Arena Football League ( 2004 – 2005 , 2007 – 2008 )
70-785: Second franchise: (as the Battle Wings from 2001 to 2010) af2 ( 2001 – 2009 ) Arena Football League ( 2010 – 2015 ) The New Orleans VooDoo were a professional arena football team based in New Orleans , Louisiana . They were members of the Arena Football League from 2004 to 2015. The VooDoo were the second team to play in the Arena Football League and play in New Orleans, the New Orleans Night , who had competed in
140-595: A human skull wearing a top hat and sunglasses . In their first year, they drew big crowds to their home games as they became the second team other than the Orlando Predators or Tampa Bay Storm to win the AFL's Southern Division . The team's average attendance of 15,240 ranked fifth in the league and was a major factor in the VooDoo's 7–1 regular season home record. In 2005, the team started strong, but later found itself on
210-480: A 16–38 in three seasons as head coach, O'Hara was not offered a new contract for 2015. The VooDoo instead announced the hiring of Alabama Hammers Head Coach, Dean Cokinos . On July 12, 2015, ArenaFan.com reported that the VooDoo and the Las Vegas Outlaws were to be taken over by the league due to poor attendance and financial issues. Both teams were expected to finish the season, then commissioner Scott Butera
280-700: A logo was developed and venues had begun to be lined up, the league and its nine teams were purchased by the AF2 on July 29, 1999, and the Xtreme Football League never played a single game. The AF2 finally took the field in March 2000 in a game between the Birmingham Steeldogs and Tennessee Valley Vipers (two of the acquired XFL teams). Fifteen teams were fielded in 2000 with the rights for several more cities quickly secured. The Orlando Predators also purchased
350-462: A return of the league for 2013, but that did not materialize. Kurz had also mentioned af2 in an interview on The AFL Podcast in 2024. The ArenaCup was the AF2's championship game, held annually in August. For the league's first five years, it was held at the home arena of the higher-seeded remaining team. However, as the old AFL has changed, the AF2 also changed. In the same year that ArenaBowl XIX
420-409: A success, the league returned for a second season and returned all 15 original teams as well as 13 expansion teams. For legal purposes, the league was effectively dissolved on September 8, 2009, when no team submitted the paperwork to return in 2010. Since the original AFL had suspended 2009 operations and later suspended all operations indefinitely after declaring bankruptcy , the minority owners (as
490-682: The 1991 and 1992 AFL seasons in the Louisiana Superdome , one of the few stadiums capable of a full-size football surface to host arena football. In contrast to the Night, the VooDoo played their home games in both of their incarnations at the Smoothie King Center . The original New Orleans VooDoo played in the AFL from 2004 to 2008, at which point the league suspended operations. During that time they were owned in part by Tom Benson , who also owned
560-650: The Acadiana Mudbugs (2009) before being rebranded as the Lafayette Wildcatters of the Southern Indoor Football League in 2010 and moving to the Cajundome . Af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2 , and short for arenafootball2 ) was the Arena Football League 's developmental league ; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using
630-643: The Daytona Beach ThunderBirds , from the WIFL , and the Austin Wranglers moved down from the AFL . After the season, Austin and Daytona Beach folded, along with Louisville , Lubbock , and Texas . The league was expected to expand to Toledo, Ohio and Worcester, Massachusetts by 2011. When AF2 folded, some teams joined the AF2 Board of Directors in forming the new "Arena Football 1" that soon became
700-782: The Fort Wayne Fusion , the Cincinnati Jungle Kats , and the Laredo Lobos . The Everett Hawks , Alabama Steeldogs , and the Bakersfield Blitz also ceased operations. For 2008, the league fielded one team fewer, at 29. Two teams were reactivated: the Iowa Barnstormers and the Peoria Pirates , and the league admitted three new teams that were transferring from other leagues. The Lexington Horsemen came from UIF ;
770-637: The Jacksonville Sharks put the VooDoo in first place heading into the final month of the regular season. Unfortunately, the VooDoo dropped their last three games including an overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Storm 78–77. The team backed into the playoffs with the Tampa Bay Storm losing to the Spokane Shock in the final week. The VooDoo however, fell the following week in the conference semifinals to
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#1732851799536840-577: The National Football League 's New Orleans Saints . At the completion of the 2008 season, VooDoo owner Tom Benson announced the disbanding of the VooDoo. This led to the termination of operations for the AFL and ultimate filing by the League of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. The minor league affiliate of the AFL, af2 , continued play through the 2009 season. In the Fall of 2009, several af2 owners, Paul Ross of
910-559: The National Indoor Football League , a rival indoor league, saw large numbers of expansion teams after beginning play in 2001 but many struggled financially and played only briefly, incurring considerable financial losses before folding. In more recent years, the American Basketball Association has exhibited the same situation to an even greater degree. Nine new expansion teams were approved for 2007 in
980-529: The New Orleans Arena , the VooDoo would suspend operations for the 2006 season. Fifteen of the players under contract with the VooDoo were moved to the expansion Kansas City Brigade for the 2006 season. In 2007, the VooDoo returned with Mike Neu as the head coach. The team set an AFL season ticket record, selling over 13,000 season tickets. This led to the VooDoo leading in announced attendance as well, drawing 16,645 to their eight home games, 800 more than
1050-525: The New Orleans Jazz NBA team and for some special college basketball games and tournament play, for arena football. Using this setup, the dome still had a capacity of 30,000 for the Night. Also, during the 1992 season, the Night used a huge blue curtain to close off the rest of the unused dome, to give a smaller arena feel to it. Team colors were Midnight Blue , Sunset Orange , and Moonlight White . The Night wore Zubaz designed uniforms used during
1120-459: The Philadelphia Soul and Milwaukee Mustangs . This brought their home losing streak to 12, dating back to 2008, and concerned fans who did not want a possible AFL record set for futility. However, the VooDoo recovered, and gave fans starved for a winner something to hope for. Aided by a South Division where no team pulled away, a three-game winning streak, including an emotional victory over
1190-489: The Professional Indoor Football League , Indoor Professional Football League , and Indoor Football League . Each of these leagues, though they would eventually fold, managed to last for multiple seasons, proving that the game had some traction in the smaller cities. With Jim Foster 's patent on arena football, the AF2 had the advantage of being the same game as was being seen on the national level with
1260-567: The Southern Division . The VooDoo then suffered a collapse, losing six of their last seven games, and missed the Arena Football playoffs for the third consecutive season, finishing 8–8. Speculation ensued about Mike Neu's job as head coach, as the VooDoo suffered four second-half-of-the-season collapses in their four years as a franchise, but early indications were that he would continue to be the coach in 2009. The New Orleans VooDoo received
1330-742: The Steel before ultimately folding after the 2016 AFL season. After the 2014 AFL season, the Iowa Barnstormers changed leagues from the AFL to the Indoor Football League. After the conclusion of the 2015 season, the last AF2 team remaining in the AFL, the Spokane Shock, joined the Barnstormers in the IFL as the Spokane Empire , and then also folded in 2017. After the conclusion of the 2019 AFL season ,
1400-587: The Tulsa Talons , Dan Newman of the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings , and Brady Nelson of the Spokane Shock , spearheaded in conjunction with Brett Bouchy, former owner of the AFL's Arizona Rattlers and Orlando Predators , a move to purchase the assets of the AFL out of Bankruptcy. This successful transaction resulted in the reformation of the AFL for the 2010 season. Prior to the 2010 season,
1470-570: The 16,900 Smoothie King Center (formerly New Orleans Arena). The arena was also known as "The Graveyard" during Voodoo home games. For the 2013 season, the VooDoo announced that, due to renovations at the New Orleans Arena , they would relocate to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for the last six home games of the AFL season. The VooDoo will play in an arena familiar with the indoor sport, the Blackham Coliseum which has played host to
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#17328517995361540-465: The 2011 season, after a home loss to the Spokane Shock , the VooDoo fired head coach Derek Stingley on June 26, 2011. He was replaced by General Manager Jon Norris. At the end of a 3–15 season, Jon Norris went back to being the General Manager. Later on August 8, 2011, he hired Pat O'Hara as the VooDoo's third head coach. The VooDoo started the 2012 season losing their first two games at home, to
1610-592: The 2015 season. The Milwaukee Iron rebranded itself in 2011 as the Mustangs, adopting the name of a previous Milwaukee team . Tulsa relocated to San Antonio before the start of the 2012 season, retaining the Talons' name and history and folded after the 2014 season. Milwaukee suspended operations for the 2013 season, and the team relocated to Portland, Oregon for the 2014 season, becoming the Portland Thunder , later renamed
1680-625: The AF2 existed to develop football players and also to help players adapt to the style and pace of arena football . In addition, the AF2 was similar to other minor leagues because AF2 teams played in smaller cities and smaller venues. While the AFL was played in cities like Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Chicago, the AF2 fielded teams in cities which are part of metropolitan statistical areas ranging in size from Milwaukee (with 1,739,497 residents) to Albany, Georgia (with 164,000 residents). Also in common with other minor professional sports leagues, players also earned less than in
1750-545: The AF2, saying how one day he envisioned the league growing to 100 teams. The AF2 started off with 15 teams in 2000, then expanded to 28 teams in 2001, and finally to 34 in 2002. The number of teams the league fielded dropped every year from there on after, until the 2006 season; 27 teams were fielded in 2003, 25 in 2004, and 20 in 2005. Finally, in 2006, the AF2 saw its first expansion in four years, fielding 23 teams, and continued that into 2007 with 30 teams. The drop in teams between 2002 and 2006 could be partially attributed to
1820-839: The AF2: the Boise Burn , the Cincinnati Jungle Kats , the Fort Wayne Fusion , the Laredo Lobos , the Lubbock Renegades , the Mahoning Valley Thunder , the Texas Copperheads , the Tri-Cities Fever , and the Corpus Christi Sharks . The Texas, Laredo, and Tri-Cities teams moved to the AF2 from other indoor football leagues. For the 2007 season, the league fielded 30 teams. After the 2007 season, three of those teams folded,
1890-419: The AFL owned 50.1%) of AF2 were wary of being owned by and paying money owed to the bankrupt league's creditors. The remaining teams and Board of Directors of AF2, and some former members of the AFL joined to create a new league, originally called "Arena Football One", which was announced at a press conference on September 28, 2009. Legally, Arena Football One, later doing business as the Arena Football League,
1960-596: The AFL remained in the league. The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz ceased operations after the 2010 season. In the 2011 season, the Alabama Vipers relocated to suburban Atlanta and assumed the identity and history of the former Georgia Force before folding after the 2012 season, while the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings moved to New Orleans and became a continuation of the VooDoo and then ceased operations after
2030-496: The AFL to consider placing the ArenaBowl in New Orleans. Although it had already signed a deal with Las Vegas to have the ArenaBowl there for 2005, 2006 and 2007, the league had considered terminating that deal. Had the bidding for ArenaBowl XX begun, New Orleans would have been an early favorite, along with Orlando and Arizona . On August 28, 2005, it was announced that due to the extensive damage suffered by Hurricane Katrina to
2100-598: The AFL, with each player making $ 200-$ 500 per game, with a minimum $ 50 victory bonus. The AF2 was founded in 1999 by the Arena Football League in an attempt to bring the game to mid-sized markets following the success of AFL on the national level. The AF2 was not intended to be a farm system for the AFL like the American Hockey League and Minor League Baseball are to the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball , respectively. The league
2170-669: The American and National Conferences. The conferences were further subdivided into three divisions each. Each division represented a region of the country in which teams played. Unlike most sports leagues, the alignment of teams into divisions was not even; in 2009, the Central division featured three teams while the West featured five teams. Teams were placed in divisions based on geographic rivalries to reduce travel costs as teams played division opponents more often than non-divisional opponents. Alignment
New Orleans VooDoo - Misplaced Pages Continue
2240-460: The Arena Football League filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and ceased operations in November 2019. New Orleans Night The New Orleans Night were an Arena Football League (AFL) team that competed in the 1991 and 1992 AFL seasons and were based in New Orleans, Louisiana . The team was officially announced at a press conference on March 18, 1991. On April 9, the name Night was unveiled as
2310-577: The Arena Football League's Best Support Staff Award during the ArenaBall Awards Ceremony held in New Orleans on Friday, July 25, 2008. On October 13, 2008, owner Tom Benson announced the New Orleans VooDoo would not be continuing operations in New Orleans. Reasons given were "circumstances affecting the league and the team." The league would itself go bankrupt not long afterward. The Arena Football League announced that they would revive
2380-556: The BattleWings left Bossier City for New Orleans and reactivated the New Orleans VooDoo. Legendary AFL player/coach Derek Stingley coached the VooDoo for the 2011 season and was replaced in 2012 by longtime AFL quarterback and coach Pat O'Hara . In 2015, the VooDoo's final season, Dean Cokinos was the head coach. At the completion of the 2015 season, the New Orleans VooDoo ceased operations. The VooDoo's official mascots were known as Bones and Mojo . Their cheerleaders were known as
2450-619: The New Orleans VooDoo for the 2010 season. On September 14, 2010, Nakia Hogan of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that the Bossier-Shreveport franchise would move their operation to the city of New Orleans. Jason Coffel, who would serve as the vice president of operations for the VooDoo, said owner Dan Newman would cease operations of the Battle Wings in the Bossier-Shreveport City area and immediately become
2520-573: The New Orleans VooDoo. "The reason this is happening is the Arena Football League recognizes how passionate the New Orleans market is about football", Coffel said. "Proof of that is the success of the Saints and the success of the VooDoo when they were around." The rebirth of the franchise and its renewal would not be affiliated with previous owner of the Voodoo, Tom Benson, or the New Orleans Saints. During
2590-584: The Philadelphia Soul, 66–53. The VooDoo started 2013 off with a dramatic overtime win over the conference rival Orlando Predators . However, as the season progressed, inconsistent play from the offensive line led to injuries and ineffectiveness from starting quarterback Kurt Rocco , while the VooDoo struggled to replace star linebacker Alvin Ray Jackson and defensive back Jeremy Kellem . The record dropped as low as 1–8, but Rocco's return to health has seen
2660-479: The Predators. After another touchdown to bring the lead up to 15, the game was effectively over. The final score was 51–40, ending the VooDoo's season at 9–7. Despite the underachievement, the VooDoo had an average attendance of 15,338, good for third in the 17-team AFL, and again had the New Orleans market lead the nation in television ratings for Sunday AFL broadcasts on NBC . The VooDoo's success and popularity led
2730-596: The VooDoo Dolls. A new version known as the Louisiana VooDoo made an effort to revive the brand in the 2024 reboot of the AFL but was unable to secure a home in New Orleans, Bossier City or Lake Charles ; the team would instead play only two games, its lone home game at Blackham Coliseum in Lafayette , before folding due to issues with league finances. In 1998, New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson committed to
2800-405: The VooDoo start to play better at the right time, in a conference where they never really dropped out of the race for a playoff spot. Chris Dixon took over as starting QB and led the VooDoo to 4 wins in their final 9 games, leading to a win-and-you're-in playoff scenario for the final regular season game at Orlando. Unfortunately, the VooDoo lost 71–42 and finished their season 5–13. 2014 featured
2870-517: The VooDoo was delinquent on rent and had failed to show proof of any insurance. The league would pay for insurance and rent for the VooDoo's lone game at Blackham. Team operations were shut down after week two and pending lawsuits by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette who indicated plans to hold the Minnesota Myth ownership, the legal entity that effectively owned the VooDoo, liable for rent for
New Orleans VooDoo - Misplaced Pages Continue
2940-466: The VooDoo when the league resumes play in 2024. Louisiana was among the regions named by Hutton in a July 2023 announcement of the league's inaugural locations. After Bossier City ruled itself out due to schedule conflicts, contemporary reports indicated that the league was aiming to instead put the team in Lake Charles, Louisiana . The new team, which retained the VooDoo name (as the Louisiana VooDoo ),
3010-537: The VooDoo. Steve Bellisari , a former Ohio State quarterback, took over the starting job from AFL veteran Andy Kelly ; the VooDoo offense became more efficient later in the season. Jonathan Ruffin , a New Orleans native and former Lou Groza award winner, took over kicking duties late in the season and was far more efficient than his predecessor Eric Houle . James Lynch was named to the All-Rookie team at fullback . The VooDoo were picked by prognosticators to bring up
3080-463: The Xtreme Football League were: Birmingham, Alabama ( Birmingham Steeldogs ), Greenville, South Carolina ( Carolina Rhinos ), Huntsville, Alabama ( Tennessee Valley Vipers ), Jacksonville, Florida ( Jacksonville Tomcats ), Norfolk, Virginia ( Norfolk Nighthawks ), Pensacola, Florida ( Pensacola Barracudas ), Richmond, Virginia ( Richmond Speed ), Roanoke, Virginia ( Roanoke Steam ), and Tallahassee, Florida ( Tallahassee Thunder ). Although
3150-507: The af2 league terminated operations. Several af2 teams chose to move into the AFL, including the Talons, BattleWings, Iowa Barnstormers , Spokane Shock, Tennessee Valley Vipers , and Boise Burn . Prior to the 2011 AFL season, several AFL teams relocated: The Talons moved from Tulsa to San Antonio; the Vipers moved from Huntsville, Alabama to Atlanta, Georgia, and reactivated the Georgia Force;
3220-426: The competitor Indoor Football League; several teams would be absorbed into the AF2 for the 2001 season . The first season concluded with over 868,000 people attending AF2 games, averaging over 7,200 per game; several teams ended with average attendances over 10,000 fans. In addition over 9,200 fans attended ArenaCup I between the Tennessee Valley Vipers and Quad City Steamwheelers in Moline, Illinois . Deemed
3290-564: The first resulting from a scheduled game having not actually been played. Following a league takeover of the team on July 15, 2015, on August 9, 2015, the Arena Football League announced that the New Orleans VooDoo "have ceased operations effective immediately." It was also reported that the VooDoo could come back for the 2016 season with a new ownership group. In an interview with ArenaFan.com, published in February 2023, AFL Commissioner Lee A. Hutton initially that there have been discussions with potential ownership groups in New Orleans to relaunch
3360-543: The four remaining games the VooDoo never played. Legal action is ongoing. Fullbacks Wide receivers Defensive linemen Defensive backs Kickers Other league exempt League suspension Refused to report Inactive reserve Recallable reassignment The following VooDoo players were named to All-Arena Teams: The following VooDoo players were named to All-Ironman Teams: The following Battle Wings/VooDoo players were named to All-Rookie Teams: The VooDoo played their home games in
3430-409: The individual AF2 teams also prevented players from leaving for the parent league mid-season; this preserved the quality of play in the lower league and did not destroy team dynamics with players coming and going throughout the season as they do in the NHL and MLB. The foundation of the AF2 was a response to the launch of several small-market indoor football leagues in the mid-to-late 1990s, including
3500-424: The league expanding too rapidly in its first three seasons. Many teams were financially unstable and folded . This could have been at least in large measure due to higher expenses, even compared to those of similar leagues. Franchise fees in the league ranged from $ 600,000 to $ 1 million. Historically, massive sports league expansions have had little success, either in indoor football or other sports. For instance,
3570-412: The much-ballyhooed signing of former LSU quarterback Ryan Perriloux , but Rocco was named the starter again after training camp. As the season started, injuries led to both seeing playing time early, but a poor 1–5 start has hurt the team's playoff chances. However, the one win was against the rival Orlando Predators, and L. J. Castile has become one of the top receivers in the league. After compiling
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#17328517995363640-427: The new Arena Football League. Iowa, Milwaukee, Tennessee Valley (which changed its name to Alabama to reflect the state, rather than the region), Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Bossier-Shreveport, and Spokane all moved to the new AFL to join "old" AFL teams Arizona, Orlando, Tampa Bay, Chicago, and Cleveland, along with expansion teams in Dallas and Jacksonville, and the American Indoor Football team in Utah that had also been in
3710-415: The old AFL. Kentucky, Tri-Cities, and Arkansas also committed to the new league, but Kentucky folded, and Tri-Cities and Arkansas followed Green Bay and Amarillo to the Indoor Football League . Albany did not play in 2010 while seeking an expansion into the "new" AFL in 2011, along with a planned addition in Toledo. By the conclusion of the 2015 AFL Season , none of the seven AF2 franchises that moved into
3780-423: The original arena arrangement for the 2008 season. With the exception of ArenaCup V , all AF2 championships were televised either nationally or locally. The inaugural and second ArenaCups were broadcast on TNN Motor Sports/TNN Sports , which carried AFL games on Sunday afternoons at the time. However, when the AFL broadcast rights were purchased by NBC , the ArenaCup national telecast was lost. The 2002 ArenaCup
3850-478: The purchase of an Arena Football League (AFL) team, making him the first National Football League (NFL) owner to do so. On March 7, 2002, Benson announced that he would be fielding a franchise in 2003. However, the VooDoo played their inaugural game on the road against the Philadelphia Soul on February 8, 2004. The game marked the return of the AFL to New Orleans, where the New Orleans Night franchise had played two seasons in 1991–1992. The VooDoo logo consists of
3920-475: The rear of the AFL after free agent WR Derrick Lewis was injured in training camp. By losing the first game in Los Angeles, and having starting Quarterback Steve Bellisari get hurt, things started to look bleak for the VooDoo. Backup quarterback Danny Wimprine , from the New Orleans area, took over, and led by a defense that threatened to shatter the AFL record for interceptions in a season, the VooDoo won seven of their next eight games and threatened to run away with
3990-458: The same arena football rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup championship in August. The AF2 continued to operate while the AFL suspended operations for its 2009 season. The league was effectively disbanded in September 2009 when no team committed to playing in 2010, but several of the stronger franchises transferred into the reconstituted AFL. Like most other minor sports leagues,
4060-431: The second-place Philadelphia Soul . The VooDoo started 4–3, before a seven-game losing streak dropped them to 4–10 and eliminated them from the playoff race. The final record of 5–11 included the first ever victory by the VooDoo over the Orlando Predators , a dominating 67–54 victory over the eventual ArenaBowl XXI champion San Jose Sabercats , a 78–34 nationally televised defeat at the Philadelphia Soul that ranks as
4130-540: The use of the rebound nets. Working on a smaller scale, the AF2 would try to capitalize on local and regional rivalries. The Xtreme Football League was another upstart league trying to capitalize on the arena football phenomenon. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama , with the intent to begin play in 2000 , this XFL (which was not related to the WWE-backed outdoor league ) used East Coast Hockey League ownership to keep team costs low while providing established ownership and arenas for play. The cities that were to take part in
4200-439: The worst loss in franchise history, a 69–63 nationally televised loss to the New York Dragons where the VooDoo used some curious strategy to run the clock down before going for the winning score on fourth down, and a narrow 80–79 defeat at the Dallas Desperados , in which the VooDoo missed a two-point conversion to try to win the game after regulation time expired. Despite the terrible record, several players were revelations for
4270-403: The wrong end of some close, hard-fought games. At a sold-out TD Waterhouse Centre , the VooDoo ended their second regular season against Orlando with both needing a win to reach the playoffs. A second-half rally featuring a fumble return for a touchdown by Thabiti Davis brought the VooDoo back into the game briefly, but a Jay Taylor kickoff hit the iron surrounding the nets and was recovered by
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#17328517995364340-411: Was Eddie Khayat , former head coach of the Nashville Kats , as head coach. The Night played their home games inside the massive Louisiana Superdome , also home of the NFL New Orleans Saints , which obviously had to be modified considerably to cut the playing surface and fan seating down to a size appropriate to fit arena football. The Superdome used its basketball configuration, previously used for
4410-483: Was an entity-model league in which the league owned the individual teams and hired local management groups to operate them, rather than the traditional North American sports league model where each team is a separate business and the league is a non-profit association formed and controlled by the various team owners in order to co-ordinate and govern operations. There had been rumors of a possible return of AF2, after Arena Football League commissioner Jerry Kurz had stated
4480-405: Was an entity independent of the original Arena Football League and AF2 and was made up of former AFL and AF2 teams with several new (expansion) teams and one team from another league. After acquiring the assets of the former Arena Football League in a bankruptcy court sale, the new entity formally became the "new" Arena Football League. Unlike the previous Arena Football League and AF2, the new AFL
4550-439: Was instead designed as a league that would develop the players in the interest of the higher league as a whole. The lack of AFL–AF2 team affiliations would prevent the AFL from "stashing" players in the lower league for later use. Players in the AF2 were signed to one-year contracts, after the expiration of which they essentially became free agents to sign with whichever league and team they would prefer. The 16-week contracts with
4620-413: Was played at a neutral site in Las Vegas , ArenaCup VI was the first AF2 championship to be played at a neutral site in Bossier City, Louisiana . The practice continued the following year when ArenaCup VII was played in Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan ; the title game returned to Bossier City in ArenaCup VIII . Citing lower attendances at the neutral site ArenaCup games, the league returned to
4690-442: Was subject to change each year as new teams joined the league and others dropped out. Because of legal issues regarding the bankruptcy and subsequent dissolution of the original Arena Football League, no team committed to continue with arenafootball2 operations. This list is the final alignment of AF2 at the end of the 2009 season. In a June 2003 interview with Sports Illustrated , AFL commissioner David Baker briefly mentioned
4760-438: Was televised by the Vision Network , and ArenaCup IV was televised by KWHB , a local station in Tulsa, Oklahoma . After having no television coverage in 2004, the national telecasts returned to the airwaves with Fox Sports Net in 2005 and Comcast Sports Net in 2006, 2007, and 2008. ArenaCup IX, as well as the season in its entirety, was broadcast online via NiFTy TV. The league's teams were divided into two conferences,
4830-430: Was to conduct a search for new owners. An unnamed investment group reportedly sought to purchase the VooDoo and move the franchise to Texas and attended the VooDoo's final home game at Smoothie King Arena against the Tampa Bay Storm on July 18, 2015. That game was possibly the final home game for this franchise. The game with the Outlaws was cancelled and declared to be a tie, only the third such result in league history and
4900-401: Was unveiled on November 3, 2023. Though, this version is not directly tied to the original New Orleans VooDoo. The VooDoo were to have played in Lake Charles, but relocated to Lafayette, Louisiana and would play at Blackham Coliseum instead. Reasoning for the last minute switch was the lack of communication between the team and the management of the arena, though the arena countered that
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