REPORT: ARENA LEAGUE REVERSES COURSE, CANCELS ’09 SEASON

Five days after the owners of the 16 Arena Football League franchises voted not to follow through on tentative plans to scuttle the 2009 season, the owners have apparently changed their minds. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the AFL will announce on Monday that the 2009 season has been canceled, and that the 21-year-old indoor pro football league will return in 2010. The decision, per the report, was made during a Sunday night conference call. Several teams reportedly did not plan to participate in the 2009 season, including the Dallas Desperadoes (owned by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones), the Philadelphia Soul (owned in part by Ron Jaworski and Jon Bon Jovi), the Colorado Crush (owned in part by John Elway and Broncos owner Pat Bowlen), the Georgia Force (owned by Falcons owner Arthur Blank), the Chicago Rush, and the Cleveland Gladiators. “We couldn’t be taken seriously if we lost too many teams, especially in big markets,” an unnamed source told the Plain Dealer. “That’s what was going to happen. We needed to shut down and reorganize.”