2009 Arena Football League season The Arena Football League ( AFL ) is an indoor American football league founded in 1987 by Jim Foster . It is played indoors on a smaller field than American football , resulting in a faster - paced and higher - scoring game . The sport was invented in the early 1980s and patented by Foster , a former executive of the United States Football League and the National Football League . The AFL would play 22 seasons from 1987 to 2008 before large debts forced the league to suspend operations in search of a more profitable business model . In December 2008 the league ' s owners canceled the 2009 season to begin work on developing a long - term plan to improve its economic model . Unable to agree upon a viable economic plan for the future of the league , the AFL suspended operations indefinitely on August 4 , 2009 , with Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation following in December of that year . On September 28 , 2009 , " Arena Football 1 " was formed , containing many former AFL and af2 teams , as well as new franchises ; AF1 purchased the AFL ' s assets ( including its history and team names ) in December 2009 . On February 17 , 2010 , the AF1 announced it changed its name to the " Arena Football League " , returning to the original league name . The league has its headquarters in Tulsa , Oklahoma and will play its games from April through August . The league ' s championship game is known as the ArenaBowl . Cancelling the 2009 season . A conference call in December 2008 resulted in enough votes from owners and cooperation from the AFLPA to suspend the 2009 season in order to create " a long - term plan to improve its economic model " . In doing so , the AFL became the second sports league to cancel an entire season , after the National Hockey League cancelled the 2004 - 05 season due to a lockout . Efforts to reformat the league ' s business model were placed under the leadership of Columbus Destroyers owner Jim Renacci and interim commissioner Policy . High hopes for the AFL ' s waned when interim commissioner Ed Policy announced his resignation , citing the obsolescence of his position in the reformatted league . Two weeks later , the Los Angeles Avengers announced that they were formally folding the franchise . One month later , the league missed the deadline to formally ratify the new CBA and announced that it was eliminating health insurance for the players . Progress on the return stalled , and no announcements were made regarding the future of the league . On July 20 , 2009 , " Sports Business Journal " reported that the AFL owed approximately $ 14 million to its creditors and were considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection . In early August 2009 , numerous media outlets began reporting that the AFL was folding permanently and would file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy . The league released a statement on August 4 announcing that while the league is not folding , it is suspending league operations indefinitely . Despite this , several of the league ' s creditors filed papers to force a Chapter 7 liquidation if the league did not do so voluntarily . This request was granted on August 7 , though converted to a Chapter 11 reorganization on August 26 . Relaunch . Following the suspension of the AFL ' s 2009 season , league officials and owners of af2 ( which played their season ) began discussing the future of arena football and the two leagues . With 50 . 1 percent ownership of af2 , the AFL ' s bankruptcy and dissolution prompted the dissolution of af2 . That league was formally considered disbanded on September 8 , 2009 , when no owner committed his or her team to the league ' s eleventh season by that deadline . For legal reasons , af2 league officials and owners agreed to form a new legal entity , " Arena Football 1 " , with former AFL teams the Arizona Rattlers and Orlando Predators joining the former af2 . All assets of the Arena Football League were put up for auction . On November 11 , 2009 , the new league announced its intention to purchase the entire assets of the former AFL ; the assets included the team names and logos of all but one of the former AFL and af2 teams . The auction occurred on November 25 , 2009 . The assets were awarded to Arena Football 1 on December 7 , 2009 , with a winning bid of $ 6 . 1 million . On February 17 , 2010 , AF1 announced it would use the " Arena Football League " name . The league announced plans for the upcoming season and details of its contract with NFL Network to broadcast AFL games in 2010 . AF1 teams were given the option of restoring historical names to their teams . In addition to the historical teams , the league added two new expansion franchises , the Dallas Vigilantes and the Jacksonville Sharks . 2011 expansion . In a conference call in late February 2010 , commissioner Jerry Kurz announced that at that time , four markets had been in serious negotiations for 2011 season expansion teams , including Philadelphia , Pittsburgh , Denver and Southern California . On June 18 , 2010 , the league announced that the Philadelphia Soul , the San Jose SaberCats , and the Kansas City Brigade would return to the Arena Football League for the 2011 season . The Pittsburgh Power was announced as an expansion team for the 2011 season on August 20 , 2010 . The Alabama Vipers will relocate to Gwinnett County , Georgia , in suburban Atlanta , and take the name of the Georgia Force . On September 14 , 2010 , WWL Radio reported that the New Orleans Voodoo will be returning to the Arena Football League . However , this time the team will not have Saints owner Tom Benson as part of the ownership group . The new divisional alignment was announced on October 21 , 2010 , which included several teams moving divisions . The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz were not named in the new divisional alignment ; on October 25 , 2010 it was confirmed that the Yard Dawgz would not compete in the AFL in 2011 .