Reviving the Roar: Music City welcomes back the Kats and the AFL

Andy Lopusnak
Thursday April 25, 2024

It’s been 17 years since the Nashville Kats last played, leaving behind a legacy that still lingers in the memories of football fans throughout Middle Tennessee. The landscape of Nashville has evolved significantly since the AFL first made its mark on the Music City almost three decades ago.

Back in 1997, Nashville lacked an NFL or NHL team, and the Opryland USA theme park, a symbol of the city's charm, was still drawing crowds until it closed to make a mall. The population was merely a shadow of its current size (about 700,000 in 1997 and almost 1.3 million today).

The Kats burst onto the scene, igniting fervor among fans for the hard-hitting, high-scoring 50-yard indoor war. Their debut season was marked by a Week 13 victory over the Orlando Predators, drawing over 16,000, making it one of the most attended AFL games of the year. Over the course of five seasons, the Kats boasted an impressive record of 51-29, with an average home attendance exceeding well over 12,000. Despite two heartbreaking losses in the ArenaBowl, the Kats remained a formidable force until lease issues forced their relocation and transformation into the Georgia Force in 2002.

However, the spirit of the Kats endured, thanks to the Tennessee Titans ownership and the support of country music icon Tim McGraw, who spearheaded the AFL's return to Nashville in 2005. Although attendance remained strong, the team's performance faltered, leading to its dissolution after the 2007 season.

The AFL itself faced turmoil around the same time, folding after the following season, only to resurface in 2010 with a hybrid of AFL and af2 teams. This iteration persevered for a decade before seemingly shuttering for good in 2019. Yet, against the odds, the league has been resurrected once more, with the Kats back for their third life as part of the AFL's third incarnation, alongside 15 other teams.

Leading the charge for the Kats is Dean Cokinos, a familiar face from their previous stint, who brings with him a wealth of experience, including a thrilling ArenaCup victory in 2008 against Spokane Shock. Joining him is Adam Shackleford, who was the coach of the Shock in that ArenaCup and then won his own a year later, which would be the last af2 game played.

While the first two iterations of the Kats played in Bridgestone Arena (and in fact were the first sports team to call it home), this version of the Kats will play four of their five home games this season at the historic Nashville Municipal Auditorium and the other being in Clarksville (about an hour from Nashville) at F&M Bank Arena.

This isn’t the first indoor football team to call Municipal Auditorium home as the Nashville Venom played two seasons there from 2014-15 in the Professional Indoor Football League. The Venom won the PIFL Cup that expansion season, going 12-2 in 2014 then 7-4 in 2015 before the league folded. The Nashville Knights of the women’s Legends Football League played two seasons from 2018-19, and most recently in 2022, wrestling legend Ric Flair’s last match was held at Municipal Auditorium. This Saturday will be the first AFL game there when the Kats host the Minnesota Myth. Kickoff is at 7:30 PM Central Time.

When I found out last year that the Kats were coming back (and the AFL as well), it brought up so many fond memories as I spent over a decade working for AFL and af2 teams and many more years covering this sport for ArenaFan as well as Getty Images.

I live in Nashville now, and my connection to Kats runs deep. I was there in 2001 when the first version of the Nashville Kats played their last game, losing ArenaBowl XV to the Rampage (I was also in Orlando the year before when they lost in ArenaBowl XIV). Both years, I worked the championship game as a member of AFL’s media team when I was with the Storm and was the talent stats person for the television broadcasts.

Seven years later, I was in Nashville when the Kats played their final game in their second iteration, this time as the Football Operations Manager of the aforementioned Rampage (the Kats won 57-54, but sadly for me and my team, Brian Gowins’ last-second 35-yard field goal attempt failed to send it into overtime).

Now, I’ll be there this Saturday night and will post some photos of the game and all the festivities exclusively here on ArenaFan Online and our social media platforms. Please share your favorite memories of the Nashville Kats and the AFL in general. We’d love to hear from you!

Click here to view the Kats’ 2024 schedule and here ticketmaster.com" target="_blank">www.ticketmaster.com/artist/806618">to purchase tickets.