Change is good

Thousands of fans are saying the same thing 

It’s time for the AFL to make more improvements to the game it represents.

Those empty seats glaring out at us in HD spoke as one.

Something has to change.

It’s like getting kicked in the stomach when tuning into a playoff game and seeing empty seats. 

The AFL should appeal to any person that loves the game of football. No matter the environment of this unique and particular version, Arena Football should be a place where overflow crowds of serious football fans thrive.

The AFL has shown willingness to alter the game when needed.

With the sensible adjustment to the one-way player instead of a guy playing both defense and offense all game long, the AFL changed its format - where it could - to bring its version in line with the game enjoyed by all football enthusiasts. 

Arena Football is football bottom line. The size of the field and its unique dynamics are not what needs improvement.

But more changes are obviously needed. Empty seats demand them.

Here are some ideas for further improvement of the AFL.

On the field

Two things that definitely “gotta go.”

1: Get rid of the white line running down at the base of the sideline barriers for the out of bounds. 

Why is the line even needed? Ever asked yourself that? The boards are there as the sidelines. 

If the ball can bounce off the boards and is live, then so should the player, or his foot. The seats should be the deciding factor for “out of bounds.”

2: No pushing a player into the sideline barriers as out of bounds.         

Look, the field is small enough, being able to push the ball carrier into the barriers makes no sense at all. Arena Football is tackle football after all. If the player is still moving forward then let him run or “stop” him. 

Tackling is an exciting part of football. It does the AFL no good in the overall scheme of things for the ball carrier to be pushed into the barriers for a tackle. Also, shoving a player running full speed into the boards is a dangerous act. Hopefully the players union and/or league office will see that tackling a player “against” the boards is far better for the athletes whose paychecks are dependent on being able to play week to week. 

Tackling a ball carrier into the boards makes for a better environment. 

3: Onsides kicks should be able to hit the boards. The kicking game in Arena Football is already the most skilled endeavor in the entire football world and the onsides kick is a crucial part of the Arena football game. More nails are bitten off during this kind of play than any other. Take one more step in the right direction and let the kicking game go to the next level of excitement. 

4: Nine players on the kickoff/special team. The kicker kicks and immediately leaves the field. During an onsides kick, the kicker is only involved with kicking. Kickers are far too important to the Arena Football game to be jeopardized making a tackle on the kick return. 

Many games are decided by one point. Kickers are needed in prime condition literally every second of the game. It is far past time to recognize the elite status of Arena Football kickers. I’m sure Dan Frantz, Remy Hamilton and many other kickers will make a fuss about not tackling on kicks, but one look at Chicago’s run to ArenaBowl XX and you’ll see how important a healthy kicker was. Without Frantz, the Rush may not being wearing championship rings right now. 

5: The Mack and Jack linebackers should be free to move anywhere they want to anytime they want to. The whole box thing is as exciting as watching grass grow.

It’s a good idea that only one linebacker should be able to blitz due to the numbers of players on the field, but other than that the whole Mack/Jack/box thing does not help the excitement factor of Arena Football. And interceptions are a very exciting part of a game.

6: Defensive linemen should be able to twist, stunt, shuck, jive, dive, or fly while rushing the quarterback. Sacks are big time exciting. The AFL already went to one-way linemen so having the offensive line reacting to skilled rushers will make the game better.

7: Interference penalties should be where the infraction occurs after one warning like they do to the offense when using the referee to screen out a defender. 

There is little in the way of making Arena Football exciting to see a Defensive Back yank a Receiver to the ground when they get burned. This game was designed for touchdowns not pull downs. 

When talking with a newcomer to the AFL that loves football, you invariably get around to the linebackers, the kicking game, the defensive rush, the sideline barriers and interference calls. Let’s stop pretending the game is perfect as is. Obviously the people not attending games don’t think so.

Arena Football is a game played within relatively small dimensions and on a specialized field that can make for pure excitement if the players are allowed to be free to play more wide open and less restricted. 

New changes to the game along with the changes already implemented are definitely called for.

Off the field

8: Fill empty lower seats with fans from the upper levels. Why not?

An empty seat and unsold ticket is someone’s fault. 

It is either a season-ticket holder failing to honor their commitment or it’s a league professional failing everyone.

For the people attending the game and especially during the playoffs and televised games; rule number eight should be implemented today.

There is only one thing worse than an empty seat and that is hundreds of empty seats in the lower levels during the opening kickoff of a televised game.

Filling the lower level seats is only right. Any true fan that has season tickets shouldn’t have a problem with their seats being filled with someone that showed up (and showed up early) for the game. 

There should be an agreement between fans and the league office that lower level seats are filled for every televised game. If you’re not there ten-minutes before game time let someone else enjoy the experience of being field level during the opening kickoff. OK?

The arenas can hand out a flyer instructing the fans occupying a season ticket holders seat to go back to their own seats when “and if” the season ticket holder shows up. It’s not a tough situation to have people going back to their seats when asked.

An empty seat is the only enemy of the Arena Football League. 

9: League and franchise executives are to form a department exclusively designed to improve ticket sales and attendance to games. 

How can anyone working in an AFL corporate capacity feel satisfied about their job when an arena during a playoff game looks like a dog with mange? 

It’s a myth that an Ostrich puts its head in the sand when sensing trouble but it looks like reality with AFL corporate professionals. 

It’s great that this year’s ArenaBowl is a sellout in New Orleans. In fact it’s the best news in the history of the AFL. Thank you, New Orleans. 

What pro football league failed after only sixteen years playing in Europe?

There is no excuse for an empty seat in this league. Arena Football deserves better than that.

But fans are not guiltless either. 

If one fan brings one friend to a game, then there are sellouts all over the league at most venues all season long. 

And there’s no excuse for lagging attendance for teams with a losing record. 

The ArenaBowl is being held in New Orleans. That city shames every fair-weather fan that has ever lived. 

There’s no excuse for an empty seat and that applies just as much to fans as it does to the guys attending games in the suits and ties.

And let us all never forget that TV ratings are very, very important. So if you don’t go to a game then make sure you have your TV’s set on the game. And watch it. 

More good ideas

We have come to the point where any team that fails is a failure of the entire league.

Read on if you’d like. I’m not through yet.

There needs to be a full scale effort of the entire AFL to cover the sports community in the surrounding areas where there are franchises with every effort to educate the people and businesses about the local team and the AFL itself. 

And at the top of the list, the league and franchises should be doing everything they can for the original fans and season-ticket holders to remain fans and season-ticket holders.

Season ticket holders and the oldest supporters of the league are the true royalty of the AFL. Fan of the Year awards should always be about the fans with the most years supporting the league. 

The AFL is 21-years old but is still not that well known by the overall public in reality. And pretending it is only denies facts.

Every franchise should have a team of employees targeting an area fifty miles around their team at every place where sport’s is of interest with information about Arena Football. 

Every University, College, High School, YMCA, Boys Club, Church, sports bar, sporting goods store and anywhere where sports is displayed; like restaurants and convenience stores, should be visited and have the AFL displayed in posters and souvenirs. 

How many franchises have a ton of old souvenirs and posters lying around their offices doing nothing but gathering dust? There are many empty walls needing attending to. 

It is not appropriate to think about the successful future of Arena Football until a minimum of 15,000 fans attend every game. And that number is very reachable if the right actions are taken by the league office and franchises.

At every game, every fan should walk out of that arena with an AFL t-shirt. Thousands of walking billboards is powerful advertising. The league has no good reason for not taking me up on that promo. . 

Certainly the league selling out this season’s championship game at a neutral site should make fools out of its loudest critics. 

Arena Football is poised to be something great. 

But it is going to have to be the people involved in it now to prove that.