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Tampa Bay Storm Suspend Operations

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The Arena Football League (AFL) is in trouble yet again.

The league that fell to five teams during its 30th year in existence is now down to four as the Tampa Bay Storm announced Thursday afternoon that they would be suspending operations immediately.

“We have informed League Commissioner, Scott Butera, and the remaining members of the Arena Football League, that we will not operate a franchise in 2018,” Chief Executive Officer of Tampa Bay Sports and Entertainment, Steve Griggs, said in a release. “This was not an easy decision, but after deep conversation, evaluation, and introspection, we have elected to reallocate the resources dedicated to arena football for other uses within our organization, including the growth of Tampa Bay Entertainment Properties.”

The release also stated that, “Rising league costs and reduced league revenues forced the organization to re-evaluate the team’s financial situation and its continued operation in a shrinking AFL.”

The league’s success and continuation alone is in doubt as a new collective bargaining agreement was failed to be settled on by players and the league earlier this off-season.

After the Storm’s departure, the Philadelphia Soul are the only team to have been around since the 2007, when the league had a history high 19 teams.

The three teams remaining are based out of recent expansion in the Washington Valor (2017), Baltimore Brigade (2017), and an Albany club that has yet to be named (2018).

The Storm join the Cleveland Gladiators who also suspended operations this off-season, although it being for arena reconstruction.

The league has not yet announced any abnormal plans for the 2018 season, though even before Tampa Bay announced they would be suspending operations, this year has been in question.

Stay tuned by following us on Twitter (@LWOS_IndoorFB) for more news on the Tampa Bay Storm, Arena Football League, and Indoor Football.

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