Commissioner Baker resigns (UPDATED)
Adam Markowitz
Friday July 25, 2008
ArenaFan spoke with AFL Executive Vice President Chris McCloskey, who confirmed the report of Commissioner Baker’s resignation. Baker will be in attendance at all ArenaBowl events including tonight Awards Banquet, but the Commissioner is not scheduled to address the media this evening.
The Associated Press reported that Ed Policy, the League’s Deputy Commissioner, will be taking over the Commissioner’s role until a committee can select his successor.
“There’s a lot of great opportunities for this league.” Baker told the AP. “So this is a good time for me. If I didn’t go now, there would be no other career for David Baker… Like my good friend, John Elway, I’m going out on top.”
The AP also reported that the League is discussing bringing an exhibition game to Germany in December. This could be in response to the new exclusive agreement between the AFL and the German marketing group 2Plus.
Baker continued, “I’ve been thinking about this for awhile. I never thought I would do this for the rest of my life. The league has never been stronger... it gives me the opportunity to look into doing other things.”
He also said, “When I took over as Commissioner, I thought it would be for one year. It turned into 12. But now it’s time.”
ArenaFan will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
Adam Markowitz is an accountant living in Orlando. Adam is an old school AFLer, having followed the AFL since 1991. He attended or covered well over 200 games, including 17 ArenaBowls. Adam worked for the Arena Football League for two years as a columnist and historian before retiring in 2017 when the 50-yard indoor war left the Sunshine State. Adam still muses about the AFL on ArenaFan from time to time, and you can follow him on Twitter @adammarkowitzea.
