The pro sports teams just keep on coming.

Austin will be home to a pro football team as soon as this spring as the Arena Football League returns to 16 US cities.

What’s the Arena Football League?

The AFL is a pro football league that was founded in 1986. The league struggled with funding and canceled its 2009 season due to financial trouble. Nine years later, the league declared bankruptcy again in 2019 and has been defunct since.

That is, until now. F1 Sports and Entertainment purchased the AFL last year. In February, the company announced it would bring the league back starting in April 2024 for a 10-game regular season, plus playoffs.

Arena football works a little differently from gridiron football (as seen in the NFL and NCAA), with changes including:

50-yard field vs. a 100-yard field
20-man active roster vs. an infinite roster
9ft goalpost with a 15ft overhead bar vs. 8.5ft goalpost with a 10ft overhead bar

The other cities chosen also include San Antonio and Odessa, Texas.

What does this mean for Austin?

Well, it’s one more pro sports team to add to our growing roster. (We added the Texas Smoke, Austin Gamblers, and Austin FC in the last five years alone).

That said, it’s not the first time Austin has had an AFL team. Austinites might remember that the Wranglers played at the Frank Erwin Center from 2004-2008. It’s not clear where this new team will play or what the team name or mascot will be — that’s expected to be one of the last announcements from the AFL.

Stay updated on the AFL — and be first to know how you can get tickets — by signing up for the league’s email list.