Arena Football League Realigns For 2004 Season
Austin, New Orleans and Philadelphia brings AFL to 19 teams.

10.09.03 -- The Arena Football League will open up the 2004 season with three more teams competing for a chance to play in the ArenaBowl.

The Philadelphia Soul, New Orleans VooDoo, and the Austin Wranglers are geared up and ready to bring the 50-Yard-War to the fans in these cities.

The Soul’s ownership group includes rock-n-roll star Jon Bon Jovi, and former NFL quarterback Ron Jaworski.

“The AFL is exciting to me as a fan and an owner,” said Jon Bon Jovi. “It is a legitimate sport played by legitimate athletes. It's for the hardcore fan like me or for the new fan like my eight-year-old son. He can appreciate it just as much and for a different reason.”

“Philadelphia is the greatest football city in America,” said Ron Jaworski, who led the Eagles to Super Bowl XV. “I am absolutely thrilled to be associated with a group of people who want to bring quality professional football to Philadelphia and who are committed to winning.”

The ownership groups for the other new teams have ties to the NFL as well.

The VooDoo are owned by Saints owner Tom Benson, while the Wrangler’s ownership group includes numerous former and current NFL players.

With three new expansion teams set to begin play in 2004, the AFL has realigned its divisions in an attempt to stimulate more geographic rivalries than ever before.

Nineteen teams will compete for the ArenaBowl XVIII championship. The following is the new divisional alignment:

SOUTHERN	CENTRAL
Austin Wranglers	Chicago Rush
Georgia Force	Colorado Crush
New Orleans VooDoo	Detroit Fury
Orlando Predators	Grand Rapids Rampage
Tampa Bay Storm	Indiana Firebirds
EASTERN	WESTERN
Carolina Cobras	Arizona Rattlers
Columbus Destroyers	Las Vegas Gladiators
Dallas Desperados	Los Angeles Avengers
New York Dragons	San Jose SaberCats
Philadelphia Soul

In the new alignment, the Detroit Fury and Las Vegas Gladiators move from the Eastern Division to the Central and Western Divisions, respectively.

The Dallas Desperados, owned by Jerry Jones Sr., move from the Central Division to the Eastern.

The Colorado Crush, co-owned by former NFL quarterback John Elway, move from the Western Division to the Central Division.

The Southern Division sends the Carolina Cobras to the Eastern Division, while it gains the expansion Austin Wranglers and New Orleans VooDoo.
The expansion Philadelphia Soul will play in the Eastern Division. The Destroyers relocated to Columbus from Buffalo, but will remain in the Eastern Division.

“We will have 19 strong teams and four revised divisions that we anticipate will lead to the same great parity in 2004 as we had in 2003 when each division had three teams participate in the postseason,” said AFL Commissioner David Baker. “This realignment makes geographic sense and puts teams in divisions with natural football rivalries, while maintaining competitive balance.”

Some of the rivalries the realignment will create include:

•The addition of Philadelphia and Dallas to the Eastern Division with New York will emphasize an existing football rivalry (NFC East) within those markets.

•Detroit’s return to the Central Division with intrastate rival Grand Rapids.

•Colorado and new head coach Mike Dailey are added to the Central with Dailey’s former team Indiana.

•Las Vegas is placed in the Western Division for a more geographic-friendly division with Arizona, Los Angeles and San Jose.