# 1996 Arena Football League season

The 1996 Arena Football League season was the tenth season of the Arena Football League. It was succeeded by 1997. The league champions were the Tampa Bay Storm, who defeated the Iowa Barnstormers in ArenaBowl X. The AFL finally stabilized its scheduled number of games. It expanded to a 14-game season, which would remain until 2003. Previously, the scheduled number of games had not stayed the same for more than three years.

## Team movement

The Texas Terror joined the league as an expansion team.
Meanwhile, the Fort Worth Cavalry were relocated to Minneapolis and became the Minnesota Fighting Pike; the Las Vegas Sting moved to Anaheim, California, becoming the Anaheim Piranhas, and the Miami Hooters were renamed to the Florida Bobcats. The franchise rights to the Denver Dynamite were sold and the team announced they would return in 1997 as the Nashville Kats

## Standings

| Team | Overall | Overall | Overall | Division | Division | Division |
| Team | Wins | Losses | Percentage | Wins | Losses | Percentage |
| National Conference |||||||
| Eastern Division |||||||
| Albany Firebirds | 10 | 4 | 0.714 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Charlotte Rage | 5 | 9 | 0.357 | 2 | 2 | 0.500 |
| Connecticut Coyotes | 2 | 12 | 0.143 | 0 | 4 | 0.000 |
| Southern Division |||||||
| Tampa Bay Storm | 12 | 2 | 0.857 | 5 | 1 | 0.833 |
| Orlando Predators | 9 | 5 | 0.643 | 5 | 1 | 0.833 |
| Florida Bobcats | 6 | 8 | 0.429 | 2 | 4 | 0.333 |
| Texas Terror | 1 | 13 | 0.071 | 0 | 6 | 0.000 |
| American Conference |||||||
| Central Division |||||||
| Iowa Barnstormers | 12 | 2 | 0.857 | 4 | 2 | 0.667 |
| Milwaukee Mustangs | 10 | 4 | 0.714 | 5 | 1 | 0.833 |
| St. Louis Stampede | 8 | 6 | 0.571 | 3 | 3 | 0.500 |
| Memphis Pharaohs | 0 | 14 | 0.000 | 0 | 6 | 0.000 |
| Western Division |||||||
| Arizona Rattlers | 11 | 3 | 0.786 | 3 | 2 | 0.600 |
| Anaheim Piranhas | 9 | 5 | 0.643 | 4 | 1 | 0.800 |
| San Jose SaberCats | 6 | 8 | 0.429 | 1 | 4 | 0.200 |
| Minnesota Fighting Pike | 4 | 10 | 0.286 | 1 | 2 | 0.333 |
* Green indicates clinched playoff berth
* Blue indicates division champion
* Grey indicates best regular season record
Source:

## Playoffs

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | ArenaBowl X | ArenaBowl X | ArenaBowl X |
| 1 | Iowa | 52 | | | | | | |
| 8 | St. Louis | 49 | | | | | | |
| 8 | St. Louis | 49 | 1 | Iowa | 62 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Albany | 55 | | | |
| 4 | Albany | 70 | 4 | Albany | 55 | | | |
| 5 | Milwaukee | 58 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Milwaukee | 58 | | | | 1 | Iowa | 38 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Tampa Bay | 42 |
| 2 | Tampa Bay | 30 | | | | | | | 2 | Tampa Bay | 42 |
| 7 | Anaheim | 16 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Anaheim | 16 | 2 | Tampa Bay | 55 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Arizona | 54 | | | |
| 3 | Arizona | 65 | 3 | Arizona | 54 | | | |
| 6 | Orlando | 48 | | | | | | |

## All-Arena team

| Position | First team | Second team |
| Quarterback | Kurt Warner, Iowa | Mike Perez, Albany |
| Fullback/Linebacker | Bernard Hall, St. Louis | Kevin Carroll, Anaheim |
| Wide receiver/Defensive back | Darryl Hammond, St. Louis Barry Wagner, Orlando | Randy Gatewood, Arizona David McLeod, Albany |
| Wide receiver/Linebacker | Hunkie Cooper, Arizona | Stevie Thomas, Tampa Bay |
| Offensive specialist | Eddie Brown, Albany | Willis Jacox, Iowa |
| Offensive lineman/Defensive lineman | Sam Hernandez, Anaheim Fran Papasedero, St. Louis Kent Wells, Tampa Bay | Jerome Brown, Albany Ralph Jarvis, Milwaukee Sylvester Bembery, Tampa Bay |
| Defensive specialist | Rodney Mazion, Anaheim Patrick McGuirk, San Jose | Carlton Johnson, Anaheim Tracey Perkins, Tampa Bay |
| Kicker | Kenny Stucker, Milwaukee | Pete Elezovic, Albany |