Howie's column is powered by Lyric Kitchen · Bar
Jerry Kurz didn’t invent arena football, but he might as well have.
He’s been there since the first walls went up — a founding executive in the original Arena Football League, later its commissioner, and one of the few people alive who’s seen every iteration of the sport’s strange, scrappy evolution.
In short, Kurz is Mr. Arena Football in the U.S.
And last week, he was in Duluth — clipboard in hand, smile on his face — to officially welcome the Minnesota Monsters into his newest venture, Arena Football One (AF1).
“It was a great facility — they hosted us well,” league CEO Kurz said after touring the 5,333-seat DECC Arena. “Three different members of the DECC staff answered our questions and made us feel welcome. That’s a good sign because we want our teams to be partners with the arena, not just good tenants.”
For Kurz, the DECC’s setting hit all the right notes: walkable, waterfront, and big enough to roar without feeling cavernous.
“Great location,” he said. “You walk out on a patio looking over the water. It’s intimate, indoors, and more personal. You can put up advertising as needed, good locker rooms, good sound. The Monsters bring in their own video board. The DECC Arena ranks somewhere in the middle of the league — older but still in great shape. If it adds its own permanent scoreboard and sound, it’s near the top.”
That kind of measured, realistic assessment is what made Kurz a legend among small-market sports operators.
A former Illinois high school football player who moved on to Oklahoma, and later a lawyer by trade, he helped launch the AFL in the 1980s alongside inventor Jim Foster, served as the league’s vice president of international development, and was instrumental in staging 21 exhibition games in Europe, a 15-game tournament in Australia, and a training camp in Japan.
When the AFL expanded, Kurz ran the developmental AF2 league — guiding teams in towns like Tulsa, Peoria and Quad City that built loyal fan bases on heart and hospitality, not flash.
Now in his seventies, Kurz hasn’t lost that eye for scale.
“The best way to roll out one of our teams is to have a smaller building and sell it out first,” he said. “If we need more seats, we’ll add them. Some of our best markets are like that — not 15,000 or 20,000 seats. It’s intimate. Six home games are an advantage; you don’t have to fill the stands twenty times a year.”
AF1, under Kurz’s leadership, is quietly reviving the formula that once made arena football a springtime staple — community ownership, reasonable budgets and a tight-knit fan experience.
“Very strong franchise,” he said of the Monsters. “We’re very selective. I get calls every week from people who want to join. But we have to be sure they’re giving something back to the community. Jake (Lambert, owner) and Steve (Walters, general manager and minority owner) want that. We’re about to announce our 10th team here in mid-November.”
Kurz is known for preaching accountability — and enforcing it.
“The league has strict rules for housing, food, fans — and everyone has to be willing to do it right,” he said. “Every team that’s come to us has the ability to succeed.”
He laughs when asked why he’s still doing this after four decades of new leagues and folded leagues, of flights, meetings, and rebuilds.
“I joke that I was drawn back into it by Jeff Fisher (league commissioner),” Kurz said. “He had a vision. With the new organization, you expect to have growing pains. But every team finished the season. And this year, we will have three past league champions — that’s a good testament.”
AF1 will release its 2026 schedule in the coming weeks, Kurz said.
“Only a couple of holes remain to be filled,” he said of the league schedule.
For Duluth, the visit was part inspection, part endorsement — a nod from the man who’s spent a lifetime making arena football work in places that look and feel a lot like this one.
If Kurz says the DECC Arena can host the Monsters and thrive, history suggests he’s usually right.
. . .
AF1 has brought arena football back to life.
Formed in late 2024 after the collapse of the Arena Football League revival, the new league — led by Fisher and Kurz — completed its first full season in 2025 with eight teams and the unbeaten Albany Firebirds defeating the Nashville Kats in Arena Crown 2025.
Fisher called the league’s debut “a strong foundation for long-term success.” AF1 established corporate partnerships with several national companies to grow engagement.
The league has announced expansion for 2026, adding the Beaumont Renegades, Kentucky Barrels, Michigan Arsenal and Minnesota Monsters, with more cities under discussion.
Operating with modest budgets and community-based ownership, AF1 has positioned itself as the most stable arena league in years.
“Arena football belongs to the fans,” Kurz said. “And we’re building it the right way this time.”
