Arena Football Association expands outside of Texas, adding Wichita and Magnolia State to the League
The Arena Football Association (AFA), the indoor football league built upon the pillars of diversity, equity and inclusion, has added two new teams to its roster for the 2022 season with the addition of the Wichita (KS) Force and the Magnolia State (Philadelphia, MS) Spartans.
While the League is adding both the Force and Spartans, it also has lost the Texas Crude, as the Crude has been unable to fulfill the necessary obligations to field an AFA team for the 2022 season.
“We are very excited to welcome both the Wichita Force and the Magnolia State Spartans into the Arena Football Association,” said Leif Kertis, Director of Expansion for the AFA. “It was unfortunate that the Crude were unable to meet the expectations we’ve established for membership in the AFA, but we’ve done our due-diligence on both Wichita and Magnolia State and we’re confident that they’ll both be great additions to our League and more importantly, they allow us to expand beyond Texas and into Kansas and Mississippi.”
The Wichita Force franchise was formed in 2014. During the past eight years, the Force has won the hearts of Wichita and surrounding communities. The team has attracted nearly 6,000 fans for its home games, and it won a league championship in 2016.
“We are very excited to start a new chapter in the history of Wichita Force football by joining Arena Football Association,” said Force Managing Partner Jeff Martin. “The AFA has a sound business model and they’ve brought together a tremendous group of teams and owners, and we are very thankful for the opportunity to compete in the AFA. Our fans are in for a treat.”
The Magnolia State Spartans are a brand-new team that will be competing in their first season of arena football in 2022. Owner and General Manager Charles Roberts has a solid resume as he is the former GM of the Elite Indoor Football League’s Mississippi Raiders and the former Assistant GM of the Mississippi Storm.
“The Magnolia State Spartans are proud to be awarded the opportunity to come onboard as an expansion team in the Arena Football Association,” said an excited Roberts. “We want to thank founders Doug Freeman, Maximillian L. Hamilton and Fred Smith, and League Vice President Lisa Giamo for believing in our vision for a true professional team for the Magnolia State. We look forward to the competition that the teams from Wichita and the great football state of Texas will bring. And to the fans here in the Magnolia State, get your popcorn ready because this region is about to witness the state’s ‘Greatest Show on Turf!’”
The 2022 Arena Football Association season is set to kick off in April and the League’s championship game, The Carrier Cup, slated to be contested in July aboard the aircraft carrier USS Lexington, which is stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The Arena Football Association is focused on placing its franchises in underserved markets, targeting cities whose populations range from 200,000 to 2 million. The League is built on a world-class business model of designed to drive league growth. Every team must adhere to strict business operations principles that help to ensure economic stability.
More information about the Arena Football Association is available at http://arenafa.com/.
