Arena Football League Suspends Operations

Posted by: Phil Mintz on August 06

Hard hits on the playing field may be one thing, but the recession has proved to be too much for the 22-year-old Arena Football League.

The league, which had already canceled its 2009 season but was hoping to regroup for 2010, told its owners last night that it had been unable to find any consensus on restructuring the league and was suspending operations indefinitely, according to the Associated Press.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who also owned the AFL’s Dallas Desperadoes, told the AP that economic headwinds were just too tough. “I’ve always thought the game was an attractive game, but we all know when you get the kind of pressure we’re in, in these economic times, and then you have an economic model that really doesn’t work, then it’s not surprising to see it stop play.”

It’s not just the secondary leagues that are having trouble in the recession. Major league baseball attendance is down more than 5% so far this year, according to www.baseball-reference.com.

Despite the recession, there are those whose dreams of making it in the sports business remain alive. BW’s Greg Spielberg recently reported that a new football league, the United Football League will kick off its premiere season in October.

Any predictions for its success? Or the prospects for other troubled sports leagues? Can they ride out the bad times? What do you think?