The Arena Football League faced several challenges upon its recent relaunch. Despite the league’s original establishment in the 1980s, its third version encountered difficulties during its launch, with games played on Saturday. In March, the NFL announced a partnership to broadcast 30 AFL regular season games on NFL Network starting on Saturday, April 27. However, the game between the Albany Firebirds and Orlando Predators was not broadcasted on NFL Network as anticipated but on VYRE Network instead. Despite several attempts by ProFootballTalk to get a response from the NFL, there was no comment. The NFL Network is scheduled to broadcast the next AFL game on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET when the Firebirds take on the Nashville Kats.
Meanwhile, off-field issues also plagued one of the teams participating in these games, the Philadelphia Soul. Christian Red of The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that head coach Patrick Pimmel resigned a day before their first game, leading to a series of challenges for the team. Many Soul players received release forms and were replaced by players from American Arena League 2’s Dallas Falcons, resulting in a 53-18 loss in Lafayette, Louisiana.
The ownership situation of the Soul is also uncertain after an earlier agreement with a venture group fell through. Sports agent Tristen Burnett reported that Soul players were evicted from their Super 8 motel in Philadelphia and had their luggage taken away and locked in a motel room, adding to their chaos and confusion surrounding their situation. The AFL’s schedule announcement for Saturday did not include all games due to these challenges faced by one of its teams.
In conclusion, despite having been established in