RJ Ciancio
Director of NAL Coverage 
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With rumors of Newark and/or Atlantic City getting teams, Arena Football Talk thought now would be a good time to look at the history of indoor and arena football in the Garden State.

In 1997 the Arena Football League (AFL) saw New Jersey field a team for the first time as the Red Dogs. After going 9 and 5, they were eliminated in the quarterfinals, falling to the Orlando Predators 37 to 45. The Red Dogs 1998 campaign was an improvement. After going 8-6 in the regular season they made it to the semifinals where they fell to the Tampa Bay Storm 49 to 23. In the 1999 season the Red Dogs missed the playoffs after a mediocre 6 and 8 campaign, and things got worse in 2000 as they went 4 and 10, again, missing the playoffs. For the 2001 season the team rebranded as the New Jersey Gladiators. Sadly, their record kept going downhill as the franchise hit a new low, going 2 and 12. That same year the Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) gave New Jersey the Trenton Lightning, a pathetic team who lost six straight games before folding. In 2002 the Gladiators had a comeback year as they went 9 and 5, making it to the quarterfinals where they once again fell to the Orlando Predators, this time in a heartbreaking 46 to 49 loss. Unfortunately for Gladiators fans, the team relocated to Las Vegas.

The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) placed a team in Atlantic City as the Card Sharks joined for the 2004 campaign. The team posted a 9 and 5 record before falling to the Lexington Horsemen in the wild-card round of the playoffs. After the season the team disbanded. After the 2004 NIFL season the Staten Island Xtreme moved to New Jersey and became the XTreme. The team had an abysmal 0 and 14 in the 2005 campaign and folded in the offseason. ​In 2006 the upstart Great Lakes Indoor Football League (GLIFL) granted New Jersey a charter team with the New York/New Jersey Revolution. The team didn’t fare well during their first season as they went and abismal 0 and 10, finishing last in the league. The following season, the GLIFL rebranded as the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL). Similar acronym, similar results. The Revolution went a sad 1-11. For the 2008 CIFL season the team rebranded as the New Jersey Revolution, and that year they went 3-9. In 2009 they played three semi-pro games and didn’t participate in the CIFL going 3 and 0. In 2010 the Revolution jumped to the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) in what would end up being the final season for the team and the league the.  However, New Jersey’s dense population continued to entice new leagues and teams.

The Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL) put the Trenton Steel in The Garden State for the 2011 campaign. The team went 8 and 4 before they fell to the Columbus Lions in the Eastern Conference Round 1 before going under. Trenton fielded another indoor football team,  the Trenton Freedom, joining the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) in 2014. The Freedom went 8 and 4 before falling to the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks in the National Conference Championship. In the 2015 season the team went 6-6 and after season’s end the team folded. Last year, the Jersey Flight joined the American Arena League (AAL), going 5 and 3 in their inaugural season, but missing the playoffs.

Since the Red Dogs joined the AFL the Garden State has been home to seven franchises and partaken in eight leagues and over a decade of professional ball New Jersey has an illustrious history of the indoor and arena game.

A journeyman quarterback returns home and tells AFT Buzz all about it.

Jake Medlock is returning to where it all started for him in Florida, as he is the newest quarterback for the Jacksonville Sharks. After playing in the German league and with Cedar Rapids last season, he explains what he will look forward to heading home, the QB battle with Liam Nadler and who on the Sharks roster he will be excited to work with.

Also on the show this week, the AAL also surprised a lot of people -- many of them were high-ranking coaches and front office staff -- when they shifted to three divisions on Christmas Eve. With the move a surprise to many, it makes the divisions meaningless and difficult to put into a playoff format.

Also on the show this week host Brice Burge shares his thoughts on the new AFL logo and what that means for the league as a whole moving into the future and answers fan submitted questions.

AFT Buzz presented by Arena Football Talk airs Fridays at 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 p.m. local time on the 920 WON: The Apple out of Brooklyn, New York City. Fans can listen around the world live at www.live365.com/station/a09178 or through the Live365 app. Shows are available after release at https://www.mixcloud.com/AFTBuzz/.

Back-to-back Coach of the Year and the most recent championship head coach of the IFL Dixie Wooten is our guest on this week's all new AFT Buzz, presented by Arena Football Talk.

Wooten's positive attitude remains ever present, as the coach breaks down why open tryouts are such a positive impact on his rosters. He also describes what his new coaching staff will bring to the team and what it's like coaching one of the most historic franchises in the sport.

Also on the show this week host Brice Burge shares his thoughts on the NY Streets press conference and talks about the interesting comment made by a former owner of the Duke City Gladiators in his goodbye message to fans. Some elves also dropped off a copy of Santa's list with some of the major names in indoor football highlighted on it. We'll see who was naughty and who was nice this year.

AFT Buzz presented by Arena Football Talk airs Fridays at 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 p.m. local time on the 920 WON: The Apple out of Brooklyn, New York City. Fans can listen around the world live at www.live365.com/station/a09178 or through the Live365 app. Shows are available after release at https://www.mixcloud.com/AFTBuzz/.

​Written by Chris Mabry

Today in Frisco, Texas the Texas Revolution held a special press conference. It was held at the practice facility and world headquarters of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys. On hand was current Cowboys tight end Michael Gallop and Cowboys hall of Fame wide receiver Drew Pearson along with NFL Hall of Fame  wide receiver and Texas Revolution General Manager Tim Brown. 

The team was there to announce that for the next three seasons (2019-2021) it will be home to the CIF's Texas Revolution. 

If you haven't been to The star in Frisco, Texas it is phenomenal. When the Dallas Cowboys aren't practicing, it is available to tour and also around the complex there are shops and a workout facility. I was there this past August when the Cowboys held an open practice for fans. I thought to myself sitting and watching the practice how it looks like an indoor/arena football field. 

When the Dallas Cowboys are not practicing, they use The Star for high school football and for the Dallas Rattlers of Major League Lacrosse (MLL) who play their home games at The Star. 

This will be the Texas Revolution's third home since they started playing in 2013. Here are the Revs venues through the years and their seating capacity.

Allen Events Center: 6,275
Dr. Pepper Arena: 3,500
The Star: 15,000

The Texas Revolution will begin the hunt for ring number two when they host the Wichita Force in early March. 

Divisional changes, expansion franchises and more highlight an all-new episode of AFT Buzz, sponsored by Arena Football Talk. 

After discussing the National Arena League's newest franchise in New York, host Brice Burge sits down with Jeff Swartz of Western Michigan University's Cooley Law School. Swartz is a former prosecutor, attorney and Miami-Dade county judge. He explains the ongoing embezzlement allegations and US Department of Labor investigation into the Arena Football League's Players Union and what to expect in the future about this issue. 

The American Arena League is expanding into two divisions based on geography. CEO of the AAL Tony Zefiretto joins the show to talk about that break up, how the West Virginia Roughriders came back to the AAL and what's in the future for the league. Steve Smith, General Manager of the Carolina Havoc, also talks the new format and some of the other moves taken by the franchise.

AFT Buzz presented by Arena Football Talk airs Fridays at 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 p.m. local time on the 920 WON: The Apple out of Brooklyn, New York City. Fans can listen around the world live at www.live365.com/station/a09178 or through the Live365 app. Shows are available after release at https://www.mixcloud.com/AFTBuzz/.

Recently a new league popped up in the Northwestern United States called the American West Football Conference (AWFC). It was launched by Platinum Events & Security LLC who own the Idaho Horsemen. Originally the Horsemen were looking to join Champions Indoor Football (CIF) or the Indoor Football League (IFL). However, with all of the movement between those two leagues as well as teams folding and a few expansion teams they decided to start their own league with teams closer geographically.
The AWFC is currently comprised of five teams in Washington, Idaho, Nevada, and California. Those five teams are the Idaho Horsemen, Reno Express, Sacramento Spartans, Tri-Cities Fire, and Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks. Each of these markets have had teams in the past as recently as 2016. The league is also exploring other regional markets that have hosted teams in the past.
The Idaho Horsemen will play at the Ford Center in Nampa, Idaho. Idaho has previously played host to the Idaho Stallions of the now defunct Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) from 1999-2000 before they renamed to the Boise Stallions for the 2001 season. The team folded after the 2001 season leaving Idaho without indoor/arena football until 2007 when the Boise Burn of the now defunct Arena Football 2 (AF2) kicked off. The Burn would play in the AF2 until folding after the 2009 season.
Reno previously hosted the Reno Barons of the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) in 2011, as that league tried getting a western division together. The team played more as an independent team when the AIFA Western Division didn't totally come to fruition.
Sacramento, California played host in 1992 to the Sacramento Attack of the Arena Football League (AFL) before they relocated to Miami, Florida for the 1993 season where they rebranded as the Miami Hooters. They would later move to Sunrise, Florida and rebrand as the Florida Bobcats.
Kennewick, Washington hosted the Tri-Cities Fever from 2005 through the 2016 season. The franchise started out in the now defunct National Indoor Football League (NIFL) for the 2005 and 2006 seasons. They then joined AF2 for three seasons from 2007 through 2009. When the AF2 shutdown, the Fever were going to be a charter member of Arena Football 1 (AF1), but that league didn't play their inaugural season due to a lack of teams. In order to be able to play that year the team joined the Indoor Football League (IFL). They competed as a member of the IFL through the 2016 season before going dormant, but remaining in good standing with the IFL.
Wenatchee previously hosted the Wenatchee Valley Venom for two seasons in 2010 and 2011. The Venom competed in the AIFA for the 2010 season before leaving for the IFL for a single season in 2011.
There are many other Northwest markets the AWFC has been rumored to be looking into or that could be worth a shot. Kent, Washington played host to the Predators for the 2010 IFL season before being sold and rebranded as the Seattle Timberwolves in time for the 2011 season. For the 2012 season the team relocated to Everett, Washington where they played as the Everett Raptors before folding after one season.
Spokane, Washington is a market with a rich history of arena football. Spokane hosted the Shock from 2006 through 2015. The team played in AF2 from 2006 through 2009 before joining the AFL in time for the 2010 season and competed as an AFL franchise through the 2015 season. The team then left for the IFL and was forced to rebrand as the Empire after losing the rights to the Shock trademark to the AFL. The Empire competed as an IFL franchise for the 2016 and 2017 seasons before shuttering operations.
Yakima, Washington is another market that has played host a couple of teams in 2001 and 2010. In 2001 the city had the Yakima Shockwave in the NIFL and in 2010 the city played host to the Yakima Valley Warriors of the AIFA.
Portland, Oregon is another city with indoor/arena football history. The Portland Forest Dragons were born in time for the 1997 season after moving from Memphis, Tennessee. The Forest Dragons competed in the AFL for three seasons from 1997-1999 before relocating to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in time for the 2000 season. However, for one season in 2000 the Portland Prowlers called the city home as they competed in the IPFL. After the Prowlers ceased operations Portland wouldn't see indoor/arena football until the 2014 AFL season when the league expanded to the Rose City with the addition of the Thunder. The Thunder played two successful seasons before the AFL swooped in and took control of the team catching everyone including the owner off-guard. The AFL was forced to rebrand the team as the previous owner had purchased the rights to the Thunder trademark outright. The AFL rebranded the franchise to the Portland Steel, where under that moniker they played one season before the league shuttered franchise operations.
One Northwest city that might fly under the radar for the majority of indoor/arena football fans that played host to a team is the Southern Oregon city of Central Point. Central Point played host to the Southern Oregon Heat of the NIFL for the 2001 season.
There are plenty of other markets in the western part of the nation that have played host to teams and could potentially again in the future. Those places are states like Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado but the focus of this article was solely on Pacific Northwest markets with the exception of the Reno Express in Nevada and the Sacramento Spartans in California.

According to Massachusetts Pirates management, Ameer Ismail will not be returning as head coach in 2019. In an exclusive AFT interview, team owner Jawad Yatim said Ismail received an offer from the Indoor Football League (IFL) expansion team San Diego Strike Force. It is unknown whether the offer was accepted but Pirate management is actively making plans for Ismail’s replacement. Yatim was unable to confirm , but hinted the replacement is likely to come from within the Pirate organization. 

Coach Ameer Ismail who is well known in the National Arena League (NAL) for his animated board-side coaching style, received the Coach Of The Year award after leading the Mass Pirates to the number one spot in 2018. No reply to AFT request for comment from Coach Ismail. 

“We wish Ameer the best of luck. He’s a great coach for us and a really good friend,” Yatim said about his former team leader. 

In the off season, Pirate owner Jawad Yatim has been busy building his roster. In fact, just hours before our interview, Yatim re-signed wide receiver Mardy Gilyard who racked up 747 total yards and 19 touchdowns in 2018. With the recent loss of Bones Bagaunte to the Columbus Lions, Gilyard will again share the receiving work load with Devonn Brown and giving MVP quarterback Sean Brackett another much needed target. 

Rumor has it the National Arena League, who has been surprisingly quiet in the off season, will be releasing the 2019 schedule next month. Arena Football Talk will have additional information as it becomes available. 

A US Department of Labor investigation is confirmed while allegations against an Arena Football League Players Union executive has gained traction overnight, but there are more questions than answers in the bizarre chain of events.
AFLPU Executive Director Ivan F. Soto is alleged to embezzle $40,000 from the players union. No time period was given for when the funds were allegedly repurposed.
His accuser is Drew Farrand, a realtor from the Indianapolis suburb Carmel. Farrand also accused the Arena Football League of knowing about the alleged embezzlement and that they tried to “keep the embezzlement quiet until after expansion”.
Farrand’s three-tweet thread had only 19 likes and 20 retweets, but received hundreds of reactions when shared on Facebook, prompting reaction from the organizations involved.