2016 Arena Football League season

January 2025 2016 Arena Football League season Arena Football League Arena football April 1, 2016 – August 26, 2016 Regular season Nick Davila, ARZ Arena Football League Most Valuable Player Award League postseason American Conference Philadelphia Soul Jacksonville Sharks National Conference Arizona Rattlers Cleveland Gladiators ArenaBowl XXIX ArenaBowl XXIX Philadelphia Soul Arizona Rattlers Shaun Kauleinamoku, PHI Most valuable player List of Arena Football League seasons AFL 2015 Arena Football League season 2015 2017 Arena Football League season 2017 USA 360 10px National, 10px American no USA Predators right ButtonRed.svg 28.540 -81.380 USA Sharks top ButtonRed.svg 30.337 -81.661 USA Soul right ButtonRed.svg 39.953 -75.164 USA Storm bottom ButtonRed.svg 27.948 -82.459 USA Gladiators top ButtonBlue.svg 41.482 -81.670 USA Kiss left ButtonBlue.svg 33.836 -117.890 USA Rattlers bottom ButtonBlue.svg 33.448 -112.074 USA Steel bottom ButtonBlue.svg 45.520 -122.682 The 2016 Arena Football League season was the 29th season in the history of the Arena Football League. Prior to the start of the season, the league contracted to eight teams. The 16-game regular season then began on April 1, 2016 and ended on August 1, 2016. The league, however, kept its eight-team playoff format, which meant that every club qualified for the postseason. League business Teams The Las Vegas Outlaws and the New Orleans VooDoo were dropped from the league at the end of the 2015 season because new ownership groups could not be found for either team. The Spokane Shock jumped to the Indoor Football League on September 1, 2015.http://goifl.com/sports/fball/2014-15/releases/20150901oku66u IFL Announces Addition of Spokane Shock Indoor Football League September 1, 2015 September 1, 2015 September 4, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150904011604/http://goifl.com/sports/fball/2014-15/releases/20150901oku66u dead The AFL claimed ownership of the Shock name, forcing the team to rename itself the Spokane Empire.http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/101215aag.html AFL Issues Statement on Spokane Shock Arena Football League www.arenafootballleague.com October 12, 2015 December 18, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151217152916/http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/101215aag.html December 17, 2015 usurped mdy-all On October 30, 2015, the league announced that there would not be any expansion teams for the 2016 season; this event occurred just under three hours before what had been slated to be the expected announcement of an expansion franchise in San Antonio to be owned by the ownership group of the San Antonio Spurs. The group owning the 2015 league champion San Jose SaberCats returned the franchise to the league on November 12, 2015 for "reasons unrelated to League operations". Commissioner Scott Butera said the league would try to find new ownership, but this was not forthcoming in time for the team to operate during the 2016 season to defend its championship.http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/111215aae.html AFL Issues Statement on San Jose SaberCats Arena Football League www.arenafootballleague.com November 12, 2015 December 18, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151217155314/http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/111215aae.html 2015-12-17 usurped Because the league was now down to eight teams for the 2016 season, there were still the American and National Conferences but no divisional play. The Cleveland Gladiators were moved to the National Conference to maintain a balance between the conferences.http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/103015aac.html AFL Announces 2016 Conference Alignment Arena Football League www.arenafootballleague.com October 30, 2015 December 18, 2015 December 22, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151222102003/http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/103015aac.html usurped The league took over operations of the former Portland Thunder in January 2016http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/afl-takes-over-operations-of-portland-thunder/n-5086650 AFL Takes over Operations of Portland Thunder OurSportsCentral January 6, 2016 and rebranded it as the Portland Steel.http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/portland-afl-organization-rebrands-to-steel/n-5104115 Portland AFL Organization Rebrands to Steel OurSportsCentral February 24, 2016 The 2016 schedule was announced on December 10, 2015.http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/121015aaa.html Arena Football League Announces 2016 Schedule Arena Football League www.arenafootballleague.com December 10, 2015 December 18, 2015 December 14, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151214205619/http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/121015aaa.html usurped ArenaBowl Playoffs All teams from both conferences qualified for the playoffs. As in the prior season, there were the Conference Semifinals, the Conference Championships, and ArenaBowl XXIX. In the American Semifinals, the Soul beat the Storm 63–41 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The Sharks beat the Predators 69–68 in overtime; the National Semifinals saw the Rattlers beat the Steel 84–40 and the Gladiators beat the Kiss 56–52 in San Diego, California. The Rattlers doubled up the Gladiators 82–41 in the National Conference title game. In the American Conference title game, the Soul edged the Sharks by a score of 55–50. The Philadelphia Soul upset the heavily-favored Arizona Rattlers 56–42 in ArenaBowl XXIX in Glendale, Arizona for their second AFL title. Alignment Conference Teams American Jacksonville Sharks, Orlando Predators, Philadelphia Soul, Tampa Bay Storm National Arizona Rattlers, Cleveland Gladiators, Los Angeles Kiss, Portland Steel Regular season standings 100% x - Clinched conference title. Playoffs Conference Semifinals Conference Championships ArenaBowl XXIX National Conference American Conference 1 Philadelphia 63 4 Tampa Bay 41 2 Orlando 68 3 Jacksonville 69OT 1 Arizona 84 4 Portland 40 2 Los Angeles 52 3 Cleveland 56 1 Philadelphia 55 3 Jacksonville 50 1 Arizona 82 3 Cleveland 41 N1 Arizona 42 A1 Philadelphia 56 Conference semifinals Conference Date Kickoff Away Score Home Game site Recap American August 6 7:00 p.m. EDT Jacksonville Sharks 69–68 (OT) Orlando Predators Amway Center http://www.arenafootball.com:80/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/080716aaa.html https://web.archive.org/web/20161017143359/http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/080716aaa.html usurped October 17, 2016 Orlando Eliminated From Postseason with Overtime Loss to Jacksonville arenafootball.com August 7, 2016 August 9, 2017 mdy-all National August 6 10:00 p.m. EDT Portland Steel 40–84 Arizona Rattlers Talking Stick Resort Arena http://www.arenafootball.com:80/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/080716aab.html https://web.archive.org/web/20161021173413/http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/080716aab.html usurped October 21, 2016 Rattlers Advance with Huge Win over Portland 84-40 arenafootball.com August 7, 2016 August 9, 2017 mdy-all American August 7 6:00 p.m. EDT Tampa Bay Storm 41–63 Philadelphia Soul PPL Center http://arenafootball.cstv.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/080716aae.html https://web.archive.org/web/20170809233408/http://arenafootball.cstv.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/080716aae.html dead August 9, 2017 Storm Falls in First Round of AFL Postseason, Loses to Philadelphia 63-41 arenafootball.cstv.com August 7, 2016 August 9, 2017 National August 7 6:00 p.m. EDT Cleveland Gladiators 56–52 Los Angeles Kiss Valley View Casino Center http://arenafootball.cstv.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/080716aag.html https://web.archive.org/web/20170809233519/http://arenafootball.cstv.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/080716aag.html dead August 9, 2017 LA KISS Eliminated From Postseason with Loss to Cleveland arenafootball.cstv.com August 7, 2016 August 9, 2017 Conference finals Conference Date Kickoff Away Score Home Game site Recap National August 13 9:30 p.m. EDT Cleveland Gladiators 41–82 Arizona Rattlers Talking Stick Resort Arena http://www.arenafootball.com:80/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/081416aaa.html https://web.archive.org/web/20161021173138/http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/081416aaa.html usurped October 21, 2016 Rattlers Earn Trip to ArenaBowl XXIX with Win over Gladiators, 82-41 arenafootball.com August 14, 2016 August 9, 2017 mdy-all American August 14 6:00 p.m. EDT Jacksonville Sharks 50–55 Philadelphia Soul PPL Center http://www.arenafootball.com:80/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/081416aag.html https://web.archive.org/web/20161021181928/http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/081416aag.html usurped October 21, 2016 Soul Outlast Sharks 55-50, Advance to ArenaBowl XXIX arenafootball.com August 14, 2016 August 9, 2017 mdy-all ArenaBowl XXIX ArenaBowl XXIX Date Kickoff Away Score Home Game site Recap August 26 7:00 PM EDT Philadelphia Soul 56–42 Arizona Rattlers Gila River Arena http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/082616aaq.html https://web.archive.org/web/20161113134040/http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/082616aaq.html usurped November 13, 2016 Soul Defeat Rattlers, 56-42, to Claim AFL Crown arenafootball.com August 26, 2016 August 9, 2017 All-Arena team OffensePositionFirst teamSecond teamQuarterbackNick Davila, ArizonaDan Raudabaugh, PhiladelphiaFullbackMykel Benson, ArizonaJeramie Richardson, PhiladelphiaWide receiverJoe Hills, JacksonvilleRod Windsor, ArizonaBrandon Thompkins, OrlandoDonovan Morgan, Los AngelesT. T. Toliver, Tampa BayCollin Taylor, ClevelandCenterJordan Mudge, Arizona (tie)Joe Madsen, Cleveland (tie)Wayne Tribue, PhiladelphiaOffensive linemanAdam Smith, PhiladelphiaCornelius Lewis, JacksonvilleNeal Tivis, PhiladelphiaD. J. Brandel, Cleveland DefensePositionFirst teamSecond teamDefensive linemanJake Metz, PhiladelphiaDamien Borel, ArizonaTeddy Jennings, PhiladelphiaDarryl Cato-Bishop, OrlandoNose guardRandy Colling, ClevelandDimetrio Tyson, ArizonaMiddle linebackerTyre Glasper, ArizonaDexter Jackson, JacksonvilleJack linebackerJoe Goosby, PhiladelphiaTerence Moore, OrlandoDefensive backTracy Belton, PhiladelphiaGreg Reid, JacksonvilleVarmah Sonie, OrlandoDwayne Hollis, PhiladelphiaMarvin Ross, ClevelandFred Obi, Los Angeles Special teamsPositionFirst teamSecond teamKickerTommy Frevert, PhiladelphiaMark Lewis, OrlandoKick returnerBrandon Thompkins, OrlandoLarry Beavers, Cleveland References 30em