Jake Leonard 
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — We’re two weeks into the 2024 revival of the Arena Football League (AFL) and the league will be losing a team effective immediately.
A social media post on the Iowa Rampage‘s Facebook page Thursday revealed that the team is dissolving its operations after only one game in the revived league, a 58–28 win over the Rapid City Marshals.
The release — which will be featured at the end of the article — from Rampage co-owners Trevor Burdett and Mike Taliaferro cites the reasoning for its dissolution on broken promises made by AFL President & Owner Lee Hutton.
The owners reveal discussions between the league and the teams that were still active in the former Champions Indoor Football League (CIF). Among the concerns brought up were the costs involved in being in a larger league: travel costs, increasing player pay, and other expenses to help bring the AFL back to its former glory. Other promises included three sets of jerseys, camp gear, warmups, and the league covering a majority of player pay.
Among those former CIF teams were the Billings Outlaws, Rapid City Marshals, Salina Liberty, and Southwest Kansas Storm. (We could not find a record of the Iowa Rampage or any team previously under the ownership of Burdett.)
After discussions between the CIF and AFL, they agreed to terms on everything that was discussed.
Two teams opted not to join the AFL for the 2024 revival — the Omaha Beef and the Sioux City Bandits — both of which would leave for the National Arena League (NAL).
However, as the news release revealed, cracks in the league’s promises started to show during the training camps. Among the issues described were:
- Delayed shipments of footballs (in which each team paid $10,000 to the league for)
- Jerseys (presumably through BSN Sports) were stuck in shipping and delayed
- Camp gear was never addressed
- The NFL Network reported backed out of carrying AFL games due to “unforeseen production issues”
- Commissioner Lee Hutton was always unavailable for weekly calls, so the team got no answers.
- An emergency owners’ meeting was requested to address player pay issues and the Philadelphia Soul. During this meeting, Hutton again promised that players would be paid with money delivered to the teams by Friday. The Rampage confirms that this never happened.
The release states that Hutton and his team have not only destroyed the revival of the AFL, but also the hopes of players and coaches who dedicated time and energy through training camp to date. They mention the staff of the teams who have worked tirelessly for these teams.
“As owners, we do not take this decision lightly and we wish that this wouldn’t have come,” Burdett and Mike Taliaferro stated in the release. “Without the promised support of the league, we have no other option than to discontinue operations immediately.”
The arena where the Rampage played, the Mid-America Center, will be processing refunds for ticket holders. Meanwhile, the Rampage will be liquidating its existing assets in an attempt to rectify any back payments owed to players, coaches, and staff.
Could Rapid City be the next to go?
Another team to express concerns about the AFL’s broken promises was that of the Rampage’s Week 1 opponent, the Rapid City Marshals.
The Marshals would issue their statement Thursday with similar concerns as the Rampage.
However, in contrast, the Marshals will remain resolute in their dedication to uphold the highest standards of professionalism and integrity in hopes of continuing its football operations.
“A number of challenges and discussions within the league have come to light in recent days, which we are working through as an organization and have put us in an uncomfortable position,” said Wes Johnson, co-owner and president of the Rapid City Marshals. “However, we are fully committed to maintaining the stability of our team and providing our fans with an exceptional experience both on and off the field. Our priority has always been to ensure the stability of our organization and showcase the talent and dedication of our players and staff.”
Johnson and co-owner Rebecca Chapman have consistently demonstrated their commitment to the community and dedication to establishing Arena Football in Rapid City with an ever-growing fan base.
“We want to assure our fans, sponsors, and partners that we are fully focused on maintaining the stability and success of our organization, regardless of league affiliation or the problems within it,” added Chapman, who also serves as team Vice President. “We have a talented team of players, coaches, and staff who are dedicated to representing Rapid City with pride and passion.”
The Marshals have a bye week this weekend, and with the departure of the Rampage, there will be schedule shuffling in the coming weeks. One of those changes will be their Week 3 game hosting the Outlaws inside The Monument. Instead of playing on Sunday, May 12, they will now be playing on Saturday, May 11 at 6:30 p.m.
Rampage ownership shows receipts
Ambush Sports sought comments from the Marshals and Rampage regarding promises agreed to by the league.
Iowa Rampage co-owner was quick to respond to our inquiry, sharing a screenshot of an email relating to a September 13, 2023 merger agreement signed off by AFL Commissioner Lee Hutton and CIF Commissioner Mike McCoy.
There were eight conditions that the AFL agreed to to secure the remaining CIF teams in joining the 2024 revival of Arena Football:
- The AFL is to provide uniforms to CIF teams under the AFL logo mark.
- League footballs manufactured by Wilson will be sold to CIF teams for $4,000 for $240 per ball with the team logo on the ball.
- Nets will be the sole responsibility of the CIF teams.
- The salary payments would be split on a 25/75 basis. Given that salary payments were agreed to for $1,000, the CIF would be responsible for $250 while the AFL pays the rest.
- The CIF would be responsible for the day-to-day operations of their teams and pay for travel and officials. In addition, they could keep their ticketing but must use the HUMBL platform for ticket sales.
- The AFL would take responsibility for all merchandising with Assist 2 Score and other league partners. This aspect of the agreement would include but not be limited to handling all football sales and CIF would receive 50/50 profit sharing.
- The AFL would manage daily operations and keep 100% of all sports betting proceeds.
- All league games would be broadcast on the streaming service that features AFL games. (That was presumably the NFL Network, which was later revealed that they backed out of the initial deal over “unforeseen production issues”.)
Once we get a better-quality image of this agreement, it will be included in this article.
This is a developing story.
