TULSA, Okla. -- Arena football isn't dead yet. But the Chicago Rush still appear to be.
Officials from what will be known as Arena Football 1 said Monday that they will have at least 16 teams ready to play in 2010, including four in former Arena Football League markets: Chicago, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Orlando, Fla. The Arizona Rattlers and Orlando Predators played in the old AFL, but the new league's Chicago and Salt Lake City teams did not.
The league also will have teams from the AFL offshoot arenafootball2, as well as at least one team from another indoor league. It will be based in Tulsa, Okla. Commissioner Jerry Kurz said it would be a "brand-new league" not connected with the AFL or af2.
"There has been arena football before," said Kurz, a former af2 commissioner. "It's been done well but not as good as it's going to be done this time."
Kurz said more details of the league's business structure -- including what the players might be paid -- will be announced during the coming weeks. He said the league would use a schedule similar to that used by the AFL and af2, with games starting in late March or early April and running through the summer.
Dan Newman, the owner of the Bossier-Shreveport (La.) BattleWings -- who are moving from af2 to the new league -- said Arena Football 1 will use a rule book identical to those used by the AFL and af2.
Arena Football 1 said its markets also will include Little Rock, Ark.; Fresno, Calif.; Des Moines, Iowa; Jacksonville, Fla.; Lexington, Ky.; Milwaukee; Oklahoma City; Spokane, Wash.; Huntsville, Ala.; Kennewick, Wash.; and Tulsa.
The new league said eight more teams have submitted membership applications. Newman said the league is negotiating with seven other former AFL franchises, including those in Tampa, Fla., and San Jose, Calif.
The old AFL canceled its 2009 season and folded in August, ending a 22-year run. Play in af2 was never disrupted, but teams ended the season unsure of what would happen next. The AFL owned 50.1 percent of af2.
