In September we noted that a new indoor football league, known as Arena League 1, was preparing to begin play in 2010, combining teams from the defunct Arena Football League, the minor league called af2, and other indoor football leagues. Now Arena League 1 has a TV deal.
NFL Network will air games from Arena League 1 (which is expected to adopt the old Arena Football League name once all the deals with all the teams are in place) on Friday nights beginning in April, Sports Business Journal is reporting.
“We embrace football at all levels,” said Charles Coplin, vice president of programming for the NFL. “This spring schedule gives us a weekly live game featuring some players who may eventually play in the NFL.”
The new Arena League isn’t going to be a ratings juggernaut for NFL Network, but it’s more football on TV. No one can complain about that.
in other news, I’m starting my own book club.
yayyy something to watch!!!
And it sure beats out another airing of “The Top 10 Slipperiest Return Men Bloopers”
All football is great, but Arena football is my personal favorite. The games are fast, the scoring enormous, and the outcome is usually up for grabs to a greater extent than in the outdoor game.
I had season tix for the Manchester Wolves in 2009 and also went to the New England Surge of CIFL in 2007-8; I also watched AFL on NBC and ESPN and there is a sports bar in Manchester, NH that aired the internet feed of Wolves road games; I saw their playoff loss in Iowa this way and the game lead changed five times in the third quarter.
It is absolutely worth it to air Arena games; these games are terrific.
Tough choice, watch Arena League football, or squirt pepper spray in my eyes.
Yeah! Jacksonville football fans may actually get to watch a local team on TV. Jacsonville Sharks > Jacksonville Jaguars.
This might be the right way to promote this style of football.NFL Network is a popular enough entity to legitimize (sort of) the league. Good to see them trying to fix Arena football.In the smaller cities they provide an affordable option for entertainment.
They would have been better off trying to get on ESPN2. It’s almost as bad as Versus because of the tier that it’s on. Anyone remember who used to NOT be watched on the NFL Network? Yeah, that’s right NFL Europe(a). The NFL pulled them off of Fox Sports and this does the same thing for the Arena League. The league needs to get eyeballs on its product and not hide away from the public by parking its ass on the NFL Network.
While it naturally is NOT the quality of play of the NFL, I have always enjoyed arena ball because of the fast pace and enthusiasm of the players and fans. I’ve been to a few games and it is fun as long as you go into it accepting the fact that it is just a different game from the NFL.
Besides, it helps get me through that long dry spell of no football from today through July. I was beginning to go into withdrawal until I saw this headline!
The NFL just eventually buy the Arena League and turn it into a farm system for the NFL. Each NFL club would have one Arena League club associated with it. The rights to every player on that Arena team would be exclusively with the NFL team.
That way a team—like the Cardinals, for instance—could take a rookie quarterback who needs developing, send him down to Arena ball, and still have his rights. There would be no need to keep the guy on the active roster of the NFL team or even of the practice squad. Four years later, the player is developed, he’s called up by the big league team, and he is ready to go in the NFL.
How about it, NFL?
It would be nice if we could actualy get NFLN
And when there is no NFL in 2011 they will have something to fill the air-time with.
Smart, way to think ahead.
leatherneck, NO, NO, NO. The Arena League takes a different kind of athlete all around. Everyone likes to point to Kurt Warner but I believe that while the Arena League allowed him to keep his arm lively, his time at NFL Europe was the key to getting him in the NFL. The Arena League is not a good place for QBs because they learn a lot of bad habits. They can get away with a lot of throws that end up as interceptions in the NFL. Defenses are hampered by the rules and changing the rules to suit the NFL would kill the league. The league provided the NFL with a few players but not as many as you would think. NFL Europe was a better option for the league because these players played on NFL-sized fields with mostly NFL rules, against NFL talent. The league would be better off building a minor league in the US or maybe working a deal with the UFL (and maybe, move the league to the spring).
NICE! Big arena football fan, GO SPOKANE SHOCK!
Also, DeVan, RG of the Colts was a former arena football 2 player for the Boise Burn. Hope this deal goes out well!
nfl network should cover canadian football league games too during the summer. their season starts in june and many of those cfl players were nfl cuts or will join the nfl the year after season ends if real good- most of the players come from american colleges.
Also, another consideration is that the Arena League has a lot smaller rosters because most of the players play two ways. This cuts down the number of players that you develop, unless you’re willing to pay more to have bigger rosters.
As long as the NFL isn’t running it, they will do just fine.
over under, round and round, so your feet won’t touch the ground.
anybody have a spare chair I can borrow, for like a second?
Stallworth will be a STAR in the af2.