The Arena Football League has canceled its 2009 season, but the indoor football league, which has struggled financially for several years, said it plans to resume play the following year. The AFL said its board of directors voted on Sunday night to suspend the 2009 season, subject to agreement with the players' union, while the league works on “developing a long-term plan to improve its economic model.”


“Owners … recognize that, especially in light of the current unprecedented economic climate, the AFL, as a business enterprise, needs to be restructured,” the acting commissioner, Ed Policy, said in a statement.


The AFL, founded in 1987, has 16 teams after New Orleans folded in October. Owners had conducted multiple meetings over the past several weeks and discussed numerous options, but concluded canceling the 2009 season was the best option.

The U.S. recession — which has led the National Football League and the National Basketball Association to cut jobs and Major League Baseball to freeze its 2009 budget — only exacerbated the AFL's financial situation.


“These are trying economic times,” said musician Jon Bon Jovi, who is co-owner of the Philadelphia Soul team that won the 2008 league title. “The revamping will ensure that the AFL continues to provide value to its fans and not only survives but thrives in the years to come.””Although it is disappointing to suspend the 2009 season, the Arena Football League and its owners feel it is essential to reevaluate the current business model,” said John Elway, the co-owner of the Colorado Crush and a former quarterback with Denver Broncos.