After a two-year hiatus, the Georgia Force and the Arena Football League will return to metro Atlanta on Sunday.
The revived league kicks off its season with the Pittsburgh Power playing the Philadelphia Soul Friday night in Pittsburgh. The re-incarnation of the Force will face the Tulsa Talons at 4:05 p.m. Sunday at the Gwinnett Arena.
The Force, who have bounced back and forth from Philips Arena to Gwinnett Arena, were members of the old AFL for seven seasons (2002 to 2008). They made the playoffs in five seasons and reached ArenaBowl XIX in 2005.
The league, which disbanded after the 2008 season and slipped into bankruptcy, was purchased out of bankruptcy and played in 2010.
League management is hoping the Force will enjoy the same level of success as previous owners. Virgil Williams operated the franchise from 2002 to 2004, followed by Falcons owner Arthur Blank (Sept. 2004-2008).
"It was a tremendous market for arena football for a number of years," AFL commissioner Jerry Kurz said. "We are just pleased to be back in that market where there are tremendous arena football fans."
The current Force moved here from Huntsville, Ala., after finishing last season with a 7-9 record.
Here's a look at the new Force and the reborn league:
Q: Where did the AFL come from?
A: Jim Foster, a former NFL executive, created the game in 1981. League play began in 1987. After 22 seasons, the league disbanded and filed for bankruptcy.
The league is credited, among other things, with launching the career of NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, who's now considered a future Pro Football Hall of Fame candidate.
Q: What's different this time around?
A: The league's business model simply didn't work, according to Kurz. Player salaries started to spiral upward and the league was spending more than it was making.
Under a new salary structure, teams are allowed to pay three players $1,000 per game and the rest of the players receive $400 per game. The players will also receive room and board.
Player salaries peaked at $2 million per team in the old league.
"We thought this was the perfect way to come back as a single entity, where there was cost containment," Philadelphia Soul co-owner Ron Jaworski said. "We did not come back last year because we just didn’t have enough time to put our entire organization together."
Q: Who are the new owners of the Force?
A: Doug MacGregor and Donn Jennings.
MacGregor, a former computer company executive, has been heavily involved in arena football over the last decade. He's had ties to the Alabama Vipers and had ownership stakes in teams located in Texas, Idaho, Illinois and Washington.
Jennings, a longtime entertainment promoter and a former owner of a large sports collectibles firm, has also owned minor league baseball, hockey and basketball teams in Huntsville.
Q: Who's the coach?
A: Dean Cokinos has been head coach and director of football operations of the Alabama Vipers for the last three seasons. He led them to the 2008 Arena Cup championship.
He also coached in NFL Europe and at the college level at Livingstone, Austin Peay and Massachusetts-Boston.
Q: Who are the stars?
A: Quarterback Brett Elliot (Utah) passed for 2,674 yards and 59 touchdowns with the Utah Blaze last season. He played for Urban Meyer at Utah and was the starter in 2003 before breaking his wrist. Alex Smith took over and went on to become the No. 1 pick in the NFL's 2005 draft.
Wide receiver/defensive back Larry Shipp (Tennessee Tech) had 86 catches for 1,215 yards and 24 touchdowns last season. Wide receiver CJ Johnson (Tennessee State) led the Vipers in receiving last season with 1,246 yards. Johnson needs 221 yards to reach 4,000 career receiving yards. Linebacker/defensive back Eric Crosby (Albany State) had six interceptions and returned one for a touchdown last season.
Q: How long is the season?
A: The Force will play 18 games and appear on the NFL Network just once.
The game against the Dallas Vigilantes on April 8 will be televised.
Q: How much does it cost to attend Force games?
A: Prices range from $10 to $161.45 per game. Season tickets range from $59 to $1,350. There is free parking at the Gwinnett Arena.
