AF1 Expansion 2026: Michigan. Where could the AF1 be headed?
- offthewallfbpod
- Jul 4
- 5 min read
At the AF1 Media Day before the first annual Arena Crown, Commissioner Jeff Fisher announced that there were two expansion franchises set to join the AF1 in 2026 — one in the state of Michigan & one in the state of Ohio.
This was one of the first pieces of information that was publicly stated about the 2026 AF1 season and sent some ripples throughout the arena football community.
Each state has had arena football teams in the past — some more successful than others — but both regions are currently ones that could be considered ‘arena football deserts’ in terms of the number of non-soccerplex league teams in the state.
In the past, Michigan had seen a variety of teams throughout the years:
Grand Rapids Rampage - ArenaBowl XV (shoutout The World of Football)
Detroit Drive - Winners of 4 ArenaBowls in the late 80s / early 90s
Detroit Fury - No ArenaBowls but they had fun!
This got the ol’ hamster wheel spinning in Off The Wall’s brain:
Where could this 2026 AF1 team that is coming be in The Great Lakes State? Could we see a revival of a team from the past? Do we see a brand new team?
After conducting minutes of research, here are the Top 5 city options for the AF1 2026 expansion (in no particular order):
Muskegon, MI - Population 37,183
I know, I know… weird place to start with some of the there cities in the state, but HEAR ME OUT.
There have been a handful of AF1 teams that either didn’t make it to the starting line or have really struggled out of the gate — and almost all of them are brand new franchises attempting to get everything up and going. There’s a lot of moving pieces to make a franchise successful, and it often takes a while to get into a good workflow with things.
So instead of starting from scratch, what if they are bringing in a team that has been around for quite a while now:
Enter the West Michigan Ironmen.
The Ironmen are coming off of a championship season in the AIF (American Indoor Football) and are basically THE arena ball team in Michigan over the last few years. They have a years long relationship with their arena, they have team structure in place — the only thing that would be in question is if they have the resources to make the jump.
The Ironmen seem like it would one of the better options on the table, but that last question is massive and can make or break a franchise before they ever step foot in AF1 league play.
Grand Rapids, MI - Population 196,608
Okay, NOW we’re talking here. Grand Rapids has a history with arena football dating back to the Grand Rapids Rampage in the late 90s & 2000s, and it seems like one of the more common sense options here in terms of location…
..but where it REALLLLLLLY starts to make sense is when you look at the leadership in Arena Football One, specifically President of League & Team Operations Christie McEwen.
Screenshot from the AF1's Staff page:
So, a prominent league official lives in Grand Rapids (green flag), is married to a lifelong resident and head football coach at the university in the city (greener flag), and has expertise in game day operations, and sales & front office management training to teams and personnel throughout the sports industry? (greenest flag)
Folks, this makes way too much sense. The Grand Rapids maybe-Rampage would most likely play their games at Van Andel Arena, where the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL currently play -- and would be a solid partnership franchise to have in their corner.
But I wouldn't be surprised if they get a fresh start either in terms of a team name -- given that the Grand Rapids Rampage brand has been linked to the infamous National Gridiron League (not real btw) that has been 'kicking off soon' for what feels like a decade now.
It feels like Grand Rapids is a very likely spot given the circumstances, and I know some podcasters in Kalamazoo would be happy to see it. But speaking of Kalamazoo...
Kalamazoo, MI - Population 73,126
Alright this one is going to require a little more selling, but let's give it a shot:
Kalamazoo is currently home to an ECHL team, the Kalamazoo Wings -- and recent history (IFL's Tulsa Oilers, Fishers Freight, Vegas Knight Hawks) has shown us that being able to partner with other minor league sports might be the best recipe for success for new teams moving forward.
The Wings Event Center is currently where the Wings play, and presumably where a Kalamazoo arena football team would play. Scoreboard looks to be a littttttle low, but there is a new events center that is being constructed in the area that could be looking for consistent tenants in the future...
Kalamazoo is also home to Western Michigan University, where I am sure the team could develop a pipeline of former Broncos players to help get butts in seats.
But what could we call this team? Hit me up on socials with what you think!
Battle Creek, MI - Population 52,175
Now this one made the list only because a certain celebrity from Battle Creek that would be hilarious to get involved in arena football...
Former WWE wrestler Rob Van Dam.
Imagine street art and tie dye styled jerseys with a yin yang symbol on the helmets. You know what f*ck it, RVD career highlights.
Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek might be a little small for AF1 and might actually be better suited for a TAL now that I fully think this through and type this out, but hey it would be fun.
Detroit, MI - Population 633,218
Well we couldn't make a list without Detroit. Just based on the history of the sport in Detroit and it being one of the largest cities in the United States.
As mentioned at the top of the article, the Detroit Drive were an early dynasty in the original AFL, and if they are able to tap into some of that magic it could be a good spot.
But I would be very, very cautious about trying to establish yourself in a big city.
I've said it on a couple different episodes of the podcast (cough cough available on Spotify & Apple Podcast cough cough) -- but it is so hard to become a piece of the pie in these bigger markets, when you could become THE pie in a smaller market lie Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, etc.
To me, the immediate future of the sport is having success really crushing these smaller, midsized cities rather than trying to get established in larger cities where arena costs, marketing costs, logistics costs and staffing is going to be much more expensive.
If I am the AF1, I try to shy away from Detroit for the time being. Not to say that it is impossible, but we've seen this play out in big cities over the past decade and it hasn't ended well for most of them.
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