The Orlando Predators are a professional
indoor football team based in
Orlando, Florida
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
, with home games at the
Amway Center
Amway Center is an indoor arena located in Downtown Orlando, Florida. The arena is home to the Orlando Magic of the NBA, the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL, and the Orlando Predators of the National Arena League.
Amway Center hosted the 2012 N ...
and is a member of the
National Arena League
The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. It consists of teams based on the East Coast of the United States.
Teams' typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, while players are paid $ ...
. They played their first season in 2019 and are marketed as a revival of the
Orlando Predators
The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...
, who played 25 seasons in the
Arena Football League
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
from 1991 to 2016. The original owners of the NAL team acquired the Predators' trademarks in late 2018 after the previous owner,
David A. Siegel
David Alan Siegel (born May 3, 1935) is an American businessman who founded Westgate Resorts Ltd, a Florida-based timeshare resort firm where he serves as president and chief executive officer. He has ten biological children and two adopted ch ...
, allowed them to lapse.
History
The relaunch of the Orlando Predators was announced in January 2019 and was owned by
Kenny McEntyre
Kenny "The Glove" McEntyre (born December 12, 1970) is a former arena football defensive back. He played college football at Kansas State Wildcats football, Kansas State.
McEntyre played for the Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas Ci ...
and Nate Starling after acquiring the trademarks for the team in late 2018. McEntyre and inaugural head coach Doug Miller were both former players with the
AFL incarnation of the team. In their inaugural 2019 season, the team finished with a 2–12 record and last place in the league. During the season, players claimed the team was poorly operated including failed payments and evictions from team housing.
Prior to the team's second season, the ownership of the Predators were removed by the league and replaced by another local ownership group composed of co-owner Nate Starling and the Trideco family.
The new ownership group brought in former AFL Predator
Ben Bennett
Allen Beverly Bennett II (born May 5, 1962) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears. He also was a member of the Jacksonville Bulls, Chicago Bruisers, D ...
as head coach. The 2020 season never took place due to the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
On May 21, 2021, the team announced the Trideco family's minority ownership had been purchased by John Cheney, allowing the Trideco family to focus on launching the expansion
Albany Empire.
Under Bennett, the team went 4–4 and qualified for the playoffs for the first time. Bennett left the team following the season was replaced by Jeff Higgins.
On September 16, 2022, the Predators announced veteran player Herkie Walls as their new head coach.
Current roster
Statistics
Season-by-season results
Head coaches
''Note: Statistics are correct through the 2021 National Arena League season.''
References
External links
Official website
National Arena League teams
2019 establishments in Florida
American football teams in Orlando, Florida
American football teams established in 2019
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