It may have just a sliver of the fan base enjoyed by the National Football League, but the Arena Football League is back after emerging from bankruptcy in December 2009, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
That means Duluth's Gwinnett Arena will soon see the return of hometown AFL team the Georgia Force, which was active between the years of 1987 and 2008. And according to the team's Web site, single-game and season tickets are now available for the 2011 season.
So if you're an arena football fan, you may want to thank the Georgia bankruptcy lawyers who helped broker the team's resurgence.
But if you ask Preston Williams, managing director of the Gwinnett County Visitors Bureau, he'll tell you that he always knew they'd come back. He even held on to the end zone netting bearing the team's logo, confident it would once again be put to use.
Atlanta Falcons (NFL) owner Arthur Blank owned the Force during its final four seasons before the league suspended operations and filed for bankruptcy in 2009. New owners purchased the AFL out of court, which included 15 team names and logos.
Donn Jennings and Doug MacGregor are the new owners of the Georgia Force.
New league owners hope a different business model will keep it solvent this time around, with lower costs and greater pressure to fill seats. While the Force averaged about 6,500 to 7,000 a game when the team played in Gwinnett, it will have to average between 7,000 and 8,000 fans to make a profit.
Single game tickets start at $10 and go up to $150 for the best seats.
Die-hard Force fan Tim Berninger said he re-arranged his work schedule so he could catch games after his 50-minute drive from Cleveland, where he lives with his wife Lynda Berninger.
Related Resources:
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Chapter 11 Bankruptcy for Small Businesses (FindLaw's KnowledgeBase)
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Arena Football League Players Cry Foul at Owners, Try to Survive Shutdown (New York Daily News)
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