2023 National Arena League season

The 2023 National Arena League season is the sixth season of the National Arena League (NAL).[1] The league is going to have seven teams play, all of which are located in the Eastern area of the United States of America. In July 2022, the league announced an expansion team that will play for this season, in which the team will play in Fayetteville, North Carolina as the Fayetteville Mustangs.[2][3]

2023 NAL season
LeagueNational Arena League
SportArena football
DurationApril 8 – August 12, 2023
Number of teams7

Teams
Teams Location Arena Capacity Founded Joined Head Coach
Albany Empire Albany, New York MVP Arena[4] 13,785[5] 2020 2021 Tom Menas
Carolina Cobras Greensboro, North Carolina[6] Greensboro Coliseum Complex[7][8] 5,000[7] 2017[8] 2018 James Fuller
Fayetteville Mustangs[9] Fayetteville, North Carolina Crown Complex[2] 8,500 2022 2023 Charles Gunnings
Jacksonville Sharks Jacksonville, Florida VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena[10] 13,011 2009 2017 Jason Gibson
Orlando Predators Orlando, Florida Amway Center 17,192 2019 2019 Herkie Walls
San Antonio Gunslingers San Antonio, Texas Freeman Coliseum[11] 9,000 2020 2022[12] Fred Shaw[13]
West Texas Warbirds[9] Odessa, Texas[14] Ector County Coliseum[15] 8,000[16][17] 2019[18] 2023 Tate Smith[19][20]

Debut of Fayetteville Mustangs
Inside Crown Coliseum in April 2017, where the Mustangs will play.[9]

In the 2022 National Arena League season, the NAL stated that they planned to have a seventh team based in Fayetteville, North Carolina to join the league, and that they will have the team name and logo during the off season.[2][3] In August 2022, the NAL announced that the new team will be named the Fayetteville Mustangs and that they will play this year.[9]

Expansion of the West Texas Warbirds

In August 2022, the NAL announced that they will add the West Texas Warbirds, a team that previously played in the Arena Football Association (AFA).[21]

Removal of the Columbus Lions

In December 2022, it was announced that the league had discontinued the membership of the Columbus Lions, which was a founding member of the NAL.[22] The team will now play in the American Indoor Football Alliance (AIFA).[23]

References
  1. "About the NAL - National Arena League". www.nationalarenaleague.com. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  2. Rubel, Abigail (2022-07-14). "National Arena League announces expansion team". Times Union. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  3. "National Arena League Announces Expansion Team for 2023". OurSports Central. 2022-07-14. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  4. Singelais, Mark (2021-12-22). "Albany Empire's 2022 schedule is announced". Times Union. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  5. "MVP Arena". www.albany.org. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  6. "Carolina Cobras - Indoor/Arena Football on OurSports Central". www.oursportscentral.com. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  7. "Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center". Greensboro Convention and Visitors Bureau. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  8. "Carolina Cobras Arena Football". Greensboro Convention and Visitors Bureau. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  9. "News: Expansion Team Reveals Logo and Name - National Arena League". www.nationalarenaleague.com. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  10. "Jacksonville Sharks". Downtown Jacksonville. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  11. Ramirez, Daniel Villanueva, Mark Mendez, Larry (2022-04-22). "The San Antonio Gunslingers are headed to Freeman Coliseum". KSAT. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  12. Rachuk, Stephan (2021-11-11). "NAL Announces San Antonio Gunslingers as Expansion Franchise". XFL Newsroom. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  13. "Staff - San Antonio Gunslingers". www.sanantoniogunslingers.com. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  14. "HIGHLIGHTS: Warbirds finish another undefeated championship season". Yourbasin. 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  15. Aguirre, Priscilla (2022-07-20). "VIDEO: Brawl at West Texas indoor football game spills into stands". mySA. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  16. "Ector County Coliseum". www.cvent.com. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  17. "Data view of Ector County Coliseum from United States - Sports Stadiums & Arenas dataset". rlist.io. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  18. "Professional Indoor Football Coming to West Texas in 2020". OurSports Central. 2019-10-02. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  19. "Coaching Staff | Warbirds Football". warbirdfootball.com. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  20. "Warbirds introduce Tate Smith as head coach". 2021-05-12. Archived from the original on 2021-05-12. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  21. Association, Arena Football. "Sponsors And Investors See Ground-Floor Opportunities With The Expansion Of Arena Football Association". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  22. "NAL DISCONTINUES MEMBERSHIP OF THE COLUMBUS LIONS". National Arena League. July 14, 2022.
  23. "News: Lions Join Regional Arena League - Columbus Lions Arena Football". www.columbuslions.net. Retrieved 2023-01-01.

See also
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