The Anaheim Piranhas were a professional

arena football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...

team that played 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

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

. They played their home games at

Arrowhead Pond The Honda Center (formerly known as the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim) is an indoor arena located in Anaheim, California. The arena is home to the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League. Originally named the Anaheim Arena during construction, i ...

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

. The team was originally known as the Las Vegas Sting, prior to moving to Anaheim in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

. The team was owned by future Arena Football League commissioner

C. David Baker Carl David Baker (born February 16, 1953) is the former President and CEO of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and Criticism from the University of California, Irvine and h ...

History

Las Vegas Sting (1994–1995)

The Las Vegas Sting was a team which competed in the

during the 1994 and 1995 seasons. Their home games in 1994 were played in the

MGM Grand Garden Arena The MGM Grand Garden Arena (originally known as the MGM Grand Garden Special Events Center) is a 17,000-seat multi-purpose arena located within the MGM Grand Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. Sporting events From its opening on December 18, 1993 ...

, and they were moved to the

Thomas & Mack Center The Thomas & Mack Center is a multi-purpose arena located on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada. It is home of the UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team of the Mountain West Conference. History The facility was ...

on the campus of the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes th ...

for the 1995 season. The team was relocated to

prior to the start of the

season, at which time it was renamed the Anaheim Piranhas.

Anaheim Piranhas (1996–1997)

The Piranhas played their home games at

, also the home of the

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Mighty may refer to: * ''Mighty'' (The Planet Smashers album) * ''Mighty'' (Kristene DiMarco album) * ''The Mighty'' (1929 film), a 1929 American action film *'' The Mighty'', a 1998 comedy-drama film * ''The Mighty'' (comics), a DC Comics title * ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

. The team was not an overwhelmingly successful draw in the high-overhead

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

market and folded after the conclusion of the

season. The arena (now known as the

Honda Center The Honda Center (formerly known as the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim) is an indoor arena located in Anaheim, California. The arena is home to the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League. Originally named the Anaheim Arena during construction ...

) would once again be the home of an AFL franchise with the launching of the Los Angeles Kiss in 2014.

Notable players

Arena Football Hall of Famers

All-Arena players

The following Sting/Piranhas players were named to All-Arena Teams: *FB/LB Kevin Carroll (1) *OL/DL

Sam Hernandez Sam Hernandez (born November 18, 1969) is a former American football defensive lineman in the Arena Football League. He is from San Jose, California, and played college football at Sonoma State University. Hernandez played for the Charlotte Rag ...

(2) *DS

Carlton Johnson Carlton Johnson (born October 13, 1969) is a former American football defensive back who played four seasons in the Arena Football League with the Las Vegas Sting, Anaheim Piranhas and Albany Firebirds. He played college football at the Univers ...

(2),

Rodney Mazion Rodney K. Mazion (born February 4, 1971) is a former American football defensive back who played five seasons in the Arena Football League with the Las Vegas Sting/Anaheim Piranhas and Milwaukee Mustangs. He played college football and baseball ...

(2) *K

Ian Howfield Ian Michael Howfield (born June 4, 1966) is a former American football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) and Arena Football League (AFL). Howfield, who played college football at the University of Tennessee, is the so ...

(1) *OL/DL Dan Sileo (1)

Season-by-season

References

External links

Las Vegas Sting at ArenaFan.com

Anaheim Piranhas at ArenaFan.com
{{Orange County Sports American football teams established in 1996 American football teams disestablished in 1997 1996 establishments in California 1997 disestablishments in California Defunct American football teams in California