Storm Coming Back
(December 11, 2009)

A press conference was held yesterday to announce the Tampa Bay Storm will join Arena Football 1 and begin play in April. The ownership group will include Tampa Bay Lightning owner Oren Koules and Tim Marcum will return as general manager and head coach. Marcum commented, "In many respects, we see this as a rebirth of the arena football product that Tampa Bay fans have long enjoyed. We have high expectations, we intend to win, and many of the players our fans have come to enjoy watching will be back with us."

Quarterback Brett Dietz and defensive lineman Kelvin Kinney, both who played with the Storm in 2008, were at the announcement. Marcum has already begun putting a roster together and has talked to receivers Hank Edwards and Tyrone Timmons. While the team will be called the Tampa Bay Storm, and have familiar names, much will be different with arena football in 2010.

When the formation of Arena Football 1 was announced on September 28, 2009, only the Orlando Predators and Arizona Rattlers defected from the original Arena Football League. Most of the other franchises would come from af2, or new markets, so that effectively killed af2. As a result of a bankruptcy action, the new league purchased the AFL assets, including team names and logos of all former AFL and af2 teams. So, the Utah Thunder became the Utah Blaze and the Dallas franchise took the name Desperados. The was a new Chicago Rush and Cleveland Gladiators as well.

While more may jump on the bandwagon with traditional AFL names, the absorption of af2 will bring many small markets into AF1. There has been some talk of a two tier system with the top tier featuring larger-market and larger-budgeted teams while the lower tier would contain the smaller market teams with more limited budgets. The Storm were the fifteenth team announced for 2010, the other franchises are: Alabama Vipers (Huntsville), Arizona Rattlers, Bossier- Shreveport Battle Wings, Chicago Rush, Cleveland Gladiators, Dallas Desperados, Iowa Barnstormers, Jacksonville Sharks, Milwaukee Iron, Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz, Orlando Predators, Spokane Shock, Tulsa Talons and Utah Blaze.

Many feel that in addition to a lack of leadership, the demise of the AFL was simply a consequence of the league getting to big for its britches. The NFL owned a share of the league and celebrity owners took attention away from the action on the field. By reducing the role of the ironman playing both offense and defense, salaries and payroll increased. The business model for the new league will resemble the early days of arena football.

AF1 will own the rights to the teams, players, and coaches. Player salaries will be more than the $200 per game of the old af2, but considerably less than $1,800 per game minimum AFL had. Rosters and coaching staffs will be smaller. Money will be allotted to teams to help with travel costs and ticket prices will be cheaper than the old league. More details and specifics will become available as the AF1 prepares for its first season. The league will play by the same rules the AFL used.

The good news is that arena football, and the Tampa Bay Storm, will return to the St. Pete Times Forum next year. There will familiar faces, the rivalry with Orlando and the closeness of indoor football. A final comment from Tim Marcum, "We're back and we're happy."