The 2019 Arena Football League season was the 32nd season and final in the history of the Arena Football League (AFL) before filing for bankruptcy. Prior to the start of the season, the league expanded from four to six teams with two added expansion teams. The 12-game regular season began on April 26 and ended on July 21.
League business Teams For the first time since 2011, the AFL entered the season with more teams than it had the previous season, adding an expansion team and reactivating another that had been dormant for over a decade.
The league announced the Atlantic City Blackjacks expansion team on January 22, 2019, that is operated by the same ownership group as the Albany Empire. On February 7, 2019, the league re-added the Columbus Destroyers as another expansion team to bring the league back to six teams.
Schedule and playoff changes
The 2019 season consisted of a 13-week schedule during which each team played 12 games and had one bye week.
At the end of the regular season, the top four teams participated in the ArenaBowl playoffs, in which the top seed faced the fourth seed while the second seed faced the third seed in a home-and-home series. The team in each series with the highest aggregate score advanced to the ArenaBowl. If the aggregate score in either series was tied after the second game in the home-and-home semifinals, the game would have continued in the AFL's standard overtime format. While the semifinals consisted of two games in each pairing, ArenaBowl XXXII was still one game.
Closure The AFL announced it had closed its teams' local operations on October 29, following that with a Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation filing November 27.
Final season standings
2019 Arena Football League standings Team Overall Points Records Albany Empire 10 2 620 474 5–1 5–1 — W2 Washington Valor 7 5 538 552 4–2 3–3 3 W2 Philadelphia Soul 7 5 523 530 4–2 3–3 L1 Baltimore Brigade 7 5 500 439 4–2 3–3 W1 Atlantic City Blackjacks 4 8 518 550 3–3 1–5 6 L2 Columbus Destroyers 1 11 394 548 1–5 0–6 9 L5 - clinched regular season title - clinched playoff berth
Playoffs
Semifinals
All times listed are in EDT. Date Kickoff Away Score Home Game site Recap Sat. July 27 7:00 p.m. (4) Baltimore Brigade 26–61 (1) Albany Empire Times Union Center • Albany, NY Recap Sun. July 28 3:30 p.m. (3) Philadelphia Soul 69–33 (2) Washington Valor Capital One Arena • Washington, D.C. Recap Sat. August 3 7:00 p.m. (1) Albany Empire 62–21 (4) Baltimore Brigade Royal Farms Arena • Baltimore, MD Recap Sun. August 4 4:00 p.m. (2) Washington Valor 41–48 (3) Philadelphia Soul Wells Fargo Center • Philadelphia, PA Recap
ArenaBowl XXXII
Date Kickoff Away Score Home Game site Recap Sun. August 11 8:00 p.m. (3) Philadelphia Soul 27–45 (1) Albany Empire Times Union Center • Albany, NY Recap
Attendance Announced attendance figures for each home game. In the weekly columns, dashes (—) indicate away games or a bye week, while bold font indicates the highest attendance of each team.
Team / Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Total Average 11,682 9,208 — — — 8,744 10,287 — 9,417 — — — 10,981 9,085 12,042 9,245 — 9,843 — — 8,672 7,164 6,910 — 10,564 — — — 8,537 — — — 8,044 6,357 — — — 7,179 6,795 7,136 — — 8,456 6,942 — — — 7,035 6,122 — 6,029 6,260 7,604 — — 9,275 — N/A — 6,139 — 4,054 4,386 4,632 — — — — 7,104 — 6,266 N/A 5,195 4,381 4,990 — 4,079 — — — — 4,206 — 4,609 — 5,282 Total 26,122 19,728 22,877 17,446 14,587 22,048 23,480 20,349 23,816 21,906 7,104 13,884 25,703 29,846 12,042 Average 8,707 6,576 7,626 5,815 4,862 7,349 7,827 6,783 7,939 7,302 7,104 6,942 8,568 7,462 12,042
Awards All–Arena teams First team
+OffensePos.PlayerTeamQBTommy GradyAlbany EmpireFBMykel BensonAlbany EmpireWRMalachi JonesAlbany EmpireWRQuentin SimsAlbany EmpireWRDarius PrincePhiladelphia SoulCRyan CaveAlbany EmpireOLJordan MudgeAlbany EmpireOLNeal TivisPhiladelphia Soul
+DefensePos.PlayerTeamDEJoe SykesAlbany EmpireDEDarryl Cato-BishopBaltimore BrigadeDTJustin LawrenceBaltimore BrigadeMLBDexter JacksonBaltimore BrigadeJLBTerence MooreAlbany EmpireDBJames RomainPhiladelphia SoulDBJoe PowellBaltimore BrigadeDBVarmah SonieColumbus Destroyers
+Special TeamsPos.PlayerTeamKAdrian TrevinoAlbany EmpireSTFabian GuerraColumbus Destroyers
Second team
+OffensePos.PlayerTeamQBArvell NelsonWashington ValorFBAdrian FernsPhiladelphia SoulWRAntwane GrantAtlantic City BlackjacksWRLamark BrownAtlantic City BlackjacksWRJoe HillsBaltimore BrigadeCPhillipkeith ManleyPhiladelphia SoulCKyron SamuelsBaltimore BrigadeOLAnthony ParkerWashington ValorOLMoqut RuffinsAlbany Empire
+DefensePos.PlayerTeamDEMonte LewisAtlantic City BlackjacksDESean DanielsPhiladelphia SoulDTTerrance TaylorColumbus DestroyersMLBJames GordonWashington ValorJLBAlvin Ray JacksonWashington ValorDBDwayne HollisPhiladelphia SoulDBJosh VictorianBaltimore BrigadeDBTevin HomerAlbany Empire
+Special TeamsPos.PlayerTeamKMark LewisAtlantic City BlackjacksSTJoe PowellBaltimore Brigade
References