormers team we’ve been looking for! The Iowa Barnstormers wrapped up their 2010 season with a 67-47 smackdown of the Arizona Rattlers at US Airways Center in Phoenix on Friday night, giving the Rattlers a rather unpleasant sendoff to the AFL playoffs. read more

Final Battle: Iowa Barnstormers vs Arizona Rattlers preview

Friday, July 30, the Iowa Barnstormers travel to U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix to take on the 10-5 Arizona Rattlers. For the third week in a row, the Barnstormers will be matched up against a team that is headed to the playoffs and wields an offense that is one of the best in the league. Full Story

New rivalry for the Iowa Barnstormers in 2011

Iowa Barnstormers Examiner

The Iowa Barnstormers will have to battle for air supremacy in 2011 as the Kansas City Brigade return to the Arena Football League! The Brigade franchise has been dormant since the original Arena Football League was shut down to reorganize in 2009, but the AFL announced the return of the team for the 2011 season as the newly configured Arena Football League continues to grow. The close proximity between Des Moines and Kansas City should make this a very spirited rivalry, since it’s likely that fans of both teams will make the 2-3 hour trip down, or up, Interstate 35 to support their teams, very much like the old hockey rivalry between the Iowa Stars/Chops and the Omaha Aksarben Knights.

The Brigade originally became a franchise in 2006 in the AFL and soon became very popular in Kansas City among fans, bringing in crowds of more than 12,000, however since the Barnstormers competed in the Arena Football 2 league at the time, the two teams never met on the field.

Having a well-supported rival so close to the Barnstormers should be mutually beneficial to both clubs, both financially and in attendance, thanks to some overlapping fan base as well as those rabid road warriors that will travel to support their team and perhaps heckle a few of the home team’s fans. Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines and the Sprint Center in Kansas City are two of the newest, most state-of-the-art facilities in the league, which makes going to the games just that much more enjoyable.

During the absense of the Arena Football League in 2009 and 2010, many football-starved Brigade fans made the trip from Kansas City to Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines to watch and support the Barnstormers in the AF2, some even wearing their Brigade gear. Is it safe to assume that those folks will be back to Wells Fargo Arena in 2011? Probably, but this time they won’t be cheering for the Barnstormers.

Let the dog fights begin! Go ‘Stormers!