The ArenaBowl is the championship game of the Arena Football League. Originally hosted at Pittsburgh's Civic Arena based on home attendance during the inaugural 1987 season, save four years (2005–2008) the game was hosted by the team with the higher seed based on regular season performance. In 2005–2006 the league staged the game in Las Vegas, and in 2007–2008 New Orleans hosted the event. For the series final two games, regular season home attendance between the competing teams determined which would host.

The ArenaBowl
The Foster Trophy is awarded to the ArenaBowl winner
First playedAugust 1, 1987; 37 years ago (1987-08-01)
TrophyFoster Trophy

Originally using year-based nomenclature ("ArenaBowl '87"), the league would begin consistently referring to the game using roman numerals beginning in 1994 ("ArenaBowl VIII"). The original Arena Football League's 2009 bankruptcy liquidation brought the league's existence to a close, but ArenaBowl XXIII would be staged in 2010 as the championship game of a new league which assumed the AFL's intellectual properties. The final ten games of the series would be staged under the "new" Arena Football League, concluding with ArenaBowl XXXII between the Albany Empire and Philadelphia Soul. The second AFL ultimately had the same fate as the first, ceasing operations after its 2019 season and undergoing Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.[1]

The ArenaBowl was revived in 2024 and was played at a neutral site, the American Dream Mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Foster Trophy was not revived for this game.

Results

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Game Date Winning team Losing team MVP Site Attendance
ArenaBowl I August 1, 1987 Denver Dynamite 45 Pittsburgh Gladiators 16 Gary Mullen Pittsburgh Civic Arena 13,232
ArenaBowl II July 30, 1988 Detroit Drive 24 Chicago Bruisers 13 Steve Griffin Rosemont Horizon 15,018
ArenaBowl III August 18, 1989 Detroit Drive 39 Pittsburgh Gladiators 26 George LaFrance Joe Louis Arena 12,046
ArenaBowl IV August 11, 1990 Detroit Drive 51 Dallas Texans 27 Art Schlichter Joe Louis Arena 19,875
ArenaBowl V August 17, 1991 Tampa Bay Storm 48 Detroit Drive 42 Stevie Thomas Joe Louis Arena 20,357
ArenaBowl VI August 22, 1992 Detroit Drive 56 Orlando Predators 38 George LaFrance (2) Orlando Arena 13,680
ArenaBowl VII August 21, 1993 Tampa Bay Storm 51 Detroit Drive 31 Jay Gruden Joe Louis Arena 12,989
ArenaBowl VIII September 2, 1994 Arizona Rattlers 36 Orlando Predators 31 Sherdrick Bonner Orlando Arena 14,368
ArenaBowl IX September 1, 1995 Tampa Bay Storm 48 Orlando Predators 35 George LaFrance (3) ThunderDome 25,087
ArenaBowl X August 26, 1996 Tampa Bay Storm 42 Iowa Barnstormers 38 Stevie Thomas (2) Iowa Veterans Memorial Auditorium 11,411
ArenaBowl XI August 25, 1997 Arizona Rattlers 55 Iowa Barnstormers 33 Donnie Davis America West Arena 17,436
ArenaBowl XII August 23, 1998 Orlando Predators 62 Tampa Bay Storm 31 Rick Hamilton Ice Palace 17,222
ArenaBowl XIII August 21,1999 Albany Firebirds 59 Orlando Predators 48 Eddie Brown Pepsi Arena 13,652
ArenaBowl XIV August 20, 2000 Orlando Predators 41 Nashville Kats 38 Connell Maynor TD Waterhouse Centre 15,989
ArenaBowl XV August 19, 2001 Grand Rapids Rampage 64 Nashville Kats 42 Terrill Shaw Van Andel Arena 11,217
ArenaBowl XVI August 18, 2002 San Jose SaberCats 52 Arizona Rattlers 14 John Dutton HP Pavilion at San Jose 16,942
ArenaBowl XVII June 22, 2003 Tampa Bay Storm 43 Arizona Rattlers 29 Lawrence Samuels St. Pete Times Forum 20,469
ArenaBowl XVIII June 27, 2004 San Jose SaberCats 69 Arizona Rattlers 62 Mark Grieb America West Arena 17,391
ArenaBowl XIX June 12, 2005 Colorado Crush 51 Georgia Force 48 Willis Marshall Thomas & Mack Center* 10,822
ArenaBowl XX June 11, 2006 Chicago Rush 69 Orlando Predators 61 Matt D'Orazio Thomas & Mack Center* 13,476
ArenaBowl XXI July 29, 2007 San Jose SaberCats 55 Columbus Destroyers 33 Mark Grieb (2) New Orleans Arena* 17,056
ArenaBowl XXII July 27, 2008 Philadelphia Soul 59 San Jose SaberCats 56 Matt D'Orazio (2) New Orleans Arena* 17,244
ArenaBowl XXIII August 20, 2010 Spokane Shock 69 Tampa Bay Storm 57 Kyle Rowley Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena 11,017
ArenaBowl XXIV August 12, 2011 Jacksonville Sharks 73 Arizona Rattlers 70 Aaron Garcia US Airways Center 14,320
ArenaBowl XXV August 10, 2012 Arizona Rattlers 72 Philadelphia Soul 54 Nick Davila New Orleans Arena* 13,648
ArenaBowl XXVI August 17, 2013 Arizona Rattlers 48 Philadelphia Soul 39 Rod Windsor Amway Center* 12,039
ArenaBowl XXVII August 23, 2014 Arizona Rattlers 72 Cleveland Gladiators 32 Nick Davila (2) Quicken Loans Arena 18,410
ArenaBowl XXVIII August 29, 2015 San Jose SaberCats 68 Jacksonville Sharks 47 Reggie Gray Stockton Arena 9,115
ArenaBowl XXIX August 26, 2016 Philadelphia Soul 56 Arizona Rattlers 42 Shaun Kauleinamoku Gila River Arena 13,390
ArenaBowl XXX August 26, 2017 Philadelphia Soul 44 Tampa Bay Storm 40 Darius Prince Wells Fargo Center 13,648
ArenaBowl XXXI July 28, 2018 Washington Valor 69 Baltimore Brigade 55 Arvell Nelson Royal Farms Arena 8,183
ArenaBowl XXXII August 11, 2019 Albany Empire 45 Philadelphia Soul 27 Tommy Grady Times Union Center 12,042
ArenaBowl XXXIII July 19, 2024 Billings Outlaws 46 Albany Firebirds 41 Isaac Harker American Dream Meadowlands N/A

* Neutral site

  • The first seven ArenaBowls were known by the year in which they were played (i.e. ArenaBowl I was called ArenaBowl '87). ArenaBowl VIII was the first to carry a roman numeral, and all previous games were retconned to have roman numerals as well.
  • The number in parentheses indicates the amount of ArenaBowl MVPs that player won.
  • The Pittsburgh Gladiators relocated in 1991 to become the Tampa Bay Storm.
  • The Nashville Kats relocated in 2002 to become the Georgia Force. The Kats were brought back as an expansion team in 2005 and assumed all former team history up to the point when the original Kats relocated to Georgia. The Force were regarded as a completely separate team and kept records from their establishment in 2002 to the team's demise in 2012, similar to the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens situation in the NFL.
  • ArenaBowl XXXIII is scheduled to be played in a shopping mall with no permanent seating.

Most championships won

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Team Championships Winning years
Arizona Rattlers 5 1994, 1997, 2012, 2013, 2014
Tampa Bay Storm 5 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2003
Detroit Drive 4 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992
San Jose SaberCats 4 2002, 2004, 2007, 2015
Philadelphia Soul 3 2008, 2016, 2017
Orlando Predators 2 1998, 2000
Albany Firebirds 1 1999
Chicago Rush 1 2006
Colorado Crush 1 2005
Denver Dynamite 1 1987
Grand Rapids Rampage 1 2001
Jacksonville Sharks 1 2011
Spokane Shock 1 2010
Washington Valor 1 2018
Albany Empire 1 2019
Billings Outlaws 1 2024

Standings

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Team W L PCT. PF PA Last appearance
Arizona Rattlers 5 5 .500 500 482 2016
Tampa Bay Storm* 5 5 .500 402 434 2017
San Jose SaberCats 4 1 .800 300 215 2015
Detroit Drive 4 2 .667 243 203 1993
Philadelphia Soul 3 3 .500 279 303 2019
Orlando Predators 2 5 .286 316 337 2006
Albany Empire 1 0 1.000 45 27 2019
Albany Firebirds 1 0 1.000 59 48 1999
Chicago Rush 1 0 1.000 69 61 2006
Colorado Crush 1 0 1.000 51 48 2005
Denver Dynamite 1 0 1.000 45 16 1987
Grand Rapids Rampage 1 0 1.000 64 42 2001
Spokane Shock 1 0 1.000 69 57 2010
Washington Valor 1 0 1.000 69 55 2018
Jacksonville Sharks 1 1 .500 120 138 2015
Baltimore Brigade 0 1 .000 55 69 2018
Chicago Bruisers 0 1 .000 13 24 1988
Cleveland Gladiators 0 1 .000 32 72 2014
Columbus Destroyers 0 1 .000 33 55 2007
Dallas Texans 0 1 .000 27 51 1990
Georgia Force 0 1 .000 48 51 2005
Iowa Barnstormers 0 2 .000 71 97 1997
Nashville Kats 0 2 .000 80 105 2001

*Includes two appearances as Pittsburgh Gladiators (0–2, 42 points, 84 points allowed).

Coaching records

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Coach G W L PCT. Team(s) Appearance(s)
Darren Arbet 5 4 1 .800 San Jose SaberCats 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2015
Fran Curci 1 1 0 1.000 Tampa Bay Storm 1991
Mike Dailey 2 2 0 1.000 Albany Firebirds, Colorado Crush 1999, 2005
Clint Dolezel 4 2 2 .500 Philadelphia Soul 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019
John Gregory 2 0 2 .000 Iowa Barnstormers 1996, 1997
Jay Gruden 4 2 2 .500 Orlando Predators 1998, 1999, 2000, 2006
Kevin Guy 5 3 2 .600 Arizona Rattlers 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016
Joe Haering 1 0 1 .000 Pittsburgh Gladiators 1987*
Mike Hohensee 1 1 0 1.000 Chicago Rush 2006
Darrel Jackson 1 0 1 .000 Pittsburgh Gladiators 1989*
Ron James 1 0 1 .000 Tampa Bay Storm 2017
Doug Kay 1 0 1 .000 Columbus Destroyers 2007
Rob Keefe 2 2 0 1.000 Spokane Shock, Albany Empire 2010, 2019
Lary Kuharich 1 1 0 1.000 Tampa Bay Storm 1993
Tim Marcum 11 7 4 .636 Denver Dynamite, Detroit Drive, Tampa Bay Storm 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2010
Benji McDowell 1 1 0 1.000 Washington Valor 2018
Les Moss 2 1 1 .500 Jacksonville Sharks 2011, 2015
Perry Moss 5 1 4 .200 Chicago Bruisers, Detroit Drive, Orlando Predators 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995
Bret Munsey 1 1 0 1.000 Philadelphia Soul 2008
Doug Plank 2 0 2 .000 Georgia Force, Philadelphia Soul 2005, 2012
Omarr Smith 1 0 1 .000 Baltimore Brigade 2018
Pat Sperduto 2 0 2 .000 Nashville Kats 2000, 2001
Ernie Stautner 1 0 1 .000 Dallas Texans 1990
Steve Thonn 1 0 1 .000 Cleveland Gladiators 2014
Michael Trigg 1 1 0 1.000 Grand Rapids Rampage 2001
Danny White 5 2 3 .400 Arizona Rattlers 1994, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004

*Both Haering and Jackson coached the 1989 Pittsburgh Gladiators, but Jackson is credited with the postseason games.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Gleeson, Scott (November 27, 2019), "Arena Football League files for bankruptcy, ceases all operations", USA Today, retrieved November 27, 2019
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