The Arena Football League was a fun alternative to the NFL, but the Arena Football League may be about to fold anyway. The Arena Football League has been in financial trouble for over a year, as many thought the Arena Football League was on the brink of collapse. They may indeed be right, as the Arena Football League is now rumored to be close to giving up, and folding the AFL for good. As such, a 20+ year alternative to regular football is close to an end.
The Arena Football League has been around since 1987, and has become famous for it's short field, high scoring, and the fact that it is played in summer while the NFL is on hibernation. For over two decades, the Arena Football League did pretty well for itself, and had found a home on the ESPN family of networks.
However, after the last Arena Football League season was canceled, the league has been on a respirator ever since. Rumor now has it that the Arena Football League could officially collapse by the end of the week, ending the year long struggle to keep the AFL alive.
The financial crisis has been hard, and now it is about to officially claim a popular spinoff of football. If this is the end for the Arena Football League, it had a notable run, nonetheless.
More than a few future pro football players were found in the AFL, most notably Kurt Warner, as his time in the AFL was just part of his Cinderella rise to glory. The league was very popular in cities like Orlando, Arizona and Philadelphia.
Most recently, the Arena Football League became famous for its celebrity owners, as the likes of John Elway and Jon Bon Jovi took over Arena Football teams. Bon Jovi owned the Philadelphia Soul, who will now likely go down as the Arena Football League's final champion, after winning the 2007 Arena Bowl.
For all of its surprising success, the AFL could not find a Hail Mary to save itself, it would appear. As such, this would be the second football league ever with the initials AFL to fold - though the first AFL ended things on a much higher note.