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Post by David on Jan 5, 2017 16:44:35 GMT -8
The following is the complete schedule for the 2017 AFL season.
The league's 30th Anniversary season will kick off Friday, April 7th with the "Leonsis Bowl", aka the battle between the Washington Valor and yet-to-be-named Baltimore team, both of which are expansion teams owned by Washington Wizards, Capitals, and Mystics owner Ted Leonsis.
The 2017 regular season will see a reduction of games for the second consecutive year. The five team league will play a 14 game schedule (seven home/seven away) over 18 weeks. Each team will have four bye weeks.
This is the second consecutive year in which the AFL has reduced games in the regular season. Last year, the AFL reduced its games from 18 to 16 games due to the reduction of teams. The last time the AFL season consisted of 14 games was in 2002, which featured 16 franchises.
Each week's games will appear most recent at the top of the post. Final results will be updated following the conclusion of the games and listed in ascending order. All game times are listed in the Pacific Timezone and are subject to change. Where applicable, click on the final score to view the AFL's game tracker for the complete box score.
For the fifth consecutive season, CBS Sports Network (CBSSN) will televise a total of 18 games in 2017 (1 per week). The Network will also televise one of the playoff semifinal games.Regular SeasonWeek 1Fri., April 7 - Washington Valor (H) 51, Baltimore Brigade 38 Sat., April 8 - Tampa Bay Storm 46, Cleveland Gladiators (H) 40 Bye - Philadelphia SoulWeek 2Sat., April 15 - Philadelphia Soul 56, Tampa Bay Storm (H) 52 Sun., April 16 - Baltimore Brigade 52 Cleveland Gladiators (H) 49 Bye - Washington ValorWeek 3Sat., April 22 - Philadelphia Soul 49, Washington Valor (H) 31 Sat., April 22 - Tampa Bay Storm (H) 62, Cleveland Gladiators 61 Bye - Baltimore BrigadeWeek 4Fri., April 28 - Cleveland Gladiators (H) 48, Washington Valor 34 Sat., April 29 - Philadelphia Soul (H) 69, Baltimore Brigade 34 Bye - Tampa Bay StormWeek 5Sat., May 6 - Philadelphia Soul 69, Cleveland Gladiators (H) 67 Sun., May 7 - Tampa Bay Storm 62, Baltimore Brigade (H) 55 Bye - Washington ValorWeek 6Sat., May 13 - Philadelphia Soul (H) 61, Baltimore Brigade 56 Sat., May 13 - Tampa Bay Storm 41, Washington Valor (H) 33 Bye - Cleveland GladiatorsWeek 7Sat., May 20 - Philadelphia Soul (H) 64, Cleveland Gladiators 46 Sat., May 20 - Tampa Bay Storm (H) 53, Washington Valor 47 Bye - Baltimore BrigadeWeek 8Sat., May 27 - Philadelphia Soul 48, Washington Valor (H) 47 Sat., May 27 - Baltimore Brigade (H) 63, Cleveland Gladiators 60 Bye - Tampa Bay StormWeek 9Sat., June 3 - Tampa Bay Storm (H) 47, Baltimore Brigade 35 Sat., June 3 - Cleveland Gladiators 59, Washington Valor (H) 35 Bye - Philadelphia SoulWeek 10Sat., June 10 - Philadelphia Soul (H) 59, Cleveland Gladiators 49 Sat., June 10 - Tampa Bay Storm (H) 58, Washington Valor 57 Bye - Baltimore BrigadeWeek 11Fri., June 16 - Cleveland Gladiators (H) 59, Baltimore Brigade 48 Sat., June 17 - Philadelphia Soul (H) 62, Tampa Bay Storm 41 Bye - Washington ValorWeek 12Fri., June 23 - Baltimore Brigade (H) 51, Washington Valor 41 Sat., June 24 - Philadelphia Soul 59, Cleveland Gladiators (H) 28 Bye - Tampa Bay StormWeek 13Sat., July 1 - Tampa Bay Storm (H) 55, Washington Valor 51 Byes - Baltimore Brigade, Cleveland Gladiators, Philadelphia SoulWeek 14Sat., July 8 - Baltimore Brigade (H) 49, Philadelphia Soul 42 Sat., July 8 - Cleveland Gladiators (H) 41, Tampa Bay Storm (H) 39 Bye - Washington ValorWeek 15Sat., July 15 - Philadelphia Soul (H) 68, Washington Valor 41 Sat., July 15 - Tampa Bay Storm 69, Baltimore Brigade (H) 56 Bye - Cleveland GladiatorsWeek 16Sat., July 22 - Washington Valor (H) 34, Baltimore Brigade 30 Sat., July 22 - Tampa Bay Storm (H) 57, Cleveland Gladiators 27 Bye - Philadelphia SoulWeek 17Sat., July 29 - Philadelphia Soul 70, Baltimore Brigade (H) 21 Sat., July 29 - Cleveland Gladiators 62, Washington Valor (H) 28 Bye - Tampa Bay StormWeek 18August 4 - Washington Valor 41, Baltimore Brigade (H) 35 August 5 - Philadelphia Soul (H) 41, Tampa Bay Storm 28 Bye - Cleveland GladiatorsFINAL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGSPlayoffsSemi-FinalsAugust 12 - #1 Philadelphia Soul (H) 69, #4 Baltimore Brigade 54 August 14 - #2 Tampa Bay Storm (H) 73, #3 Cleveland Gladiators 59ArenaBowl XXXAugust 26 - #1 Philadelphia Soul (H) 44, #2 Tampa Bay Storm 40AFL TEAM VENUESBaltimore Brigade - Royal Farms Arena; Baltimore, Maryland Cleveland Gladiators - Quicken Loans Arena; Cleveland, Ohio Philadelphia Soul - Wells Fargo Center; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Tampa Bay Storm - Amalie Arena; Tampa, Florida Washington Valor- Verizon Center; Washington, D.C.To comment on this and other topics on this forum, please login or register.
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Post by spiderfan on Jan 6, 2017 12:27:51 GMT -8
4 bye weeks? Seriously? Talking about dragging out the season. Though I guess it makes sense considering there are only 5 teams. Which makes me wonder why not get a 6th team? Baltimore is already a pop-up shop that won't exist for a long time so why not have another one to have an even number of teams? But we are talking about Scott Butera.
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Post by Nevadanut on Jan 9, 2017 18:23:52 GMT -8
The schedule just looks awkward. I guess you have to have so many bye weeks with only five teams.
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Post by spiderfan on Jan 10, 2017 5:59:28 GMT -8
The schedule just looks awkward. I guess you have to have so many bye weeks with only five teams. It is absurd. But you reap what you sow.
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Post by DiamondThief on Jan 10, 2017 10:53:52 GMT -8
The schedule just looks awkward. I guess you have to have so many bye weeks with only five teams. It is absurd. But you reap what you sow. They would have been better off not rushing Baltimore into the league. Yes, I know the Valor will be sharing staffs and resources, but it is still a rush to get them in there. Five teams is no better than four when it comes to a schedule, which would have been much more fluid with just four. If Ted Leonsis wants a team in Baltimore, great. I really don't have that much of an issue with it. However, they should have waited another year (assuming there will be another year in the AFL) before starting play with it.
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Post by spiderfan on Jan 10, 2017 13:11:16 GMT -8
It is absurd. But you reap what you sow. They would have been better off not rushing Baltimore into the league. Yes, I know the Valor will be sharing staffs and resources, but it is still a rush to get them in there. Five teams is no better than four when it comes to a schedule, which would have been much more fluid with just four. If Ted Leonsis wants a team in Baltimore, great. I really don't have that much of an issue with it. However, they should have waited another year (assuming there will be another year in the AFL) before starting play with it. My issue with Baltimore is that it is a pop-up shop that won't last long. If you are going that route you should have a 6th team to avoid this bizarre schedule. If anything they don't have ESPN and I would assume with that a decrease in sponsors so why not take a year off like in 2009? My guess is if they tried that the league wouldn't come back, so by keeping it going with 5 teams they think they can sell NBA/NHL owners on expansion. Interestingly enough I don't see very many opportunities for expansion so the league is stuck in rut IMO.
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Post by David on Jan 10, 2017 13:31:41 GMT -8
They would have been better off not rushing Baltimore into the league. Yes, I know the Valor will be sharing staffs and resources, but it is still a rush to get them in there. Five teams is no better than four when it comes to a schedule, which would have been much more fluid with just four. If Ted Leonsis wants a team in Baltimore, great. I really don't have that much of an issue with it. However, they should have waited another year (assuming there will be another year in the AFL) before starting play with it. My issue with Baltimore is that it is a pop-up shop that won't last long. If you are going that route you should have a 6th team to avoid this bizarre schedule. If anything they don't have ESPN and I would assume with that a decrease in sponsors so why not take a year off like in 2009? My guess is if they tried that the league wouldn't come back, so by keeping it going with 5 teams they think they can sell NBA/NHL owners on expansion. Interestingly enough I don't see very many opportunities for expansion so the league is stuck in rut IMO. It goes back to an example that DiamondThief brought up (but the "Guru" disagrees) with Las Vegas in 2015. Although the team was announced in Summer 2014, that franchise was preparing to play for 2016. Instead, you had Iowa defect to the IFL and the foldings of Pittsburgh and Tulsa. Yes, the ownership sucked, but that franchise was rushed a year earlier than it should have. Would it have failed? Probably, but I doubt it would have been as large of a disaster as it became. As much as Leonsis is a better businessman, this Baltimore team feels rushed. If it works, then maybe he is the "chosen one" to save the league. But I have my doubts and wouldn't be surprised if the team plays poorly and doesn't return in 2018.
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Post by spiderfan on Jan 10, 2017 13:39:20 GMT -8
My issue with Baltimore is that it is a pop-up shop that won't last long. If you are going that route you should have a 6th team to avoid this bizarre schedule. If anything they don't have ESPN and I would assume with that a decrease in sponsors so why not take a year off like in 2009? My guess is if they tried that the league wouldn't come back, so by keeping it going with 5 teams they think they can sell NBA/NHL owners on expansion. Interestingly enough I don't see very many opportunities for expansion so the league is stuck in rut IMO. It goes back to an example that DiamondThief brought up (but the "Guru" disagrees) with Las Vegas in 2015. Although the team was announced in Summer 2014, that franchise was preparing to play for 2016. Instead, you had Iowa defect to the IFL and the foldings of Pittsburgh and Tulsa. Yes, the ownership sucked, but that franchise was rushed a year earlier than it should have. Would it have failed? Probably, but I doubt it would have been as large of a disaster as it became. As much as Leonsis is a better businessman, this Baltimore team feels rushed. If it works, then maybe he is the "chosen one" to save the league. But I have my doubts and wouldn't be surprised if the team plays poorly and doesn't return in 2018. My theory is that they are creating Baltimore for the same reason the league created the Steel. A pop-up shop that they hope they can sell to someone else. That won't happen just like with the Steel. However wouldn't Leonsis end up taking the loss? Or would the Arena Football One LLC make it so the league ultimately loses money? I don't know how any of that garbage works.
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Post by David on Mar 23, 2017 10:52:02 GMT -8
Schedule has been updated with the CBS Sports Network televised games.
Brian Beaudry, a friend of the site, had some interesting words to say on Facebook. If you go to the AFL's Facebook page regarding the schedule announcement, you'll find it near the top of the comments.
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