ArenaBowl

The ArenaBowl is the Arena Football League's championship game that also airs on ESPN. From 1987 to 2004, the ArenaBowl was hosted by either the team with the better regular-season record or the higher seeding in the playoffs. From ArenaBowl XIX in 2005 until ArenaBowl XXII in 2008, the game was played at a neutral site. When the AFL returned from a bankruptcy-induced hiatus in 2010, the original format was used for this and the next season; for 2012 and 2013, the game returned to being played at a neutral site. In 2014, it was announced that the ArenaBowl would return to the format in which the higher-seeded team would host the game.

The ArenaBowl, its trophy and all related intellectual property were purchased by Arena Football 1 on December 7, 2009, along with the rest of the assets of the AFL after it declared bankruptcy. Arena Football 1 eventually assumed the AFL identity, and later announced that the ArenaBowl would continue as the AFL's championship game.

The bas-relief football players on the trophy were originally sculpted in Azbro Wax by Massachusetts sculptor James Linehan for the company New England Pewter.

ArenaBowl XXVI

ArenaBowl XXVI was the 26th edition of the championship in the Arena Football League. The National Conference champion Arizona Rattlers, defeated the American Conference champion Philadelphia Soul, 48–39. The game was played on August 17, 2013 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, home of the Orlando Predators.

The halftime show was performed by KISS.

The two teams met one year earlier in ArenaBowl XXV, in which the Rattlers took home the league championship by a score of 72–54. This was the first time that two teams met in consecutive ArenaBowls.

Venue

ArenaBowl XXVI was played at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, after a unanimous vote by all 14 teams in the league. It was the second consecutive ArenaBowl to be played at a neutral site, and the seventh in the history of the league. For the city of Orlando, it was the first ArenaBowl played there since ArenaBowl XIV in 2000 when the Orlando Predators defeated the Nashville Katz at the since-demolished Amway Arena.

Television

ArenaBowl XXVI was televised by CBS, as part of a two-year agreement between the league and the network to air weekly regular season games, as well as two postseason games, on CBS Sports Network.

ArenaBowl XVI

ArenaBowl XVI was played between the San Jose SaberCats and Arizona Rattlers in San Jose, California on August 18, 2002. A game with considerable expectations given the teams' intense rivalry and respective success that year, the SaberCats surprised everyone by posting the most dominant victory in ArenaBowl history, holding the Rattlers scoreless until the final period, and winning the game by the lopsided score of 52-14 to earn their first Arena Football League title in franchise history. Arizona's 14 points are the second-lowest in ArenaBowl history, just above the Chicago Bruisers' 13 points in ArenaBowl II. With the SaberCats' victory, Darren Arbet also became the first African-American head coach in pro-football to win a championship in North America.

Game summary

For much of the 2002 season, the San Jose SaberCats were entertaining the possibility of an undefeated year, which would have been and would still remain a first for the Arena Football League. The SaberCats' roster included superstars such as Bob McMillen, Omarr Smith, Mark Grieb, Barry Wagner, Sam Hernandez, and rookie sensation Clevan Thomas; of those, only Grieb is not currently enshrined in the Arena Football League Hall of Fame. They defeated their Western Division rivals, the Arizona Rattlers, 52-51 in the season opener, and continued their success en route to a 12-0 start. However, their rematch with the Rattlers in Phoenix on July 12 cost them not only their undefeated record, but also starting quarterback Mark Grieb, who suffered a season-ending broken collarbone in the SaberCats' 59-52 loss. Though it would prove to be San Jose's only loss of the season, it set the stage for what figured to be an extremely competitive ArenaBowl championship game.