History of the Arena Football League in San Antonio

San Antonio has fielded teams in two attempted major league football rivals to the NFL, both at Alamo Stadium: in 1975, the Florida Blazers of the World Football League relocated to San Antonio as the Wings for one season before the league ceased operations; and in 1984, the San Antonio Gunslingers joined the United States Football League as an expansion team and played for two seasons before the league folded. The San Antonio Riders were one of the founding teams of the World League of American Football, the NFL's one-time spring developmental league, in 1991. They played for two seasons before the North American teams were disbanded and the WLAF became a strictly European league. During the Canadian Football League's brief expansion into the U.S., the city played host to the San Antonio Texans for a single season in 1995, following the team's relocation from Sacramento after two seasons. San Antonio was also home to two minor league football franchises: the Toros of the Texas Football League (later Continental Football League, then Trans-American Football League) from 1966-1971; and the Charros of the American Football Association from 1978-1981. After the 2011 Arena Football League season, the Tulsa Talons relocated from Oklahoma and played two seasons in San Antonio before folding in 2014.

San Antonio Force (1992)
Main article: San Antonio Force

The Force played their home games at HemisFair Arena,[1] then the home of the San Antonio Spurs. They set two records for futility, becoming the first arena football team ever to be shut out in a game, losing to the Orlando Predators 50-0 on June 13, 1992,[2] and the all-time lowest record for field goal percentage in a season, 11.8% (4-34), among three different kickers. The team ceased operations upon the completion of the season, citing that there were not enough available dates at HemisFair Arena or the Alamodome for the team to host games.[3] There was an attempt by Marc Reich to bring the team to Hartford, Connecticut, but he was unable to convince the city to purchase the rights to the Force, as it was believed there wasn't a high enough return on investment.[4] Arena football returned to San Antonio in 2012 when the Tulsa Talons franchise relocated to the Alamodome.[5]

San Antonio Talons (2010–2014)
Main article: San Antonio Talons

On September 21, 2011, Talons chairman Paul Ross announced the team was moving to San Antonio due to less than desirable attendance and ticket sales.[6] The team was purchased by a group led by California businessman Jason Lohe and the Talons were introduced to the city of San Antonio on September 27, 2011. Despite AFL tradition to adopt previous AFL team names and identities for new teams in previous markets, the Talons chose to keep their nickname and not adopt the identity of the long-defunct San Antonio Force, due in part to the preexistence of the Georgia Force (a similar issue forced the Pittsburgh Power to adopt its current name instead of the Gladiators). In March 2012, Lynd Sports LLC, became a partial owner of the Talons.[7] Just days later, Lohe was forced to return to California with family issues, and David Lynd became the principal owner of the franchise.[8] The Talons then made a big play in free agency by signing veteran quarterback Aaron Garcia, who was fresh off of leading the Jacksonville Sharks to their first ever ArenaBowl victory.[9]

In December 2013, Lynd was sued for breach of contract when his real estate company (Lynd Company) failed to follow through on a 1.7 million dollar purchase.[10] On January 9, 2014, it was reported that the league had seized control of the franchise, and began immediately looking for new ownership. The league has been in talks with Spurs Sports & Entertainment, owners of the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, WNBA's San Antonio Stars and San Antonio Rampage hockey team, but neither AFL commissioner Jerry Kurz nor a Spurs spokeswoman could comment about the talks at the time.[11]

On October 13, 2014, the AFL announced that the Talons would not be returning to play in 2015 and are dormant.[12]

References
  1. Richard Oliver (June 30, 2011). "Arena football may find home in S.A." www.mysanantonio.com. Hearst Communications Inc. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  2. Richard Oliver (June 17, 2012). "Force's 50-0 loss 20 years ago stands alone". www.mysanantonio.com. Hearst Communications Inc. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  3. Mike Wagner (November 6, 1992). "FORCE.FOLDING Force will no longer be with San Antonio". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  4. Roy Hasty (January 29, 1993). "No Arena team for Hartford Verdict on Arena team: risk of loss too high". Hartford Current. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  5. Charlie Hannema (September 21, 2011). "Tulsa Talons Moving To San Antonio". www.newson6.com. NowWorld. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  6. Charlie Hannema (September 21, 2011). "Tulsa Talons Moving To San Antonio". www.newson6.com. World Now. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  7. W. Scott Bailey (March 2, 2012). "Local real estate firm Lynd unveils sports-business unit". www.bizjournals.com. American City Business Journals. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  8. Richard Oliver (March 9, 2012). "With strike in place, new Talons team may play today". www.mysanantonio.com. The Hearst Corporation. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  9. Eric R. Ivie. "San Antonio Talons sign Aaron Garcia, Robert Quiroga". www.sports.yahoo.com. Yahoo!. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  10. Joe Conger (December 10, 2013). "SA Talons owner sued for breach of contract". www.kens5.com. KENS 5-TV, Inc. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  11. Patrick Danner (January 9, 2014). "Arena Football League takes over Talons". www.expressnews.com. The Hearst Corporation. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  12. AFL Talons won’t play in San Antonio next season, former team executive says, W. Scott Bailey, San Antonio Business Journal, October 13, 2014
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