''Arena Football League on ESPN'' was a presentation of 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 ...

with games airing on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

ESPNEWS ESPNews (pronounced "ESPN News", stylized ESPNEWS) is an American multinational digital cable and satellite television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns ...

ESPN3 ESPN3 (formerly ESPN360 and ESPN3.com) is an online streaming service owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications ...

and

ESPN Deportes ESPN Deportes (, ''ESPN Sports'') is an American multinational Spanish-language pay television sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (whi ...

. As with all other sports broadcasting on the ESPN family of networks, all

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 ...

games had aired on The

WatchESPN WatchESPN was a branding of the Internet television website and mobile application operated by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst C ...

App. It was previously aired from 1987 until 2002 and then again from 2007 until 2008. When the league folded in 2019, the contract was over.

History

1987–1988, 1992–2002

was the original broadcaster for Arena Football games, showing games live in the league's first two seasons,

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

and

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. ESPN signed a six-year contract with the AFL in 1987, but was given the option to opt out of the contract if they were not getting the rating they wanted. Partially because of turmoil within the league itself, ESPN did not broadcast Arena Football again until

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, when they broadcast six games and the ArenaBowl on an overnight, tape delay basis. Starting in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, ESPN started showing games live or at least not during overnight hours. When

was formed, the telecasts began to air more frequently on the new network. ESPN2 began televising a more standard schedule of

regular season and playoff games from

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

–

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

. ESPN subsequently began televising AFL playoff games from

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

- 02. It originally had aired the inaugural ArenaBowl live in

, while

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

(under the '' Wide World of Sports'' umbrella) aired the ArenaBowl five consecutive years from

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

– 02.

2007-2008 agreement

On December 19, 2006,

and the

agreed to a five-year agreement that includes extensive multimedia rights and a minimum of 26 televised games per season, beginning in 2007 and lasting until 2011. As part of the deal, ESPN purchased a minority stake, reportedly ten percent, in the AFL. The network will gain privileged financial information, but insists that it will not give the AFL more favorable coverage on shows like ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...

'' as a result. ESPN televised a minimum of 17 regular-season games and nine playoff games—including a minimum of three Wild Card games, three Divisional Playoff games, both Conference Championships and the ArenaBowl on ESPN,

and

. ESPN had an exclusive window for weekly Monday night prime time games on ESPN2. Both the season opener and ArenaBowl were on ABC, where three wild card games, two divisional games and one conference championship were on ESPN and the seventeen regular season Monday night games, one wild card game, two divisional games and one conference championship game was all on ESPN2.

2007 schedule

*(All times Eastern)

*''Schedule change''

=Controversy

= Some Arena Football League (1987–2008), AFL fans complained that the TV schedule “inequitably favored teams” such as the

Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia TSOP, is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often feat ...

, Chicago Rush, and

Colorado Crush The Colorado Crush were an arena football team based in Denver, Colorado. They began play as a 2003 Arena Football League expansion team. The Crush played in the Central Division of the American Conference until the Arena Football League suspen ...

, teams whose ownerships include, respectively,

Jon Bon Jovi John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was formed in 1983. He ...

Mike Ditka Michael Keller Ditka (born Michael Dyczko; October 18, 1939) is an American former football player, coach, and television commentator. A member of both the College (1986) and the Pro (1988) Football Halls of Fame, he was UPI NFL Rookie of Year i ...

and

John Elway John Albert Elway Jr. (born June 28, 1960) is an American professional football executive and former quarterback who is the president of football operations for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). Elway played college f ...

. 14 of the 17 ESPN games had at least Chicago, Philadelphia or Colorado playing. The Soul (whose part-owner and team president is former ''AFL on ESPN'' analyst Ron Jaworski) have appeared in seven of the 17 regular season games on

platforms, more than any other team in the league. This criticism was also present when

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

went out of their way to not let some teams appear on their schedule. In 2008, the Chicago Rush have nine regular season games on ESPN and ABC, while the 2007 Arena Bowl Champion

San Jose SaberCats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

have just one, week one against the Chicago Rush, and the

New York Dragons The New York Dragons were a professional arena football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Dragons participated in the Arena Football League's (AFL) National Conference as a member of the Eastern Division. The team was founded in ...

had 1, a 10:30 game versus the

. Other criticism includes the scheduling of games on various days and times, as opposed to a weekly AFL gameday.

2015–2019

ESPN returned to the AFL (in 2014) as broadcast partners, with weekly games shown on

, and all other games available live and free on

and

ESPN Latin America ESPN Latin America (on-air as ESPN) is the Latin American division of ESPN Inc., and broadcasts sports-related programming for the region in Spanish. It was launched on 31 March 1989. Its programming is adapted to the likes of viewers, who tend ...

had broadcast AFL games in Spanish from to , when the league folded.

Personalities

Former broadcasters of the AFL on

and

included Mike Gleason,

Gary Danielson Gary Dennis Danielson (born September 10, 1951) is an American college football commentator and former professional American football player. Danielson was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Detroit Lions from ...

, Brent Musburger,

Merril Hoge Merril DuAine Hoge (; born January 26, 1965) is a former professional American football player. He played eight seasons at running back for the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears, retiring after the 1994 season. Since 1996 he had been a ...

, and

Holly Rowe Holly Rowe (born June 16, 1966) is an American sports telecaster currently working for the sports television network ESPN. Rowe is best known as a sideline reporter for college football games which are telecast on ESPN. Rowe made Utah Jazz team ...

2007

Early on,

said they would use "some prominent faces in the broadcast booth" and ended up going with the duo of

Mike Greenberg Michael Robinette Greenberg (born August 6, 1967) is a television anchor, television show host, radio show host for ESPN and ABC, and novelist. At ESPN, he hosted the weekday evening, most often Monday, ''SportsCenter'' and previously ESPN Radio ...

and

Mike Golic Michael Louis Golic Sr. (; born December 12, 1962) is a former National Football League (NFL) defensive lineman and television host. Golic is well known for his 25-year association with ESPN, most notably co-hosting ESPN Radio's ''Mike & Mike'' ...

from

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...

and

's ''

Mike and Mike in the Morning ''Mike & Mike'' (formerly ''Mike and Mike in the Morning'') was an American sports-talk radio show that was hosted by Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic on ESPN networks from 2000–2017. The show aired on ESPN Radio, and was simulcast on televi ...

'' for their number one team. The second team will consist of ''

NFL Live ''NFL Live'' (stylized as ''NFL Live presented by Autotrader'' for sponsorship reasons) is an American National Football League (NFL) studio show, currently airing Monday through Friday at 3:00 p.m ET on sports cable channel ESPN. Formerly know ...

Trey Wingo Hal Chapman Wingo III (; born September 19, 1963), known as Trey Wingo, is the former co-host of ESPN ''Golic and Wingo'', ''SportsCenter'', and ''NFL Live''. He has previously served as host of the Women's NCAA basketball tournament. He current ...

and

Mark Schlereth Mark Fremont Schlereth (; born January 25, 1966) is a former professional American football player and current television and radio sportscaster. Schlereth played guard (American football), guard in the National Football League, NFL for 12 season ...

with the third being

Ron Jaworski Partner owner , highlights= * Pro Bowl (1980) * Bert Bell Award (1980) * Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame ;NFL record * Longest touchdown pass: 99 yards (tied) , statlabel1= TD– INT , statvalue1=179–164 , statlabel2=Yards , statvalue2=28,19 ...

and

. On May 2007, Mark Jones replaced Jaworski, who focuses on his new ''

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, AB ...

'' role. Jay Rothman, producer of ''Monday Night Football'', and Bryan Ryder will also produce the Monday night Arena Football games on ESPN2. The announcements were made on January 16, 2007. The other play-by-play announcer used on playoff games is

Bob Wischusen Robert Wischusen (born October 1, 1971) is an American sports commentator who is currently a hockey, college football and basketball voice for ESPN and the radio voice announcer for the New York Jets on WEPN-FM. Biography Early life and career W ...

2008

Pasch, Wischusen, and Bentley returned to their respective roles while

Marcellus Wiley Marcellus Vernon Wiley Sr. (born November 30, 1974) is an American sportscaster and former American football defensive end who played 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Buffalo Bills, San Diego Chargers, Dallas Co ...

and

Shaun King Jeffery Shaun King (born September 17, 1979) is an American writer, civil rights activist and co-founder of Real Justice PAC. King uses social media to promote social justice causes, including the Black Lives Matter movement. King was raised ...

joined as color commentators. The tandems of Greenberg-Golic and Wingo-Schlereth would not reprise their roles as play-by-play men in 2008. The replays of classic Arena Football games that had aired on

ESPN Classic ESPN Classic was an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns 20%). The channel was originally l ...

in 2007 would also be dropped in 2008.ESPN announces 2008 AFL talent
. Arena Football League. 26 February 2008.

References

2007 AFL on ESPN ScheduleAFL, ESPN enter into five-year agreement

External links

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20031018035118/http://arenafootball.com/ AFL Official Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Arena Football League On Espn

1987 American television series debuts 1988 American television series endings 1992 American television series debuts 2002 American television series endings 2007 American television series debuts 2008 American television series endings 2014 American television series debuts American sports television series ESPN original programming ESPN2 original programming American television series revived after cancellation