Nov 27, 2019

Arena Football League shuts down after filing for bankruptcy

Fadel Allassan

A player catches the ball. — Photo: Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Arena Football League is shutting down after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the league announced Wednesday.

The big picture: The league had operated for 32 years, but had been "evaluating potential strategic operations before making the decision to suspend operations" this year. Sources told Axios in July that the league had sought capital funding and was planning on adding two franchises per year for three years with an emphasis on markets with legal sports betting.

What they're saying:

“We’re all disappointed that we couldn’t find a way forward and we wanted to thank our fans, our players, coaches, everyone who loved the Arena Football League. We all love the game and tried very hard to make it successful, but we simply weren’t able to raise the capital necessary to grow the League, resolve the substantial legacy liabilities and make it financially viable.”

— AFL commissioner Randall Boe in a statement

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Arena Football League shuts down after filing for bankruptcy

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