Arena Football, RIP

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by Texas Aggie

I would change it with the following:

-- actual sidelines; padding several yards back

That's how it was at the start. I thought they moved at least closer over time to the right idea, i.e. the opposite of yours, which is to have those walls in play, as in the indoor soccer it was modeled on.

-- essentially eliminate the kicking game, as the area is too small (don't know what to do about after a score and on 4th down, however)

That would take away most of the raison d'etre of the patented feature of the game, the rebounding screens. However, the patent had expired by the time they ceased operations.

-- make everyone eligible

Well, yeah, if they didn't play 8 a side, which was a compromise they undertook to make the game resemble outdoor football more -- and resulted in their having to restrict the defenses to give the offense a chance in that crowded a space.

IIRC, the Indoor Football League is 6 a side. So are women's "Sixxes".

Robert

[VALJ]

And yet, even with AFL dying, the Richmond VA area (which has already shown it won't support and af2 team and it won't support an AIFL team) is now getting not one, but two minor league indoor-football teams. We're getting not only an AIFA team by a team in the IFL as well. Hell, the IFL even put their headquarters here!

I just don't understand it...

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by VALJ

And yet, even with AFL dying, the Richmond VA area (which has already shown it won't support and af2 team and it won't support an AIFL team) is now getting not one, but two minor league indoor-football teams. We're getting not only an AIFA team by a team in the IFL as well. Hell, the IFL even put their headquarters here!

I just don't understand it...

What's to understand? A lot of things (sports included) fail, or stop succeeding after a while, as high-key ventures, but continue or expand as low-key ones. Plus, some are managed better than others.

The Women's Professional Football League revived women's football in 1999, produced what was probably the best women's team of this era (Dallas Diamonds), but hasn't operated officially since 2007. In the meantime, however, other leagues (playing in the spring as opposed to the WPFL's fall operation) have sprung up and are bigger than the WPFL ever was, including a lot of former WPFL clubs.

Indoor football seems to be taking off as a participant rather than a spectator sport. It probably helps that a number of proprietary air dome and other indoor field sports facilities have opened, mostly servicing soccer. Now that the patent has expired on the AFL's rebounding screens, they could even use those, but I don't see anyone rushing to do so, it apparently being thought a gimmick for the spectator rather than the participants. Similarly, a lot of participant indoor soccer doesn't play with the walls in play. And some of these "indoor" games are played outdoors. Last night in the Chinatown-Little Italy area I happened on a 6-a-side soccer game in a park facility laid out for it. They had uniforms and a referee and all.

Robert