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Post by David on Aug 9, 2015 14:53:33 GMT -8
 08.09.15 - The Arena Football League announced that the New Orleans VooDoo and the Las Vegas Outlaws have ceased operations effective immediately.
The announcement by the league ends the debate on whether or not the Las Vegas Outlaws should be qualified to participate in the 2015 AFL Playoffs after the whole tie fiasco that gave the Outlaws a better winning percentage than the Portland Thunder. When the Thunder lost last night to the Arizona Rattlers, Las Vegas clinched the #4 seed in the playoffs, sparking debate among fans whether or not the Outlaws were favored by Commissioner Scott Butera, who has ties to the Las Vegas area.
However, the situation was resolved on Sunday when the AFL Board of Directors voted that the Outlaws will not take part in postseason play. As a result, the Portland Thunder will move into the #4 position in the National Conference playoffs. The Thunder's season, which looked like it was over last night, lives on. They will take on the San Jose SaberCats in the AFL Quarterfinals on Friday, August 14th at 8 p.m.
All players who were under contract with the Outlaws and the VooDoo will essentially be free agents. None of the playoff teams can add the players of either team to their roster until the 2015 season is finished.
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Post by DiamondThief on Aug 9, 2015 15:18:22 GMT -8
The Board of Governors did what Butera should have done four weeks ago. This is the right decision.
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Post by David on Aug 9, 2015 15:51:08 GMT -8
The Board of Governors did what Butera should have done four weeks ago. This is the right decision. Agreed. It's unfortunate for the Vegas staff/players that they get the news this way, but this decision should have been made back in July. It also sparks a bit of a debate why the 2013 Chicago Rush were allowed to be in the playoffs (although they were 10-8 and won the Central Division) and not the Outlaws, but that's a whole other debate for another time. Point is, Vegas was not ready to play in the 2015 season and it showed: crappy field goal posts, non-regulation end zones, cheap uniforms, unable to pay a dry cleaning bill, other AFL teams using the XFL Outlaws logo... this team was jinxed from the start. On the bright side, Portland gets to fight another day, and rightfully so.. |
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Post by SurferGirl on Aug 9, 2015 16:21:29 GMT -8
It strikes me as odd that the league allowed Las Vegas to start this season with all the hiccups which were clearly there months before the season started. The one I feel bad for is New Orleans. Angi told be they've been around for a long time and just kind of came to the end of their run.
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Post by Yeseeka on Aug 9, 2015 19:14:05 GMT -8
I don't get it to begin with. If they were going to cancel a game between these teams, each one should have gotten a loss and explain the reason below the standings. This whole situation is really dumb.
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Post by David on Aug 9, 2015 19:17:08 GMT -8
It strikes me as odd that the league allowed Las Vegas to start this season with all the hiccups which were clearly there months before the season started. The one I feel bad for is New Orleans. Angi told be they've been around for a long time and just kind of came to the end of their run. Well, there's no definitive proof about this, but I think (and some opinions on ArenaFan) that the number of teams that folded or left the AFL after the 2014 season was the reason the Outlaws were pushed into service a year earlier. See, there were 14 active franchises in 2014. After the season ended, the Iowa Barnstormers moved to the IFL and the San Antonio Talons folded. They would have had 12 teams going into the 2015 season, but the Pittsburgh Power abruptly folded without warning and the league dropped down to 11 teams. I think for the sake of TV broadcasting, they needed a minimum of 12 teams, hence Vegas had only a few months to get things going. Which, you also wonder how much time the Outlaws had to prepare versus what the LA KISS and Portland Thunder had time-frame wise to get their operations set up last year. Clearly they didn't have the same problems the Outlaws had (regulation football fields, uniforms that weren't crap, promoting the product). Although Portland's field wasn't technically complete (you could still see "Milwaukee Mustangs" painted beneath the PDX and Thunder fonts in the end zones), they were better prepared. So, who knows. Maybe Vince Neil just wasn't prepared to own a team, which is funny because he owns a minority share of the Jacksonville Sharks. But I hear you about New Orleans. They had pretty decent and long history in the AFL. From what I've read, "The Graveyard" to be one of the louder arenas in the league during the AFL's popular days. They even managed to overcome Hurricane Katrina, which caused them to fold for the 2006 season due to damage to the arena. And yet the fans still came out to support the team when they returned in 2007. They, among every other AFL team, folded after the league died prior to 2009, but they still found a way to come back. I mean, they moved the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings to New Orleans in 2011 so they could resurrect the VooDoo brand. But with the way things went (losing attendance, losing games, and not getting good players) it's a disappointing end to this once popular franchise.. As for the Outlaws, I don't really have sympathy for them. Las Vegas is just not a sports town outside of boxing/UFC. They already had the Las Vegas Sting (1994-1995) and the Las Vegas Gladiators (2003-2007) and both teams relocated to Anaheim (which folded) and Cleveland (still in operation). The market just doesn't care. Now they want to add an NHL team there... ugh. Just, no. |
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Graphic courtesy of David.