2019 Arena Football League season


The 2019 Arena Football League season was the 32nd and final season in the history of the Arena Football League. Prior to the start of the season, the league expanded from four to six teams with two added expansion teams. The 12-game regular season began on April 26 and ended on July 21.

League business

Teams

For the first time since 2011, the AFL entered the season with more teams than it had the previous season, adding an expansion team and reactivating another that had been dormant for over a decade.
The league announced the Atlantic City Blackjacks expansion team on January 22, 2019, that is operated by the same ownership group as the Albany Empire. On February 7, 2019, the league re-added the Columbus Destroyers as another expansion team to bring the league back to six teams.

Schedule and playoff changes

The 2019 season consisted of a 13-week schedule during which each team played 12 games and had one bye week.
At the end of the regular season, the top four teams participated in the ArenaBowl playoffs, in which the top seed faced the fourth seed while the second seed faced the third seed in a home-and-home series. The team in each series with the highest aggregate score advanced to the ArenaBowl. If the aggregate score in either series was tied after the second game in the home-and-home semifinals, the game would have continued in the AFL's standard overtime format. While the semifinals consisted of two games in each pairing, ArenaBowl XXXII was still one game.

Closure

The AFL announced it had closed its teams' local operations on October 29, following that with a Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation filing November 27.

Final season standings


- clinched regular season title
- clinched playoff berth

Playoffs

Semifinals

All times listed are in EDT.
DateKickoffAwayScoreHomeGame siteRecap
Sat. July 277:00 p.m. Baltimore Brigade26–61 Albany EmpireTimes Union Center • Albany, NY
Sun. July 283:30 p.m. Philadelphia Soul69–33 Washington ValorCapital One Arena • Washington, D.C.
Sat. August 37:00 p.m. Albany Empire62–21 Baltimore BrigadeRoyal Farms Arena • Baltimore, MD
Sun. August 44:00 p.m. Washington Valor41–48 Philadelphia SoulWells Fargo Center • Philadelphia, PA

ArenaBowl XXXII

DateKickoffAwayScoreHomeGame siteRecap
Sun. August 118:00 p.m. Philadelphia Soul27–45 Albany EmpireTimes Union Center • Albany, NY

Attendance

Announced attendance figures for each home game. In the weekly columns, dashes indicate away games or a bye week, while bold font indicates the highest attendance of each team.

Awards

All–Arena teams

First team

Pos.PlayerTeam
QBTommy GradyAlbany Empire
FBMykel BensonAlbany Empire
WRMalachi JonesAlbany Empire
WRQuentin SimsAlbany Empire
WRDarius PrincePhiladelphia Soul
CRyan CaveAlbany Empire
OLJordan MudgeAlbany Empire
OLNeal TivisPhiladelphia Soul

Pos.PlayerTeam
DEJoe SykesAlbany Empire
DEDarryl Cato-BishopBaltimore Brigade
DTJustin LawrenceBaltimore Brigade
MLBDexter JacksonBaltimore Brigade
JLBTerence MooreAlbany Empire
DBJames RomainPhiladelphia Soul
DBJoe PowellBaltimore Brigade
DBVarmah SonieColumbus Destroyers

Pos.PlayerTeam
KAdrian TrevinoAlbany Empire
STFabian GuerraColumbus Destroyers

Second team

Pos.PlayerTeam
QBArvell NelsonWashington Valor
FBAdrian FernsPhiladelphia Soul
WRAntwane GrantAtlantic City Blackjacks
WRLamark BrownAtlantic City Blackjacks
WRJoe HillsBaltimore Brigade
CPhillipkeith ManleyPhiladelphia Soul
CKyron SamuelsBaltimore Brigade
OLAnthony ParkerWashington Valor
OLMoqut RuffinsAlbany Empire

Pos.PlayerTeam
DEMonte LewisAtlantic City Blackjacks
DESean DanielsPhiladelphia Soul
DTTerrance TaylorColumbus Destroyers
MLBJames GordonWashington Valor
JLBAlvin Ray JacksonWashington Valor
DBDwayne HollisPhiladelphia Soul
DBJosh VictorianBaltimore Brigade
DBTevin HomerAlbany Empire

Pos.PlayerTeam
KMark LewisAtlantic City Blackjacks
STJoe PowellBaltimore Brigade