The Arena Football League, a staple on the U.S. sports landscape since 1987, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and ended its operations on Wednesday. When David Baker was the AFL commissioner from 1996-2008, the league had as many as 19 teams. After the exit of Baker, currently the president and CEO of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the AFL canceled its 2009 season, then reappeared in 2010 rebranded as Arena Football 1 with 15 teams. He went on to reach three Super Bowls, winning one with the then-St. Louis Rams, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017. The demise of the AFL follows the short-lived existence of the Alliance of American Football, which folded in April, midway through its inaugural season with eight teams.

Source: National Post November 28, 2019 04:41 UTC