The Arena League, a new indoor football circuit scheduled to debut in Summer 2024, has announced its four inaugural teams.
Teams will operate in:
. Duluth
. Kansas City, Missouri
. Springfield, Missouri
. Waterloo, Iowa
The still-to-be-nicknamed Duluth team will play its home games at the DECC's Duluth Arena beginning in June. NFL Hall of Famer and former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown is chairman and commissioner of the grassroots league.
His stat line towered over the league: a .383 batting average, 17 home runs, 68 RBIs, 23 doubles, three triples, 48 runs scored, 28 walks, and 15 stolen bases over 52 games. His OPS landed at 1.252, powered by a .471 on-base percentage and a .781 slugging percentage.
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Arik Forsman doesn’t posture. He doesn’t spend his time trying to win the internet for a day. He leans into the unglamorous mechanics of governing — budgets, policy detail, stakeholder conversations — and does it with a steadiness that’s easy to overlook if you’re chasing noise instead of results.
The IFL said the shift in distribution represents a multi-thousand percent increase compared to its YouTube-only model from two years ago, when live audiences were significantly smaller.
Company officials said the sale aligned with long-term strategic goals after Vireo Growth approached the group with an offer for the site. Vireo focuses on cannabis operations with an emphasis on safe access and community restorative justice.