Arena Football League Announces 16 Markets for 2024 Reprise Season

After a four-year hiatus, the Arena Football League is set to make its return in 2024. On Tuesday, the league revealed the 16 markets for its relaunch season.

The 16 teams will be the most the AFL has featured since 2012. The markets are Austin, Texas; Boise, Idaho; Bakersfield, Calif.; Chicago; Denver; St. Paul, Minn.; Lake Charles, La.; Cincinnati; Orlando, Fla.; Salem, Ore.; Philadelphia; San Antonio; Tallahassee, Fla.; Nashville, Tenn.; Everett, Wash.; and Odessa, Texas.

The first edition of the AFL launched in 1987 and ran through 2008 before internal issues forced the league to cancel its ’09 season. The league relaunched in ’10 but filed for bankruptcy after the ’19 season. New ownership took over and announced in February of this year that play would resume in ’24.

In 2019, the most recent AFL season, there were six teams: the Albany Empire, Washington Valor, Philadelphia Soul, Baltimore Brigade, Atlantic City Blackjacks and the Columbus Destroyers. The Empire went 10-2 that season and defeated the Brigade, 45-27, in Arena Bowl XXXII.

The 2024 AFL season is set to kick off in April.