The Arena League

The Arena League's rules aim to highlight the player's athleticism and increase the pace of play. The field will be traditional arena football size, measuring 50 yards long and 85 feet wide enclosed by padded walls. Teams will have 15-player rosters with the game being played with six offensive players against six defensive players. There are no restrictions on defense. All offensive players are eligible receivers with 3 players initially lined up in an offensive line position. The quarterback cannot run the ball past the line of scrimmage. The play clock is reduced to 20 seconds and no offensive huddles are allowed unless a timeout is called. All players and coaches will communicate with helmet communication systems that fans will be able to listen to in real time. There will be no kickers, as there are no field goals or kick-offs. Instead, teams will be forced to go for it on fourth down. Onside kicks are replaced with onside conversions and kickoffs will be replaced with a quarterback throwoff.[1]

There will only be one official to mark and set the ball and make penalty announcements. There will be sky judges watching live video feeds to decide penalties in real time. Coaches and fans will have access to the referee interactions. After each game, fans can give feedback on the referees performance.

The league released a list of ten semi-finalist markets, which people could vote for the city to be a part of the inaugural season. The following is the list of the semi-finalists:

• Waterloo, Iowa
• Kansas City, Missouri
• Springfield, Missouri
• Rochester, Minnesota
• Little Rock, Arkansas
• Rockford, Illinois
• Dubuque, Iowa
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Duluth, Minnesota
• Wichita Falls, Texas

The league has announced two of the teams with the remaining two teams to be released in May and June 2023. The first city announced was Springfield[2] with Duluth being the second city.[3] The final two teams will be announced at later dates.

Springfield

Duluth

Locations of teams in The Arena League.

The inaugural season of The Arena League will have a five-game regular season schedule and playoffs from June to August 2024.

The League Chairman and Commissioner is NFL Hall of Famer Tim Brown. Former IFL Commissioner, Tommy Benizio, an advisor for the league and his corporation will operate and run the teams until, he hopes, business leaders in the community decide they want to be a part of it and own and operate a team.[4]