2024 The Arena League season

The 2024 Arena League season was the inaugural season of The Arena League (The AL or TAL). The regular season began on June 1, 2024 and ended on July 27, 2024.^[1][2][3][4]

2024 TAL season
League	The Arena League
Sport	Arena football
Duration	June 1 - August 10, 2024 [1]
Number of games	8 per team
Number of teams	4
Streaming partner(s)	YouTube
Regular Season Champions	Kansas City Goats
Champions	Duluth Harbor Monsters
Runners-up	Iowa Woo
Season MVP	Boo Smith

Background

The Arena League was announced as a six-on-six indoor American football league with the intentions to launch in 2024 with four teams and with Pro Football Hall of Famer Tim Brown as the Commissioner. The league kicked off the regular season on June 1, 2024.

The AL's aim is to highlight the player's athleticism and increase the pace of play.

Teams

The first city announced was Springfield^[5] with Duluth being the second city.^[6] Waterloo was announced as the third team on May 4, 2023.^[7] Kansas City was the fourth and final team announced for the inaugural 2024 season.

On October 19, 2023 the Waterloo Woo announced their owners and changed their team name to the Iowa Woo along with a logo redesign.^[8]

Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Joined	Head coach
Duluth Harbor Monsters	Duluth, Minnesota	DECC Arena	5,333	2024	Tony O'Neil
Iowa Woo	Waterloo, Iowa	The Hippodrome	5,155	2024	Mook Zimmerman
Kansas City Goats	Kansas City, Missouri	Municipal Arena	9,987	2024	Dorsey Golston III
Ozarks Lunkers	Springfield, Missouri	Wilson Logistics Arena	4,500	2024	Cam Bruffett

League finances

Former IFL Commissioner, Tommy Benizio, an advisor for the league and his corporation operated and ran the teams,^[9] while J.R. Bond leads a small group financing the league; Bond is a political advisor in Kansas City and has served as owner of several professional sports teams including the Sioux City Bandits, Topeka Tropics, and Topeka Golden Giants.^[10] The league would later announce owners for all four locations.^{[11][12][13][8]}

Players

Teams have a 15-player roster with the game being played with six offensive players against six defensive players. The league will follow a one-platoon system with offensive and defensive players playing both sides of the ball. There are no restrictions on defense.

On December 5, 2023, the Lunkers signed Matt Rush, the first player to sign with an AL team.^[14]

Season format

The inaugural season of The Arena League had a nine-week regular season schedule with each team receiving one bye week with playoffs to follow. The season ran from June to August 2024.^[1] In September, the AL released the 2024 schedule.^[15]

Rules

Reference^[16]

• The field is traditional arena football size, measuring 50 yards long and 85 feet wide enclosed by padded walls.
• Teams had 15-player rosters with the game being played with six offensive players against six defensive players. The league followed a one-platoon system with offensive and defensive players playing both sides of the ball. There are no restrictions on defense.
• Play clock is reduced to 20 seconds from the spotting of the ball, as in the Canadian Football League.
• No offensive huddles are allowed unless a timeout is called.
• All offensive players are eligible receivers with three players initially lined up in an offensive line position. The quarterback cannot run the ball past the line of scrimmage.
• All players and coaches communicated with helmet communication systems that fans will be able to listen to in real time.
• Kickoffs were replaced with a quarterback throwoff, with an onside conversion option.
• All forms of kicking the ball are prohibited, including punts and field goals.
• There was only one on-field official to mark and set the ball and make penalty announcements. There were sky judges watching live video feeds to decide penalties in real time. Coaches and fans will have access to the referee interactions.^[17] After each game, fans can give feedback on the referees performance.

Final standings

Team	W	L	PCT	GB	PF	PA	STK
(1)Kansas City Goats	7	1	.875	–	581	405	W3
(2)Duluth Harbor Monsters	5	3	.625	2	390	354	W3
(3)Ozarks Lunkers	3	5	.375	4	379	446	L3
(4)Iowa Woo	1	7	.125	6	343	488	L3

Legend
(1) – Clinched 1 Seed
(2) – Clinched 2 Seed
(3) – Clinched 3 Seed
(4) – Clinched 4 Seed

Season schedule

The regular season schedule was released on September 6, 2023.^[1]

Regular season

Week 1

Date	Time	Away team	Result		Home team	Stadium	Notes	Ref
June 1	7:05 p.m. CT	Duluth Harbor Monsters	52	77	Kansas City Goats	Municipal Arena
June 1	7:05 p.m. CT	Iowa Woo	40	69	Ozarks Lunkers	Wilson Logistics Arena

Week 2

Date	Time	Away team	Result		Home team	Stadium	Notes	Ref
June 8	2:05 p.m. CT	Kansas City Goats	91	56	Iowa Woo	The Hippodrome

Week 3

Date	Time	Away team	Result		Home team	Stadium	Notes	Ref
June 15	7:05 p.m. CT	Duluth Harbor Monsters	44	38	Ozarks Lunkers	Wilson Logistics Arena
June 15	7:05 p.m. CT	Iowa Woo	38	58	Kansas City Goats	Municipal Arena

Week 4

Date	Time	Away team	Result		Home team	Stadium	Notes	Ref
June 22	7:05 p.m. CT	Ozarks Lunkers	52	46	Iowa Woo	The Hippodrome	2OT
June 23	5:05 p.m. CT	Kansas City Goats	58	57	Duluth Harbor Monsters	DECC Arena

Week 5

Date	Time	Away team	Result		Home team	Stadium	Notes	Ref
June 29	7:05 p.m. CT	Ozarks Lunkers	69	59	Kansas City Goats	Wilson Logistics Arena	Game originally scheduled to be held at Municipal Arena[18]
June 29	7:05 p.m. CT	Iowa Woo	41	22	Duluth Harbor Monsters	DECC Arena

Week 6

Date	Time	Away team	Result		Home team	Stadium	Notes	Ref
July 6	7:05 p.m. CT	Duluth Harbor Monsters	67	60	Ozarks Lunkers	Wilson Logistics Arena

Week 7

Date	Time	Away team	Result		Home team	Stadium	Notes	Ref
July 13	7:05 p.m. CT	Kansas City Goats	78	45	Ozarks Lunkers	Wilson Logistics Arena
July 13	7:05 p.m. CT	Iowa Woo	41	52	Duluth Harbor Monsters	DECC Arena

Week 8

Date	Time	Away team	Result		Home team	Stadium	Notes	Ref
July 20	7:05 p.m. CT	Ozarks Lunkers	18	51	Duluth Harbor Monsters	DECC Arena
July 20	7:05 p.m. CT	Kansas City Goats	99	60	Iowa Woo	The Hippodrome

Week 9

Date	Time	Away team	Result		Home team	Stadium	Notes	Ref
July 27	7:05 p.m. CT	Duluth Harbor Monsters	45	21	Iowa Woo	The Hippodrome
July 27	7:05 p.m. CT	Ozarks Lunkers	28	61	Kansas City Goats	St. Pius X Football Stadium	Inside Out Game

^[19]

Postseason

	Semi-finals				ArenaMania I
	August 3 – St. Pius X Football Stadium
	1 Kansas City Goats	58
					August 10 – DECC Arena
	4 Iowa Woo	59
					4 Iowa Woo	44
	August 3 – DECC Arena
					2 Duluth Harbor Monsters	46
	2 Duluth Harbor Monsters	50
	3 Ozarks Lunkers	18

Semi-finals

Date	Time	Away team	Result		Home team	Stadium	Notes	Ref
August 3	7:05 p.m. CT	Iowa Woo	59	58	Kansas City Goats	St. Pius X Football Stadium
August 3	7:05 p.m. CT	Ozarks Lunkers	18	50	Duluth Harbor Monsters	DECC Arena

ArenaMania I

ArenaMania I–Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Iowa Woo	6	12	0	26	44
Duluth Harbor Monsters	7	8	12	19	46

at DECC Arena, Duluth, Minnesota

• Date: August 10, 2024
• Game time: 7:05 p.m. CDT
• TV: YouTube

Media

TAL team media deals

Team	TV Station(s)	Radio Station(s)	Notes
Duluth Harbor Monsters		Northland Fan 106.5 FM and 560AM[20]
Iowa Woo	KCRG-TV[21]		[a]
Kansas City Goats
Ozarks Lunkers	KYTV[22]

1. The team is partnered with KWWL as the exclusive news source.

See also

• 2024 American Indoor Football season
• 2024 Arena Football League season
• 2024 Indoor Football League season
• 2024 National Arena League season