Jeff Bouchy talks NAL, IFL, and AFL

[spiderfan]

Arena Football Insider has a great interview with Jacksonville Sharks owner Jeff Bouchy in which he has many interesting things to say about the sport of arena/indoor football. Check it out!

arenafootballinsider.com/the-state-of-the-arena-football-today-and-tomorrow-a-conversation-with-jeff-bouchy-the-jacksonville-sharks-operating-manager/#more-4244

[DiamondThief]

I know several on AF are not fans of Bouchy, but he says some good things there. On the other hand, he says some things which don't make sense. We all know the AFL is dead. His statement that Albany is run by Philadelphia basically means there are four teams with two owners. I think we all knew that, but to have someone with his experience actually say it.

My issue with what he said about the IFL merging with the NAL is that it's nowhere close to being something which will come to fruition. The IFL is entering its 10th season, whereas the NAL is going into its second, and each league has the same number of teams. My feeling is that the failed experiment of Project FANchise hurt the IFL much more than we really know. That said, I have confidence in commissioner Allshouse. He's been around IFL circles for too long to not have connections to help grow the league. If they can get the Edge and Ironmen back, and add another couple of teams, I believe the IFL will be on its way.

[spiderfan]

Feb 12, 2018 19:34:11 GMT -8 DiamondThief said:

I know several on AF are not fans of Bouchy, but he says some good things there. On the other hand, he says some things which don't make sense. We all know the AFL is dead. His statement that Albany is run by Philadelphia basically means there are four teams with two owners. I think we all knew that, but to have someone with his experience actually say it.

My issue with what he said about the IFL merging with the NAL is that it's nowhere close to being something which will come to fruition. The IFL is entering its 10th season, whereas the NAL is going into its second, and each league has the same number of teams. My feeling is that the failed experiment of Project FANchise hurt the IFL much more than we really know. That said, I have confidence in commissioner Allshouse. He's been around IFL circles for too long to not have connections to help grow the league. If they can get the Edge and Ironmen back, and add another couple of teams, I believe the IFL will be on its way.

I'd love to see a NAL-IFL merger as unlikely as it may be. 

The thing with the IFL is that, it managed to rebound from what was a terrible offseason with the loss of SF, WF, and Phonychise to having SF and getting expansion. I still say CIF killed Western Michigan, Bloomington, and Wichita Falls to show to the other teams in CIF to not bail. Luckily SF managed to escape and hopefully WM and Bloomington come back next year.