The Arena Football League is facing challenges as it makes its return to the American sports scene. The Philadelphia Soul, a team that has been part of the league for 20 years, has decided to cancel their 2024 season with hopes of returning in 2025. This marks a disappointing turn of events for the Soul, especially considering they were initially owned by a group led by Jon Bon Jovi before the league went through bankruptcy in 2009.
To make matters worse, the Soul had to use replacement players from a different league for their first game of the season due to the original players missing their flight to Louisiana. Following this mishap, the league took over ownership of the franchise when the initial ownership group backed out. The struggles faced by the Soul are not unique, as other teams like the Iowa Rampage and Georgia Force have also folded in the past.
The challenges continue as the Minnesota Myth had to cancel their game in Albany because they were unable to make the trip to New York. Additionally, plans to televise Arena League games this season on NFL Network have fallen through, adding to the uncertainty surrounding the future of the league. With these setbacks, it seems like the Arena League may once again be headed towards failure.
