Arena Football

Arena Football takes the game inside!

Arena Football is an indoor game that was invented and patented by James F. Foster.  He is said to have had the idea while attending his first indoor soccer game, drawing the field and dimensions on a 9x12 manila envelope.  Foster worked on his plans for the game and then in 1986 and 1987 spot-tested the game in two Chicago arenas.  He successfully obtained financial backing from a number of companies as well as a TV contract with ESPN, and the Arena Football League was launched in 1987.  

 In its first year the league was the home of four teams--the Pittsburgh Gladiators, DC Commandos, Chicago Bruisers, and the Denver Dynamite. At the end of the first season, the league championship, known as the ArenaBowl was won by the Denver Dynamite. 

The league expanded to twenty teams under Commissioner C. David Baker (1996-) and became a major sports entity. 

Foster, along with partners Bill Niro and Jerry Kurz still hold the patent to the game and registered trademarks.  Jerry Kurz is head of Arena Football’s indoor minor league which has expanded into several mid-size cities. 

Arena Football has a field that is 50 yards long with end lines that are eight yards.  It can be played on a totally rectangular field or on a rounded field depending on whether the venue is also used as a basketball court or hockey arena respectively.  Barriers and sidelines are heavily padded.  The goal crossbar is 15-feet high and the goal posts are 9-feet high. There are rebound nets on either side of the goalposts and the ball continues in play when bounced off of these nets.

Unlike outside football teams, this indoor version has eight players on the field at a time with an overall roster of twenty men.  There were major rule changes in 2007--the biggest one, the “Elway Rule,” being that players may now be substituted at will.  Previously only one substitution was allowed in each quarter, making what were termed “ironman” rules. Now coaches can field their best players at all times. 

 In Arena Football punting is illegal.  Each team has four downs to go ten yards to score. All balls that bounce off the padded walls remain in play.  Scoring adds a 4-point drop kick field goal and a 2-point touchdown conversion to standard football rules.

Arena Football is a summer sport. Most of the team owners originate from the NFL and from the celebrity-entertainment industry.  It began its 2008 season with high popularity and a financial investment plus TV coverage from ESPN.  The league had close to two million fans in 2007.  Anyone investing in the original year of Arena Football has done pretty well--according to USA Today, expansion teams could be had for $400,000 in 1996 . Today the value of a new franchise is closer to $20 million.