Arena Football League 2000 Season Back On!
(March 2, 2000)

Yesterday the Arena Football League said "We're Back!" Six days after canceling the 2000 season, the league announced it would go on as planned. There are some issues to be resolved, and unanswered questions, but it certainly is good news that common sense has prevailed.

Without getting into all the details, which are similar to other labor problems in the recent history of professional sports, here is a quick one paragraph summary of the labor woes. Rumblings of labor unrest became fact when, on February 4, a group of players filed an antitrust lawsuit against the league. On February 21, unfair labor practice charges were filed. The league wanted the players to form a union and use collective bargaining to resolve the dispute. They also said they would not play under the threat of a lawsuit. On February 24, with unionization efforts failing and the lawsuits pending, the owners voted to cancel the 2000 season.

Over the last week, the "overwhelming majority" of the players formed the Arena League Players Organizing Committee. The league has recognized it as their bargaining representative and will begin contract negotiations immediately. The Supreme Court has ruled that unionized workers cannot file antitrust lawsuits, however, a lawyer for a group of players opposed to the union vowed to pursue the lawsuit. AFL commissioner David Baker says the suits will be "vigorously defended" and will not interfere with the season.

Commissioner Baker had some other comments the reinstatement of the 2000 season. "The players have spoken, the owners have responded, and it is the fans who have won. We want to thank all of our fans, sponsors and other business partners for their support. We've lost a great deal of time...but the good news is, we're back."

The training camps are scheduled to open March 19, so there is plenty of work to be done. In the next few days, the new teams will take part in an expansion draft. Los Angeles, Carolina and Detroit were to join the league this year, but the labor problems caused Detroit to announce they would delay play until 2001. If that is still the case, there are scheduling problems to address. While Detroit was not on the Tampa Bay Storm schedule, they did trade George LaFrance to Detroit and may retain his rights for another season.

The 2000 Arena Football League season opens on April 13 and the Storm begin play at home on April 15 against New England. They also have a preseason game with the Florida Bobcats at the Ice Palace on March 29. Peter Tom Willis has announced his retirement, so the Storm may be looking for a new starting quarterback. Now we can talk about the upcoming season, instead of this other stuff.

Welcome back!