The Arena Football League (AFL) is returning after a four-year hiatus, and with it, new leadership, new investment, and new teams.And in even more exciting new, those 16 new teams were just announced — San Antonio is one of them.

What is the AFL?

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

That is, until now. F1 Sports and Entertainment purchased the league 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.

Are you going to buy AFL merch? | Photo by AFL

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 Texas cities chosen also include Austin and Odessa, Texas.

What does this mean for San Antonio?

Well, it’s one more pro sports team to add to our growing roster. (We added the San Antonio Brahmas, San Antonio Gunslingers, Flying Chanclas, and San Antonio FC in the last eight years alone).

That said, it’s not the first rodeo with an AFL team. San Antonians might remember the Talons who played at the Alamodome from 2011-2014. 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.

Expect the AFL to come back to the field starting in 2024. So what's next? Major partnerships, jersey designs, and team mascots will be announced soon.