To say the Arena Football world has been stagnant since the Philadelphia Soul won the ArenaBowl back in July is an understatement. Right around and after the ArenaBowl, there was a flurry of news, including some big signings, the Dragons getting a new owner, some teams hiring new head coaches, Pittsburgh likely joining the league in maybe 2010 and even David Baker resigning as commissioner. But since then, apparently not much has been newsworthy aside from a logo change until the AFL announced the opening of free agency talking period on Wednesday.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s awesome that the league will (at this point) have the same teams playing in the same cities in back-to-back seasons for the first time in the AFL’s existence. This consistency is key to the success of major sports leagues like the National Football League. Since the NFL expanded to Houston in 2002, there have been 16 moves of franchises of some sort in the AFL. None in the NFL. Since 1976 when the Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the NFL, there have been just four additional expansions (Carolina, Cleveland, Houston and Jacksonville), six teams have moved to different cities and there have been no NFL teams to fold during this timeframe.

Though the lack of movement is a sign of stability for the future, the sparse AFL news in the last few months has not. The biggest news the indoor world has been the New York Dragons getting a new logo into what looks like a hybrid rip off of the University of Alabama-Birmingham’s logo and something from the PBS children's show Dragon Tales. Other than that, the Rush dumped some overpaid players and the Rampage got a new Director of Dance (yes, that was press release worthy and actually drove me to write this).

The offseason is usually quite from a team perspective, but the AFL normally has something news worthy in the months after the ArenaBowl. This year, absolutely nothing. You’d figure there’d be news about a new commissioner or prospects for the open spot (Adam Markowitz is still available and from what I hear has not been contacted for some reason), news of where ArenaBowl XXIII will be played or something.

That being said, the lack of news might not be a bad thing at all. Since there’s not much out there about the AFL, there’s less of a chance for damaging news like last season when Austin and Nashville failed as franchises after less than five AFL seasons and Jim Ferraro moved the Gladiators franchise again (third city‘s a charm). With the economy down and the AFL looking like it will field every team it did last season without losing or moving the team, it shows the strong ownership of the league. While the AFL could have this stability for its first time, the NBA saw a team in the twelfth biggest market (Seattle) move to the 45th market (Oklahoma City) this year. The Oklahoma City market is smaller than any AFL market. So, I guess no news is good news and a welcome sign of stability and growth.

Just wanted to send out a get well soon note to fellow ArenaFan writer and friend Chip Burch, who I helped bring on board ArenaFan Online when I was the Director of Media Relations for the Rampage. On August 28, Chip was on his way to cover a minor league baseball game when he rear-ended a car. He broke his right femur, both wrists and had his spleen and liver lacerated. Chip is getting better and should be ready to get off injured reserve prior to Rampage training camp. Get well Chip.