The Carolina Havoc were a professional indoor football team based out of Florence, South Carolina , as members of the American Arena League . In the 2018 season, the team was known as the Atlanta Havoc .
80-638: The franchise announced themselves as the Atlanta Havoc , an expansion team who were charter members of the new American Arena League (AAL) on September 10, 2017. The team was added to the AAL on September 22 where it was revealed the owner was Tim Viens , who already owned the Vermont Bucks in the AAL until he sold that team in December 2017. The team also announced that they would play their inaugural 2018 season out of
160-477: A championship game and would instead name three division champions. The East Division champion Charlotte Thunder and West Division champion North Texas Bulls then scheduled their own league championship game regardless of the league's approval; the Midwest Division champion West Michigan Ironmen were not involved. In June 2021, it was reported that league president and commissioner Tony Zefiretto had sold
240-771: A few games as a travel team fill-in for the Dayton Wolfpack of the NAL the previous season. The league also added the Triangle Torch and Upstate Dragons after they previously played in Supreme Indoor Football (SIF), with the SIF's Cape Fear Heroes (the ownership group that operates the SIF) joining the AAL shortly thereafter. By September 13, the Roughriders returned to the AAL when
320-758: A new league called Northern Arena Football (NAF). His Roughriders team, despite the possibility of losing its home arena in Richmond for 2019, was not initially planning on leaving the AAL with the NAF only having teams north of the Maryland-Pennsylvania border. The AAL affiliate team, the New England Cavalry, were the first team added to the NAF. However, by August 28, Fornario had rebranded the new league as Professional Arena Football (PAF) with multiple divisions, Northern Arena Football and Southern Arena Football, and
400-562: A number of indoor and arena football veterans which included quarterback Daryl Clark, wide receivers Thyron Lewis and Rashad Carter and defensive back Micheaux Robinson. Later on in free agency, they would set a precedent as they signed the first international player in the short history of the American Arena League in English national Cameron Craig. The Carolina Havoc would go on to a 7–1 regular season, with their only loss coming against
480-475: A reserve team in the USL or officially affiliate with a separately owned USL team, but this was never strictly enforced. No formal relationship existed between NASL and the other leagues; NASL's commissioner had said he believed it would "stay that way for some time". However, MLS clubs started withdrawing their reserve sides from the USL system in 2020 amid rumors that MLS would relaunch its former MLS Reserve League in
560-631: Is a North American indoor soccer league that serves as the developmental league of the Major Arena Soccer League . Minor league baseball is almost as old as the professional game itself, and at first consisted of attempts to play baseball in smaller cities and towns independent of the National League , the first true major league. Soon, scouts for the National League were traveling to watch minor league teams play and attempting to sign
640-500: Is a manifestation of the franchise system used in North American sports , whereby the group of major league teams in each sport is fixed for long periods between expansions or other adjustments, which only take place with the consent of the major league owners. In Europe , and many other parts of the world, association football (soccer), basketball, american football, baseball, handball, hockey, etc. leagues have many divisions below
720-549: Is standard for sports in both countries , the formal promotion and relegation system is not used, although teams have been informally "promoted" from lower leagues up to Major League Soccer. The United Soccer League operates the USL League Two (formerly the Premier Development League, or PDL), a semi-professional league that has some age restrictions. The National Premier Soccer League operates at approximately
800-544: Is the most prominent of the minor hockey leagues in North America. Minor League Cricket (MiLC) is a developmental league of Major League Cricket that began play in 2021. Other sports organizations considered to be minor leagues are golf's Korn Ferry Tour and Epson Tour , respectively affiliated with the PGA Tour and LPGA ; NASCAR 's Xfinity Series , Camping World Truck Series and Whelen All-American Series (and to
880-652: The Arena Football League in the mid-2000s, prior to its bankruptcy and restructuring. Arena football is played under very different conditions, and the AFL had its own minor league, af2 , until 2009. Several other independent indoor football leagues that play a similar game exist. Similarly, the Canadian Football League , though it has developed ties with the NFL in recent years and has moved away from competing with
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#1732858818066960-559: The Atlanta Havoc . The league then moved their website and retroactively claimed to have been founded as Arena Pro Football and changed its name when the Can-Am teams joined. The league continued to have scheduling issues and canceled games, leading to the Florida Tarpons , East Carolina Torch (formerly the Triangle Torch until they were forced to relocate), and Upstate Dragons choosing to end their seasons early. The last Can-Am team,
1040-597: The Austin Wild and Tampa Bay Tornadoes , as well as new teams in the Chicago Power, North Texas Bulls , Mississippi Raiders, and St. Louis Bandits. Previously listed 2020 teams, the Carolina Cowboyz, Central Penn Chargers, Maryland Eagles, South Florida Thunder, and Western Maryland Warriors were no longer listed as members. The Music City Fire remained listed as a member, but were not scheduled to play any games. Allen
1120-729: The Carolina Energy , including three wins over non-league members. The Havoc then won their divisional playoff game over the Cape Fear Heroes before losing again to the Energy in the league semifinal game. After the season ended, the Florence Center unanimously voted to not renew the Havoc's lease for 2020 citing very low attendance. General manager Steven Smith then resigned in October 2019 and sued
1200-720: The Carolina Havoc and that they would host the All-Star Game at their new arena. The AAL then announced the game would be broadcast on ESPN3 with Mick Moninghoff as play-by-play commentator on August 25. The game was held and the Stripes defeated the Stars by a score of 34–29, but the game was broadcast on Facebook instead and all references to their ESPN3 announcement were taken down on game day. On August 15, 2018, Richmond Roughriders' owner Gregg Fornario announced his intentions of creating
1280-541: The ECHL . On "the farm", the NHL team will develop young players, occasionally rehabilitate older players who are injured or whose quality of play has slumped. These teams, in turn, have lower-level minor leagues to draw players from and pass players down to. Minor professional ice hockey leagues should not be confused with Junior (amateur players) or Senior (semi-professional to amateur) ice hockey leagues. The American Hockey League
1360-690: The Jersey Flight of Trenton, New Jersey , was added to the league. In January 2018, Tim Viens sold his first team, the Vermont Bucks, to solely operate the Atlanta Havoc. The new Bucks' owners then folded the team a month later and another new team, called the Peach State Cats (originally announced in the semi-professional Elite Indoor Football), was added but were only scheduled for away games. The Glens Falls Gladiators ceased operations just prior to
1440-631: The National Arena League in June 2024, prior to the AAL2 playoffs. After the end of the regular season, the Texas Hotshots claimed that none of the league teams paid salaries to players. On October 2nd, 2024, the AAL2 announced "Part 1" of their new teams for the 2025 season. The Georgia Indians, Mississippi Wolfpack, New York Smash, Pittsburgh Outlaws, and Tri-City Rivergators were announced to be joining
1520-651: The National Football League (NFL). The NFL and its teams have had working relationships with several independent leagues in the past, including the Association of Professional Football Leagues , the Atlantic Coast Football League , and most recently, the league owned-and-operated NFL Europe . In modern times, the NFL has developed players not ready for the active roster through each team's practice squad . Several NFL owners had purchased teams in
1600-668: The United States Soccer Federation , but through the affiliated United States Adult Soccer Association . The USL organization has announced plans to create a full women's developmental pathway, establishing the semi-professional third-level USL W League (USLW; not to be confused with its former W-League) in 2022 and planning to launch the USL Super League (USLS) in 2023. The USL has applied for U.S. Soccer sanctioning of USLS; it has not yet announced its sanctioning plans for USLW. The Major Arena Soccer League 2 (M2)
1680-520: The Wheeling Miners , who were originally slated for American Indoor Football . In December 2023, the league announced that the 2024 season will feature 13 teams split into East and West Divisions, with teams playing six to eight games from April 13 through June 7, 2024. The teams include: The Jersey Bearcats, Maryland Eagles, Western Maryland Warriors, Steel City Stampede, Carolina Predators, Peach State Cats, Delaware Bullsharks and Wheeling Miners in
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#17328588180661760-429: The top-flight level as part of the football pyramid . In other parts of the world there is usually either a system of annual promotion and relegation , meaning that clubs have no fixed status in the hierarchy, or there is only one professional league per country in each sport, rendering the major/minor distinction irrelevant. While there are various semi-professional football leagues, none have any affiliation with
1840-464: The "NBA D-League") and NBA Summer League . The now-defunct Continental Basketball Association (CBA) served some of the purposes of a minor league for the NBA for many years. However, there were no direct developmental agreements between CBA and NBA teams the way that there are between Major League Baseball and National Hockey League teams and their minor league affiliates. Pro Semi-Pro The sport with
1920-597: The 2020 season including the Louisville Xtreme , Music City Fire, Pennsylvania Copperheads, Pennsylvania Union, South Florida Thunder (as a travel-only team), and the Tampa Bay Tornadoes . The league also merged with the semiprofessional Mid-Atlantic Indoor Football League, adding the Central Penn Chargers, Jersey Bearcats, Maryland Eagles, Reading Raptors, and Western Maryland Warriors. However, before
2000-600: The 2024 season. In September 2023 the league announced that two Dallas, Texas , based teams—the Dallas Falcons (from the American Indoor Football Alliance ) and the Texas Hotshots—will join the league's newly formed Texas Division for the 2024 season. In October, former AAL member, Carolina Predators announced they're joining for the 2024. On November 1, 2023, the league added a new team for 2024,
2080-622: The AAL to form new league called Arena Indoor Football Alliance . The Charlotte Thunder and West Michigan Ironmen left to form their own league (Arena Professional Football League, later succeeded by Great Lakes Arena Football after the Ironmen took sole control over the league), the North Texas Bulls left to join the new Texas-based Arena Football Association , and the San Antonio Gunslingers were announced as an expansion team in
2160-538: The AAL yet. The AAL then deleted all references of the Roughriders from their social media posts within two days and the Roughriders later announced they had joined the National Arena League (NAL). By early July, the only teams that had not been deleted from their social media posts were the Bucks, Gladiators, Kings, and Tarpons. On July 13, the league added the Georgia Doom of Macon, Georgia . The Doom organization had played
2240-634: The AAL's minor league but has since effectively taken its parent league's place. Arena Pro Football (APF) was originally announced as the National Arena Football League in 2016 following the dissolution of American Indoor Football (AIF). The league announced their first three teams as the Birmingham Outlawz, Myrtle Beach Sharks, and Savannah Coastal Outlaws. The league changed its name to Arena Pro Football (APF) in September 2016 after
2320-432: The AAL. The Topeka Thundercats then announced they would join the AAL in a new Midwest-based division. In December, the league announced that some of the teams that had announced themselves had already been evaluated and were not members of the AAL. The league then updated its website in December 2020 with a list of 17 teams in three divisions for the 2021 season, including Allen, San Antonio, and El Paso. It also re-added
2400-513: The Alabama Outlawz and Florida Tarpons, which Florida won, 42–18. After playing three away games, all losses, the Alabama Outlawz canceled their first home game. On April 26, they then announced that they had canceled the rest of their season, which had originally been scheduled as all home games. The Myrtle Beach Sharks appeared to have rejoined the APF mid-season; however, it was for away games only and
2480-465: The American Arena League, which the APF would later confirm. The championship between the two leagues was never played or referenced by either league again. In June 2017, the now-merged league announced its inaugural members over its social media page. From the Can-Am, the league added the Boston Blaze, Buffalo Blitz , Connecticut Chiefs, Glens Falls Gladiators, Rochester Kings, Vermont Bucks , and
Carolina Havoc - Misplaced Pages Continue
2560-520: The Birmingham Outlawz accidentally posted the NAFL logo of the proposed North American Football League as their league logo. They added expansion teams in the Cape Fear Wildcats and Richmond Roughriders . The league also added the Florida Tarpons and River City Raiders from the recently defunct AIF. The Central Florida Jaguars and Palm Beach Phantoms were also listed as members until both moved to
2640-591: The Blitz ownership), New Hampshire Brigade, Rochester Kings, as well as Viens' Vermont Bucks. During the Can-Am's first few months, it added and removed the Baltimore Lightning, Cleveland Saints , an unnamed team in Erie, Pennsylvania , Lockport Lightning, and Reading Raptors as league members without playing a game. Prior to its first season, the APF formed several agreements with other upstart leagues. The first affiliation
2720-505: The Buford Arena, a local arena used by Buford High School , in Buford, Georgia . On April 14, 2018, founder and majority owner Tim Viens stepped away from the team. After going undefeated for the first six league games, the Havoc initially lost their first game due to a forfeit to the Cape Fear Heroes for not having their field goal posts ready for their home game on May 26. The team appealed
2800-484: The Can-Am Indoor Football League (Can-Am), although the AAL only claimed the APF history after the former Can-Am founder left the league. Teams from both leagues, new teams, and later teams from Supreme Indoor Football and National Arena League constituted the new league for its inaugural season. Since 2023, the league has operated as American Arena League 2 ( AAL2 ), which was originally conceived as
2880-526: The Central Penn Chargers (the team that played in Can-Am playoff game against the Bucks). From the APF, the league added the Florida Tarpons , Richmond Roughriders , and the announced expansion team Hampton Roads Riptides. The Roughriders had previously stated that they were looking to join to the Indoor Football League (IFL) or the National Arena League (NAL) and that they had not committed to joining
2960-675: The East Division and the Dallas Falcons, Austin Wolverines, Texas Hotshots, Waco Tornadoes and West Texas Warriors in the west division. The Falcons briefly assumed the identity of the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League for one game in 2024, serving as replacement players after the head coach and most of the roster were unable to travel to the game against the Louisiana VooDoo . Wheeling announced its intent to depart for
3040-685: The Heroes 61–54 to face the top-seeded Richmond Roughriders in the AAL championship. They defeated the Roughriders 58–50. On July 26, 2018, general manager Josh Resignalo announced they had signed a one-year lease to play at the Florence Center in Florence, South Carolina . The team was rebranded as the Carolina Havoc. Resignalo also took over head coaching responsibilities as Boo Mitchell stayed in Georgia and
3120-535: The Jaguars and Phantoms had attended the December 2016 league meetings as APF affiliates. None of these inter-league games were ever played and the EIFC played one weekend outdoors before ceasing operations. On November 14, 2016, both the APF and Can-Am announced an alliance with each other where the playoff champions of each league meet for an inter-league championship game. The APF played its first game on March 10, 2017, between
3200-446: The Jaguars' self-created league, Elite Indoor Football Conference. The Cape Fear Wildcats were later postponed to a presumed 2018 season. The Birmingham Outlawz later changed their name back to Alabama Outlawz after they failed to secure an arena in Birmingham. The Myrtle Beach Sharks announced they had joined the outdoor Gridiron Developmental Football League on March 7 and had left the APF. The Can-Am Indoor Football League (Can-Am)
3280-435: The Mid-Atlantic Indoor Football League, in their postseason game. The Kings defeated the Blitz 64–12 and the Bucks defeated the Chargers 46–6. The Bucks defeated the Kings in Rochester for the league championship on June 12 by a score of 61–41. During the two league's first seasons, the Can-Am's founder Tim Viens announced on April 14, 2017, that for the 2018 season the APF and Can-Am leagues would officially merge and create
Carolina Havoc - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-414: The NAL had increased its criteria for new teams. On September 20, the High Country Grizzlies , formerly of the NAL, also joined the AAL. By fall 2017, the teams began releasing their inaugural schedules and expansion teams, the Atlanta Havoc (owned by league president Viens) and the Carolina Energy , were added to the league. The AAL also added three affiliated teams that would fill in for home games of
3440-427: The NAL. In December 2021, the new ownership led by AJ Roque and Jermaine Sanders, the owners of the Jersey Bearcats, launched the new website for league following the completion of the sale from Tony Zefiretto. They then hired Kevin O'Hanlon as commissioner. They announced they would be launching "American Arena League 2" in 2022. AAL2 was delayed until 2023 and was initially to serve as the AAL's minor league, which
3520-414: The NFL for talent, plays a visibly different game than the American game, and the two sports favor different types of skills; the CFL arguably holds major league status in its home territory of Canada . Several minor or developmental leagues, independent of the NFL, have come and gone. Some, such as the Alliance of American Football and Fall Experimental Football League (along with the FXFL's successor,
3600-465: The Raiders had originally been scheduled for was one of the canceled Alabama home games and against the Myrtle Beach Sharks. By the end of the season, the only remaining teams operating were the Richmond Roughriders and Florida Tarpons. The Roughriders defeated the Tarpons, 74–61, in the championship game on June 10, 2017, after the Roughriders finished the season undefeated. The Can-Am also had significant inconsistencies in team members and scheduling. By
3680-458: The Rochester Kings, also appeared to have ceased playing league games altogether during the season. The Georgia Doom defeated both the league-leading teams, the Atlanta Havoc and Richmond Roughriders , but then chose not to participate in the playoffs. The Havoc went on to win the championship over the top-seeded Roughriders 58–50. Shortly after the 2018 season ended, the Atlanta Havoc announced their relocation to Florence, South Carolina , as
3760-402: The Roughriders were announced as part of Professional Arena Football on August 30, leaving the AAL. By September 2018, the AAL confirmed five teams were returning for a 2019 season: the Cape Fear Heroes , Carolina Energy , Georgia Doom , High Country Grizzlies , and Peach State Cats (with the Cats relocating to Athens, Georgia , and no longer a travel-only team). The Florida Tarpons left
3840-413: The Roughriders won 55–29. After the season, Fornario again stated he was removing the Roughriders from the AAL. The Roughriders, as well as the Jersey Flight , were accepted to join the National Arena League (NAL) for the 2020 season. The league also lost the Burgh Defenders (removed from league), Carolina Havoc (loss of lease), and Peach State Cats (left league). The AAL announced several new teams for
3920-400: The Short-Season A level eliminated from the minor leagues, and all leagues above Rookie level in the affiliated system renamed. Also, four independent leagues were officially designated as "MLB Partner Leagues". In 2022, the leagues renamed in 2021 reverted to their traditional names. The National Basketball Association has affiliated minor leagues: the NBA G League (formerly called
4000-417: The Vermont Bucks and Boston Blaze each losing one game (Vermont lost to Boston, and Boston to Rochester). The Kings announced they were to host the Buffalo Blitz in the Western Division championship on June 3. The Bucks were to host the Boston Blaze in the Eastern Division championship. However, the Bucks later announced they were facing the semi-professional Central Penn Chargers, a team that primarily played in
4080-458: The advent of television; minor league clubs only survived in many markets because their major league affiliations included financial support. The trend began to reverse in the 1990s, as new independent minor leagues began for the first time in decades and have become successful to varying levels. In 2021, a major reorganization of the minor leagues saw the number of affiliated teams (i.e., those with formal links to MLB teams) reduced from 160 to 120,
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#17328588180664160-523: The coming years; these rumors were proved correct by the 2022 establishment of MLS Next Pro . MLS Next (stylized in all caps) is a system of youth soccer leagues that are managed, organized and controlled by Major League Soccer . It was introduced by the league in 2020. Semi-professional and amateur leagues sanctioned by the United States Adult Soccer Association are USL League Two , National Premier Soccer League , NISA Nation and United Premier Soccer League . The system, introduced in mid-2020,
4240-399: The end of the season, there were only five teams remaining: the Buffalo Blitz, Glens Falls Gladiators (as a travel-only team, had a short winless season and were disqualified from playoff participation), Rochester Kings, Vermont Bucks, and the Tim Viens-owned Boston Blaze, a travel-only team that only played the second half of the season. The Rochester Kings finished their season undefeated with
4320-411: The following game, and last regular season, to the Georgia Doom , dropping to the second seed for the playoffs. However, the third-seeded Doom then opted out of participating in the playoffs, leading to a scheduled match-up against the Heroes at home. The league then announced that the Heroes would host the semifinal game instead despite retaining the third seed. The Havoc would win the semifinal game over
4400-438: The forfeit claiming the opponent did not wait long enough before leaving; the forfeit loss was expunged from the Havoc's record, while the walkover win was still awarded to the Heroes. The Havoc were then allowed to schedule another league game for the following week, traveled to play the Carolina Energy instead of their non-league home game against the Peach State Cats, and lost their first actual game 45–41. The Havoc also lost
4480-424: The large number of American-based teams is that minor league franchises will frequently move from city to city, and even between leagues. In contrast, Canadian cities more commonly host major junior teams, which develop teenage prospects prior to their move to the professional leagues. All National Hockey League teams have a farm team in the American Hockey League and often have a secondary affiliated team in
4560-487: The league and formed a new Florida-based league while rebranding as the Lakeland Tarpons . The defending champion Carolina Havoc later announced they would remain in the league. The Roughriders returned to AAL, now as the Wheeling -based West Virginia Roughriders , after Fornario's plans for the PAF fell through. On December 12, 2018, the league announced its 2019 alignment split into a four-team Northern Division and an eight-team Southern Division. The league also announced
4640-510: The league for the spring 2025 season. With the AAL announcing that they are undergoing a full rebrand, the status of the member teams is unknown. The "Teams" tab of the AAL website is currently inaccessible, and the tab is nested under the "Coming Soon" tab. Source: The following teams participated in the AAL's 2021 season before that league went dormant. Italics represent travel-only teams. Minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as
4720-452: The league members and count for league games: the Austin Wild (formerly the Cap City Bulls of Austin, Texas , which had played as a traveling team in the SIF during 2017), the New England Cavalry (operated by the outdoor semi-professional organization out of Concord, New Hampshire ), and the Savannah Coastal Outlaws (originally announced as an AAL member from the APF merger). In December 2017, another previously announced NAL expansion team,
4800-467: The league then added a Midwest Division composed of three teams that had been in the developmental Midwest Professional Indoor Football (MPIF): the Chicago Aztecs, Indianapolis Enforcers , and West Michigan Ironmen . Less than a month prior to the start of the 2019 season, the High Country Grizzlies ceased operations and the Chicago Aztecs withdrew for the season reducing the league to 13 teams. The Georgia Doom and New England Bobcats later folded during
4880-410: The league to the ownership of the Jersey Bearcats and Indianapolis Enforcers . The new ownership reportedly approved of the game between the Thunder and Bulls, which was won by the North Texas Bulls 60–43 on June 26. After the 2021 season concluded, four members of the East Division (Carolina Predators, Tampa Bay Tornadoes , Pennsylvania Union and Mississippi Raiders) announced that they would leave
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#17328588180664960-475: The more talented ones away. Soon Major League Baseball began formal developmental agreements with some minor league teams, while others remained independent . Since it was first developed in the 1920s by St. Louis Cardinals executive Branch Rickey , the formal developmental affiliations have come to dominate minor league baseball, and the majority of minor leagues are part of the affiliated system. A general decline in minor league attendance occurred following
5040-445: The next most extensive system of minor league teams other than baseball is ice hockey . In North America, between 1988 and 2005, 233 minor league ice hockey teams played in a total of 160 cities in 13 minor professional leagues. The vast majority of these teams played in the United States, with only 21 of these teams based in Canadian cities. 123 of these minor professional teams played in the southern United States. One reason given for
5120-432: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, several teams have announced they would be joining the league in 2021. In September 2020, a new team called the West Texas Buccaneers in El Paso, Texas , announced itself as a league member of a Texas-based division, along with several other potential cities for the 2021 season. New Texas teams called the San Antonio Gunslingers and Allen Tiger-Cats then announced they were joining
5200-405: The premier leagues in those sports . Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in North America with regard to several organizations competing in various sports. They generally have lesser fan bases, much smaller revenues and salaries, and are used to develop players for bigger leagues. The minor league concept
5280-429: The return of the Jersey Flight , as well as the additions of the Carolina Cowboyz (now full-time members with a home arena in Pendleton, South Carolina ), the traveling team Carolina Predators, the New England Bobcats (formerly of Elite Indoor Football), and the Burgh Defenders ( Pittsburgh ). The AAL then split the Southern Division into a Southern and Mid-Atlantic Division prior to the scheduled release. In January 2019,
5360-462: The same level as USL League Two. In 2013 Major League Soccer announced a partnership with the USL organization which began formal affiliation between some USL teams and MLS teams. The partnership continued to deepen through the 2010s; by the end of that decade, most MLS teams fielded their reserve teams in the USLC, while a few had their reserve sides in USL1 instead of the USLC. For several years, MLS nominally required all of its teams to either field
5440-502: The season could start, most venues were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the season was subsequently cancelled. During the following offseason, the league lost the Louisville Xtreme and Tampa Bay Tornadoes to the NAL without the teams playing a game in the AAL. By December 2020, the league had not confirmed any new teams and repeatedly stated it would not announce any 2021 season plans or teams until there were further developments in regards to teams being able to actually play due to
5520-437: The season, while the Coastal Outlaws would also never play an AAL game with many of their games replaced with the Carolina Cowboyz, also originally of Elite Indoor Football, to bring the league to twelve members and three affiliates to start the 2018 season. Partway through the first AAL season, co-founder Tim Viens resigned from his positions within the league on April 14, 2018, and would also no longer be involved with his team,
5600-404: The season. There were many other canceled or rescheduled home games either due to arena issues or the away team not traveling. On April 27, 2019, league co-founder and president Jack Bowman died after an illness and the league championship was then named the Jack Bowman Trophy. The Carolina Energy traveled to face the West Virginia Roughriders for the newly renamed championship on June 29, and
5680-485: The still extant but non-paying The Spring League ), have explicit minor league and developmental aspirations. Others, such as the United Football League and both the 2001 and 2020 incarnations of the XFL, have sought to maintain independence and maintain a national profile while acknowledging the lack of funds (particularly from television, which is by far the NFL's largest revenue stream) that would be needed to compete for NFL-caliber talent. The UFL during its existence
5760-771: The team called the Sharks were wearing the defunct Myrtle Beach Freedom uniforms. After playing all five home games to open the season, the River City Raiders declined to travel to play the Richmond Roughriders for their scheduled May 20 game. The Roughriders were able to secure an opponent in the Atlanta Furious, a team that primarily played in the Southern Steam 's Elite Indoor Football (although many of those league's games were played outdoors). The only other away games
5840-475: The team over unpaid salary adding up to more than $ 32,000. Head coach Anson Yarbourough then joined former general manager Josh Resignalo with the Carolina Cobras as a defensive coordinator. American Arena League The American Arena League ( AAL ) is a professional indoor football minor league that began playing in 2018. The league was initiated by a merger between Arena Pro Football (APF) and
5920-531: Was active for the first time during the 2020–21 season. It is a successor to the U.S. Soccer Development Academy . The system covers the under-13, under-14, under-15, under-16, under-17 and under-19 age groups. The developmental pathway for players outside the collegiate system has so far been mostly an ad hoc affair, with semi-professional and amateur leagues including the former USL W-League . The current United Women's Soccer , UWS League 2 and Women's Premier Soccer League not being sanctioned directly through
6000-735: Was also formed from the remnants of the AIF when Tim Viens , the owner of the announced 2017 AIF expansion team Vermont Bucks , started his own league. With Viens serving as league president, the league added the Buffalo Blitz and Ontario-Niagara Spartans (both run by owners of established semi-professional teams, the Buffalo Gladiators and Steel City Patriots, respectively), as well as the Connecticut Chiefs (travel-only), Glens Falls Gladiators (travel-only), Niagara Falls Thunder (also operated by
6080-443: Was named general manager of the Peach State Cats . However, on September 29, Resignalo announced that he stepped down as head coach and general manager of the Carolina Havoc to take a new position as assistant coach of the National Arena League 's defending champion Carolina Cobras . Steven Smith was then named the general manager and then former defensive lineman Anson Yarbourough was named the head coach. The team would go on to sign
6160-506: Was recognized and accepted as the second tier of professional football behind the NFL, with several former NFL stars playing in the UFL near the ends of their careers. High-level Low-level High-level Mid-level Low-level Below Major League Soccer several lower-level leagues operate on both sides of the U.S.–Canada border as part of the American and Canadian soccer pyramids. As
6240-699: Was removed in January 2021 and replaced with a team called the Texas Takeover based in Fort Worth, which was also removed in February. The season started with two games on March 13, 2021. Reading left the league March 27 without playing a game. St. Louis withdrew from the season in May after two league games played citing COVID-19 concerns. Tampa Bay did not play its final three scheduled games. The league announced it would not have
6320-560: Was supposed to also relaunch in 2023, but by the time of the start of the 2023 season, only the AAL2 was active. The 2023 AAL2 season saw the Steel City Stampede finishing first after a perfect regular season (6–0). The Jersey Bearcats won the AAL2's first championship after defeating the Stampede 39–18 in the league final. In January 2023 the league announced that Wilmington, Delaware based Delaware Bull Sharks will be joining for
6400-656: Was with United States Indoor Football, a summer league that was to play all its games in Savannah, Georgia , and operated by the Coastal Outlaws (the organization that also runs the Savannah Coastal Outlaws). On November 3, 2016, the league announced inter-league play with the Central Florida Jaguars' Elite Indoor Football Conference. However, all references to the EIFC were removed in January 2017 even after
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