Angel of the Winds Arena (Jake Goldstein-Street / The Herald)

Angel of the Winds Arena (Jake Goldstein-Street / The Herald)

Months away from games, Everett AFL team still needs arena, owners

The AFL’s commissioner said “we are going to make announcements on our time” amid questions of who owns the franchise.

EVERETT — More than three weeks after the relaunched Arena Football League reportedly awarded Everett with a franchise, the league remained tight-lipped on details of where the team will play or who the owners will be.

Last month, the revamped AFL announced the 16 cities and states hosting franchises on social media. TMZ and Sports Illustrated quickly reported the specific cities set to get teams, including Everett.

In Everett, the clock is ticking with games set to start in April, while the team needs to find somewhere to play with no ownership group publicly announced, let alone the team’s players.

Shortly after the announcement, Corey Margolis, general manager for Angel of the Winds Arena, said “the information that you’ve seen is what we know as well.”

Angel of the Winds is the only realistic option in the city to host an indoor football team with room for spectators.

Leadership for the arena, which is owned by the Everett Public Facilities District and managed by the Oak View Group, have since met with a “possible ownership group but no agreement is in place at this time,” Margolis said in an email Monday.

He noted “we remain open to discussions about bringing an AFL team to the Everett community.”

Michael Swanson, the president of the public facilities district, said Monday he hadn’t heard anything about the franchise playing at Angel of the Winds. But he noted he would only get an update if there was a “proposal to entertain” from arena management, like Margolis.

Lee Hutton, the league’s new commissioner and a former football player at the University of Minnesota, said there would be a team in Washington, but didn’t confirm Everett would be the site.

“We want to be working with arenas in Everett,” he said. “We want to work with the local community. We have several options in Everett and outside Everett,” but the league doesn’t “want to be held hostage by high prices.”

Hutton said there was a planned ownership group, but wouldn’t confirm who the owners would be. Margolis noted Tuesday “it appears there is interest from different groups but ultimately the league will need to award a franchise to someone.”

“We are going to make announcements on our time,” Hutton said.

The AFL announcement apparently caught many other cities by surprise.

Officials in Salem, Oregon, didn’t know about an AFL team coming to the city, the Statesman Journal reported.

Leaders in Bakersfield, California, similarly hadn’t heard about an AFL team coming to town until news reports surfaced, according to KGET.

And in Lake Charles, Louisiana, city officials had minimal conversations with the league before last month’s announcement. One official told a local TV station “it’s closer to not being true than being true at this time.”

Hutton said local media outlets who’ve reported on the planning as flimsy would have “egg on their face come April 2024.”

The AFL has had a tortured history. In 2009, amid reports it owed about $14 million to creditors, the league folded after 22 seasons. And a decade later, after the league had relaunched, it had to file for bankruptcy and again cease operations.

On its website, the AFL says it has a “strong and supported plan to be here for another 30+ years.”

“We plan on doing things much different than other leagues in the past,” Hutton said.

Other cities reportedly receiving a new franchise were Austin, Texas; Boise, Idaho; Bakersfield; Chicago; Cincinnati; Denver; Lake Charles; Nashville, Tennessee; Odessa, Texas; Orlando, Florida; Philadelphia; Salem; St. Paul, Minnesota; San Antonio; and Tallahassee, Florida.

Everett has twice hosted an indoor football franchise. After just a few years in the AFL’s development league, the Everett Hawks folded in 2007. The Everett Destroyers were proposed for the inaugural season of the Indoor Football League in 2009, but the team never played. And the Everett Raptors played just one season in 2012.

From 2010 through 2013, the downtown arena, then known as Comcast Arena, played host to the Washington Stealth in the National Lacrosse League. The team won the league championship in 2010, but moved to British Columbia in 2013.

Meanwhile in the hockey world, the Everett Silvertips last week extended their lease with the arena five more years, as the franchise enters its 21st season.

Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Customers enter and exit the Costco on Dec. 2, 2022, in Lake Stevens. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Costco stores could be impacted by looming truck driver strike threat

Truck drivers who deliver groceries and produce to Costco warehouses… Continue reading

Two Washington State ferries pass along the route between Mukilteo and Clinton as scuba divers swim near the shore Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ferry system increases ridership by a half million in 2024

Edmonds-Kingston route remains second-busiest route in the system.

A view of a homes in Edmonds, Washington on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Snohomish County to mail property tax statements this month

First half payments are due on April 30.

Ticket and ORCA card kiosks at the Lynnwood Light Rail station on Thursday, April 4, 2024 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Beginning March 1, Community Transit to reduce some fares

Riders eligible for reduced fares will pay $1 for a single ORCA card tap and $36 for a monthly pass.

The amphitheater at Deception Pass during the 2021 concert series. (Photo provided by Deception Pass Park Foundation Facebook page.)
Deception Pass Foundation seeks Adopt-A-Trail volunteers

If you’re looking for a way to get outside and… Continue reading

Robin Cain with 50 of her marathon medals hanging on a display board she made with her father on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Running a marathon is hard. She ran one in every state.

Robin Cain, of Lake Stevens, is one of only a few thousand people to ever achieve the feat.

People line up to grab food at the Everett Recovery Cafe on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Coffee, meals and compassion are free at the Everett Recovery Cafe

The free, membership-based day center offers free coffee and meals and more importantly, camaraderie and recovery support.

Devani Padron, left, Daisy Ramos perform during dance class at Mari's Place Monday afternoon in Everett on July 13, 2016. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)
Mari’s Place helps children build confidence and design a better future

The Everett-based nonprofit offers free and low-cost classes in art, music, theater and dance for children ages 5 to 14.

The Everett Wastewater Treatment Plant along the Snohomish River on Thursday, June 16, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett water, sewer rates could jump 43% by 2028

The rate hikes would pay for improvements to the city’s sewer infrastructure.

The bond funded new track and field at Northshore Middle School on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024 in Bothell, Washington. (Courtesy of Northshore School District)
Northshore School District bond improvements underway

The $425 million bond is funding new track and field complexes, playgrounds and phase one of two school replacements.

A pedestrian is struck and killed by vehicle Wednesday in Everett

The pedestrian was a man in his 60s. The collision happened at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Want coffee? Drink some with the Marysville mayor.

A casual question-and-answer session between mayor and constituents is planned for March 24.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.