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The Fascinating (and At Times Chaotic) Relaunch of Arena Football
A disgraced commissioner, bankrupt teams, and an appealing product. The first year of the AFL was far from a perfect reboot, but the league shows promise that might be sustainable in the long run
It’s a Friday evening at the American Dream Shopping Mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In an age of declining brick and mortar stores and the presumed death of the shopping mall, American Dream stands out as an impressive altar of retail and entertainment. There are over 400 stores, an indoor amusement park, and even the New Jersey Hall of Fame is located here. But on this day, the mall is hosting an event that many would never imagine: a football game.
It’s not just any football game either. The American Dream Mall was holding the championship game of the relaunched Arena Football League (AFL) between the Albany Firebirds and Billings Outlaws. The event was incredibly unusual and capped off what has been a tumultuous first season back for the AFL that saw changes in leadership, defunct teams, and scathing criticism. But Billings President Steven Titus sees it a different way, as a league that has the potential to be something much greater than what many assume.
