2016 Arena Football League season

2016 Arena Football League season
2016 Arena Football League season
League	Arena Football League
Sport	Arena football
Duration	April 1, 2016 – August 26, 2016
Regular season
Season MVP	Nick Davila, ARZ
League postseason
American Conference champions	Philadelphia Soul
American Conference runners-up	Jacksonville Sharks
National Conference champions	Arizona Rattlers
National Conference runners-up	Cleveland Gladiators
ArenaBowl XXIX
Champions	Philadelphia Soul
Runners-up	Arizona Rattlers
Finals MVP	Shaun Kauleinamoku, PHI

The 2016 Arena Football League season was the 29th season in the history of the Arena Football League. Prior to the start of the season, the league contracted to eight teams. The 16-game regular season then began on April 1, 2016 and ended on August 1, 2016. The league, however, kept its eight-team playoff format, which meant that every club qualified for the postseason.

2016 Arena Football League season is located in the United States

Predators

Sharks

Soul

Storm

Gladiators

Kiss

Rattlers

Steel

National, American

League business

Teams

The Las Vegas Outlaws and the New Orleans VooDoo were dropped from the league at the end of the 2015 season because new ownership groups could not be found for either team. The Spokane Shock jumped to the Indoor Football League on September 1, 2015.[1] The AFL claimed ownership of the Shock name, forcing the team to rename itself the Spokane Empire.[2] On October 30, 2015, the league announced that there would not be any expansion teams for the 2016 season; this event occurred just under three hours before what had been slated to be the expected announcement of an expansion franchise in San Antonio to be owned by the ownership group of the San Antonio Spurs. The group owning the 2015 league champion San Jose SaberCats returned the franchise to the league on November 12, 2015 for "reasons unrelated to League operations". Commissioner Scott Butera said the league would try to find new ownership, but this was not forthcoming in time for the team to operate during the 2016 season to defend its championship.[3] Because the league was now down to eight teams for the 2016 season, there were still the American and National Conferences but no divisional play. The Cleveland Gladiators were moved to the National Conference to maintain a balance between the conferences.[4] The league took over operations of the former Portland Thunder in January 2016[5] and rebranded it as the Portland Steel.[6] The 2016 schedule was announced on December 10, 2015.[7]

ArenaBowl Playoffs

All teams from both conferences qualified for the playoffs. As in the prior season, there were the Conference Semifinals, the Conference Championships, and ArenaBowl XXIX.

In the American Semifinals, the Soul beat the Storm 63–41 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The Sharks beat the Predators 69–68 in overtime; the National Semifinals saw the Rattlers beat the Steel 84–40 and the Gladiators beat the Kiss 56–52 in San Diego, California.

The Rattlers doubled up the Gladiators 82–41 in the National Conference title game. In the American Conference title game, the Soul edged the Sharks by a score of 55–50.

The Philadelphia Soul upset the heavily-favored Arizona Rattlers 56–42 in ArenaBowl XXIX in Glendale, Arizona for their second AFL title.

Alignment

Conference	Teams
American	Jacksonville Sharks, Orlando Predators, Philadelphia Soul, Tampa Bay Storm
National	Arizona Rattlers, Cleveland Gladiators, Los Angeles Kiss, Portland Steel

Regular season standings

2016 American Conference standings
Team	Overall			Points			Records
Team	W	L	PCT	PF	PA	CON	Home	Away
x-Philadelphia Soul	13	3	.813	983	776	5–1	7–1	6–2
Orlando Predators	12	4	.750	893	781	5–3	6–2	6–2
Jacksonville Sharks	7	9	.438	829	774	5–3	3–5	4–4
Tampa Bay Storm	2	14	.125	568	868	0–8	2–6	0–8

2016 National Conference standings
Team	Overall			Points			Record
Team	W	L	PCT	PF	PA	CON	Home	Away
x-Arizona Rattlers	13	3	.813	1,068	766	8–0	8–0	5–3
Los Angeles Kiss	7	9	.438	736	748	4–4	5–4	2–5
Cleveland Gladiators	7	9	.438	826	934	2–4	4–4	3–5
Portland Steel	3	13	.188	670	926	1–7	3–4	0–9

x - Clinched conference title.

Playoffs

Conference Semifinals			Conference Championships			ArenaBowl XXIX

1	Arizona	84

4	Portland	40
			1	Arizona	82
National Conference
			3	Cleveland	41
2	Los Angeles	52

3	Cleveland	56
						N1	Arizona	42

						A1	Philadelphia	56
1	Philadelphia	63

4	Tampa Bay	41
			1	Philadelphia	55
American Conference
			3	Jacksonville	50
2	Orlando	68

3	Jacksonville	69^OT

Conference semifinals

Conference	Date	Kickoff	Away	Score	Home	Game site	Recap
American	August 6	7:00 p.m. EDT	Jacksonville Sharks	69–68 (OT)	Orlando Predators	Amway Center	[8]
National	August 6	10:00 p.m. EDT	Portland Steel	40–84	Arizona Rattlers	Talking Stick Resort Arena	[9]
American	August 7	6:00 p.m. EDT	Tampa Bay Storm	41–63	Philadelphia Soul	PPL Center	[10]
National	August 7	6:00 p.m. EDT	Cleveland Gladiators	56–52	Los Angeles Kiss	Valley View Casino Center	[11]

Conference finals

Conference	Date	Kickoff	Away	Score	Home	Game site	Recap
National	August 13	9:30 p.m. EDT	Cleveland Gladiators	41–82	Arizona Rattlers	Talking Stick Resort Arena	[12]
American	August 14	6:00 p.m. EDT	Jacksonville Sharks	50–55	Philadelphia Soul	PPL Center	[13]

ArenaBowl XXIX

Date	Kickoff	Away	Score	Home	Game site	Recap
August 26	7:00 PM EDT	Philadelphia Soul	56–42	Arizona Rattlers	Gila River Arena	[14]

All-Arena team

Offense
Position	First team	Second team
Quarterback	Nick Davila, Arizona	Dan Raudabaugh, Philadelphia
Fullback	Mykel Benson, Arizona	Jeramie Richardson, Philadelphia
Wide receiver	Joe Hills, Jacksonville Rod Windsor, Arizona Brandon Thompkins, Orlando	Donovan Morgan, Los Angeles T. T. Toliver, Tampa Bay Collin Taylor, Cleveland
Center	Jordan Mudge, Arizona (tie) Joe Madsen, Cleveland (tie)	Wayne Tribue, Philadelphia
Offensive lineman	Adam Smith, Philadelphia Cornelius Lewis, Jacksonville	Neal Tivis, Philadelphia D. J. Brandel, Cleveland

Defense
Position	First team	Second team
Defensive lineman	Jake Metz, Philadelphia Damien Borel, Arizona	Teddy Jennings, Philadelphia Darryl Cato-Bishop, Orlando
Nose guard	Randy Colling, Cleveland	Dimetrio Tyson, Arizona
Middle linebacker	Tyre Glasper, Arizona	Dexter Jackson, Jacksonville
Jack linebacker	Joe Goosby, Philadelphia	Terence Moore, Orlando
Defensive back	Tracy Belton, Philadelphia Greg Reid, Jacksonville Varmah Sonie, Orlando	Dwayne Hollis, Philadelphia Marvin Ross, Cleveland Fred Obi, Los Angeles

Special teams
Position	First team	Second team
Kicker	Tommy Frevert, Philadelphia	Mark Lewis, Orlando
Kick returner	Brandon Thompkins, Orlando	Larry Beavers, Cleveland

References

"IFL Announces Addition of Spokane Shock". Indoor Football League. September 1, 2015. Archived from the original on September 4, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
"AFL Issues Statement on Spokane Shock". www.arenafootballleague.com. Arena Football League. October 12, 2015. Archived from the original on December 17, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
"AFL Issues Statement on San Jose SaberCats". www.arenafootballleague.com. Arena Football League. November 12, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-12-17. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
"AFL Announces 2016 Conference Alignment". www.arenafootballleague.com. Arena Football League. October 30, 2015. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
"AFL Takes over Operations of Portland Thunder". OurSportsCentral. January 6, 2016.
"Portland AFL Organization Rebrands to Steel". OurSportsCentral. February 24, 2016.
"Arena Football League Announces 2016 Schedule". www.arenafootballleague.com. Arena Football League. December 10, 2015. Archived from the original on December 14, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
"Orlando Eliminated From Postseason with Overtime Loss to Jacksonville". arenafootball.com. August 7, 2016. Archived from the original on October 17, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
"Rattlers Advance with Huge Win over Portland 84-40". arenafootball.com. August 7, 2016. Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
"Storm Falls in First Round of AFL Postseason, Loses to Philadelphia 63-41". arenafootball.cstv.com. August 7, 2016. Archived from the original on August 9, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
"LA KISS Eliminated From Postseason with Loss to Cleveland". arenafootball.cstv.com. August 7, 2016. Archived from the original on August 9, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
"Rattlers Earn Trip to ArenaBowl XXIX with Win over Gladiators, 82-41". arenafootball.com. August 14, 2016. Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
"Soul Outlast Sharks 55-50, Advance to ArenaBowl XXIX". arenafootball.com. August 14, 2016. Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
"Soul Defeat Rattlers, 56-42, to Claim AFL Crown". arenafootball.com. August 26, 2016. Archived from the original on November 13, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2017.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[shockifl-1] "IFL Announces Addition of Spokane Shock". Indoor Football League. September 1, 2015. Archived from the original on September 4, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2015.

[ShockName-2] "AFL Issues Statement on Spokane Shock". www.arenafootballleague.com. Arena Football League. October 12, 2015. Archived from the original on December 17, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2015.

[SaberCats-3] "AFL Issues Statement on San Jose SaberCats". www.arenafootballleague.com. Arena Football League. November 12, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-12-17. Retrieved December 18, 2015.

[2016Conf-4] "AFL Announces 2016 Conference Alignment". www.arenafootballleague.com. Arena Football League. October 30, 2015. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2015.

[5] "AFL Takes over Operations of Portland Thunder". OurSportsCentral. January 6, 2016.

[6] "Portland AFL Organization Rebrands to Steel". OurSportsCentral. February 24, 2016.

[sched-7] "Arena Football League Announces 2016 Schedule". www.arenafootballleague.com. Arena Football League. December 10, 2015. Archived from the original on December 14, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2015.

[8] "Orlando Eliminated From Postseason with Overtime Loss to Jacksonville". arenafootball.com. August 7, 2016. Archived from the original on October 17, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2017.

[9] "Rattlers Advance with Huge Win over Portland 84-40". arenafootball.com. August 7, 2016. Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2017.

[10] "Storm Falls in First Round of AFL Postseason, Loses to Philadelphia 63-41". arenafootball.cstv.com. August 7, 2016. Archived from the original on August 9, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2017.

[11] "LA KISS Eliminated From Postseason with Loss to Cleveland". arenafootball.cstv.com. August 7, 2016. Archived from the original on August 9, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2017.

[12] "Rattlers Earn Trip to ArenaBowl XXIX with Win over Gladiators, 82-41". arenafootball.com. August 14, 2016. Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2017.

[13] "Soul Outlast Sharks 55-50, Advance to ArenaBowl XXIX". arenafootball.com. August 14, 2016. Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2017.

[14] "Soul Defeat Rattlers, 56-42, to Claim AFL Crown". arenafootball.com. August 26, 2016. Archived from the original on November 13, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2017.