2019 Arena Football League season is located in USA Midwest and Northeast
AFL teams

The 2019 Arena Football League season was the 32nd season and final in the history of the Arena Football League (AFL) before filing for bankruptcy. 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

2019 Arena Football League standings
TeamOverallPointsRecords
WLPCTPFPAHomeAwayGBSTK
Albany Empire xy102.8336204745–15–1—W2
Washington Valor x75.5835385524–23–33W2
Philadelphia Soul x75.5835235304–23–3L1
Baltimore Brigade x75.5835004394–23–3W1
Atlantic City Blackjacks48.3335185503–31–56L2
Columbus Destroyers111.0833945481–50–69L5

y - clinched regular season title x - clinched playoff berth

Playoffs

SemifinalsArenaBowl XXXII
1Albany Empire6162123
4Baltimore Brigade262147
1Albany Empire45
3Philadelphia Soul27
2Washington Valor334174
3Philadelphia Soul6948117
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Semifinals

All times listed are in EDT.

DateKickoffAwayScoreHomeGame siteRecap
Sat. July 277:00 p.m.(4) Baltimore Brigade26–61(1) Albany EmpireTimes Union Center • Albany, NY
Sun. July 283:30 p.m.(3) Philadelphia Soul69–33(2) Washington ValorCapital One Arena • Washington, D.C.
Sat. August 37:00 p.m.(1) Albany Empire62–21(4) Baltimore BrigadeRoyal Farms Arena • Baltimore, MD
Sun. August 44:00 p.m.(2) Washington Valor41–48(3) Philadelphia SoulWells Fargo Center • Philadelphia, PA

ArenaBowl XXXII

DateKickoffAwayScoreHomeGame siteRecap
Sun. August 118:00 p.m.(3) Philadelphia Soul27–45(1) 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.

Team / Week12345678910111213SFABTotalAverage
Albany Empire11,6829,208———8,74410,287—9,417———10,9819,08512,04281,44610,181
Philadelphia Soul9,245—9,843——8,6727,1646,910—10,564———8,537—60,9358,705
Washington Valor——8,0446,357———7,1796,7957,136——8,4566,942—N/a50,9097,273
Columbus Destroyers———7,0356,122—6,0296,2607,604——9,275—N/A42,3257,054
Atlantic City Blackjacks—6,139—4,0544,3864,632————7,104—6,266N/A32,5815,430
Baltimore Brigade5,1954,3814,990—4,079————4,206—4,609—5,282—N/a32,7424,677
Total26,12219,72822,87717,44614,58722,04823,48020,34923,81621,9067,10413,88425,70329,84612,042300,938
Average8,7076,5767,6265,8154,8627,3497,8276,7837,9397,3027,1046,9428,5687,46212,0427,340

Awards

All–Arena teams

First team

Offense
Pos.PlayerTeam
Offense Pos. Player Team QB Tommy Grady Albany Empire FB Mykel Benson Albany Empire WR Malachi Jones Albany Empire WR Quentin Sims Albany Empire WR Darius Prince Philadelphia Soul C Ryan Cave Albany Empire OL Jordan Mudge Albany Empire OL Neal Tivis Philadelphia SoulDefense Pos. Player Team DE Joe Sykes Albany Empire DE Darryl Cato-Bishop Baltimore Brigade DT Justin Lawrence Baltimore Brigade MLB Dexter Jackson Baltimore Brigade JLB Terence Moore Albany Empire DB James Romain Philadelphia Soul DB Joe Powell Baltimore Brigade DB Varmah Sonie Columbus DestroyersSpecial Teams Pos. Player Team K Adrian Trevino Albany Empire ST Fabian Guerra Columbus Destroyers
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

Offense
Pos.PlayerTeam
Offense Pos. Player Team QB Arvell Nelson Washington Valor FB Adrian Ferns Philadelphia Soul WR Antwane Grant Atlantic City Blackjacks WR Lamark Brown Atlantic City Blackjacks WR Joe Hills Baltimore Brigade C Phillipkeith Manley Philadelphia Soul C Kyron Samuels Baltimore Brigade OL Anthony Parker Washington Valor OL Moqut Ruffins Albany EmpireDefense Pos. Player Team DE Monte Lewis Atlantic City Blackjacks DE Sean Daniels Philadelphia Soul DT Terrance Taylor Columbus Destroyers MLB James Gordon Washington Valor JLB Alvin Ray Jackson Washington Valor DB Dwayne Hollis Philadelphia Soul DB Josh Victorian Baltimore Brigade DB Tevin Homer Albany EmpireSpecial Teams Pos. Player Team K Mark Lewis Atlantic City Blackjacks ST Joe Powell Baltimore Brigade
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