2008 Season kicks off February 29
Arena Football League
Release: 11/01/2007

NEW YORK – The Arena Football League’s 22nd season begins on Friday, February 29 at 10:30 p.m. ET when the Los Angeles Avengers host the New Orleans VooDoo. Seventeen AFL teams will play a 16-game regular season schedule over 17 weeks with each team receiving one bye week. The playoffs begin on Friday, June 27 with Wild Card Weekend. The season concludes with ArenaBowl XXII on Sunday, July 27.

The season’s first installment of Russell Athletic ESPN Arena Football kicks off over the March 1-3 weekend. ESPN’s coverage features 29 broadcasts, including 10 consecutive Monday night matchups beginning on Monday, April 14, and 11 playoff contests including ArenaBowl XXII. All nationally-televised Arena Football League games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC will be in high definition in 2008, and all games televised on the ESPN networks will also be available on ESPN360.com, ESPN’s signature live sports broadband network.

WEEK 1 MATCHUPS

(All times ET and subject to change)

DATE - WEEK 1 - TIME

Friday, February 29
New Orleans at Los Angeles - 10:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 1
Dallas at Georgia - 1:00 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Kansas City - 6:00 p.m.
Orlando at Philadelphia - 7:00 p.m.
Arizona at Utah - 9:00 p.m.

Sunday, March 2
Columbus at Colorado - 4:00 p.m.

Monday, March 3
New York at Cleveland - 7:00 p.m.
San Jose at Chicago - 9:00 p.m.

Bye: Grand Rapids


The San Jose SaberCats begin their title defense with a rematch of the 2007 American Conference Championship Game against the Chicago Rush at Allstate Arena on Monday, March 3 at 9 p.m. ET (ESPN2). San Jose defeated Chicago, 61-49, in the American Conference Championship Game on their way to ArenaBowl XXI, where the SaberCats captured their third ArenaBowl Championship in six years with a 55-33 victory over the Columbus Destroyers on July 29 in New Orleans.

The National Conference champion Destroyers open their season on the road against the Colorado Crush at Pepsi Center on Sunday, March 2 at 4 p.m. ET. The Crush outscored the Destroyers 35-20 in the first half en route to 58-40 victory in Week 12 in their only 2007 meeting.

The Georgia Force kick off the 2008 season on ABC as they welcome the Dallas Desperados to The Arena at Gwinnett Center in a matchup of the two teams with the best regular-season records from 2007 on Saturday, March 1 at 1 p.m. ET (ESPN on ABC – HD). Dallas recorded a League-best 15 wins while Georgia ranked second with 14. The Force defeated the Desperados 78-63 at Philips Arena in Week 8, giving Dallas its only loss of the season.


Other Week 1 highlights include:

Ø 2007 Offensive Player of the Year WR SIAHA BURLEY returns to face his former team when the Arizona Rattlers travel to face the Utah Blaze at EnergySolutions Arena on Saturday, March 1 at 9 p.m. ET. Burley set AFL single-season records for receptions (166) and receiving yards (2,129) while becoming the first player in professional football history to amass more than 2,000 receiving yards in a single season in 2007.

Ø The Philadelphia Soul welcomes the Orlando Predators to the Wachovia Center for the third consecutive game on Saturday, March 1 at 7 p.m. ET. The Soul defeated the Predators 63-49 to conclude the 2007 regular season on June 21, only to turnaround and host Orlando again eight days later in the Wild Card Round. The Soul advanced to the Divisional Round with a 41-26 victory over the Predators. This will mark the second time in AFL history that two teams have played each other three consecutive times. In 1988, the Chicago Bruisers and Los Angeles Cobras met during the final two weeks of the regular season and in the first round of the playoffs.

Ø Cleveland welcomes the New York Dragons to Quicken Loans Arena for the team’s inaugural game on Monday, March 3 at 7 p.m. ET. The Dragons are 4-4 all-time on the road to open a season.

Ø Kansas City will host Tampa Bay for the Brigade’s first game in the newly completed Sprint Center on Saturday, March 1 at 6 p.m. ET. Tampa Bay is 2-0 all-time against Kansas City, sweeping the Brigade in 2006.


The playoff system remains the same as in 2007 with 12 teams advancing to the postseason. In each conference, the two division champions will receive byes the first weekend. Following is the playoff schedule (all times TBD):


PLAYOFF ROUND DATE

Wild Card Round - June 27-29

Divisional Round - July 4-6

Conference Championship Games - July 12

ArenaBowl XXII - July 27



Other 2008 schedule highlights include:

Ø In Week 2, the Dallas Desperados host the Columbus Destroyers on Friday, March 7 at 8:30 p.m. ET, in a rematch of the 2007 Divisional Round game where the sixth-seeded Destroyers shocked the top-seeded Desperados, 66-59.

Ø The San Jose SaberCats and Arizona Rattlers renew their rivalry in Week 3 as former SaberCats defensive coordinator KEVIN GUY returns to HP Pavilion as the head coach of the Rattlers on Saturday, March 15 at 10:30 p.m. ET. San Jose swept the season series in 2007 for the second consecutive season and has not lost to Arizona in San Jose since 2004.

Ø Cleveland and Columbus officially begin “The Battle of the Buckeye State” when Cleveland hosts the Destroyers at Quicken Loans Arena on Saturday, March 15 at 7 p.m. ET.

Ø Former Colorado Crush and new Chicago Rush WR DAMIAN HARRELL returns to Pepsi Center when the Crush hosts the Rush in a Central Division matchup on Saturday, March 22 at 8 p.m. ET in Week 4. The Rush swept the season series against the Crush last season for the second time in four years.

Ø Former Arizona Rattlers and new Chicago Rush QB SHERDRICK BONNER welcomes the Rattlers to Allstate Arena on Friday, March 28 at 8:30 p.m. ET in Week 5 action. Bonner spent the previous 14 seasons in Arizona setting franchise records in passing yards (40,979), attempts (5,268), completions (3,261), and touchdown passes (829), before signing with the Rush in the offseason.

Ø The Grand Rapids Rampage welcomes former Rampage WR TIMON MARSHALL and the Los Angeles Avengers to Van Andel Arena on Sunday, March 30 at 2 p.m. ET. Marshall led the League in all-purpose yards with 3,050 yards and 33 touchdowns in only 13 games in 2007.

Ø Cleveland co-owner BERNIE KOSAR and Colorado Crush co-owner JOHN ELWAY begin a new chapter in a storied rivalry when Cleveland welcomes the Crush to Quicken Loans Arena on Friday, April 11 at 7 p.m. ET in Week 7. Elway’s Broncos defeated Kosar’s Browns in three AFC Championship Games (1986-87, 90) during their NFL careers. The teams meet again in Week 12 on Saturday, May 17 at 8 p.m. ET at the Pepsi Center in Colorado.

Ø The Kansas City Brigade hosts the Chicago Rush on Monday, April 14 at 8:30 p.m. ET. The Rush’s 48-21 victory over the Brigade in Week 17 decided last year’s Central Division Championship. Both teams split the season series as Kansas City defeated Chicago, 54-41, at Kemper Arena in Week 1.

Ø Cleveland Head Coach MIKE WILPOLT and DL SILAS DEMARY return to the Staples Center to face their former team as Cleveland faces the Los Angeles Avengers on Saturday, April 19 at 10:30 p.m. ET in Week 8. Wilpolt spent the previous three seasons as the Avengers defensive coordinator, while Demary spent the past seven seasons anchoring Los Angeles’ defensive line.

Ø The Orlando Predators welcome the Tampa Bay Storm to Hummer Field at Amway Arena for the latest installment of the “War on I-4” on Saturday, April 26 at 7:30 p.m. ET in Week 9. Orlando swept the Storm for the second consecutive season in 2007 and has won three in a row in Orlando. They meet again in Week 15 on Saturday, June 7 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa.

Ø The Philadelphia Soul hosts the Dallas Desperados on Monday, April 28 at 8 p.m. ET, at the Wachovia Center in Week 9. Desperados QB CLINT DOLEZEL threw five touchdown passes against the Soul in their Week 7 contest last season to become the first player in professional football history to reach 800 career touchdown passes. The Desperados swept the season series from Philadelphia in 2007 after the Soul swept the series in 2006.

Ø The Columbus Destroyers welcome the Georgia Force to Nationwide Arena in a rematch of the 2007 National Conference Championship Game on Saturday, June 7 at 7 p.m. ET in Week 15 action.


For a week-by-week schedule of the 2008 season CLICK HERE