AFL announces Week 10 cancelations, Upcoming playoff matchups

By Jackson Schneider June 26, 2024

Ahead of Saturday night’s originally scheduled Salina Liberty season finale against the Billings Outlaws, the Arena Football League announced changes to the end of season schedule, along with the playoff matchups and schedule.

The move brings a bit of surprise to AFL fans across the country, as several of the Week 10 matchups had playoff implications, including seeding, and potential first round byes up for grabs.

This becomes just the latest speed bump in a tumultuous first season in this iteration of the Arena Football League.

The Liberty released a statement on the AFL’s decision to cancel the final game of the regular season, in which Salina could have potentially reached a top two seed to secure a first round bye with a win over Billings.

“The Ownership and Front Office of the Salina Liberty received a call from the league office late Tuesday evening. It was communicated to us that the AFL has made a decision to cancel all of the regular season games this weekend. We were adamantly against this decision and stated the importance of finishing our home regular season schedule with Billings. We have been preparing all week for the June 29th game with Billings and were looking forward to the challenge to take on the top team in the league standings and potentially finish the regular season as the #1 seed. Despite our stance the league has made their decision and we must accept it.”

Clearly the league, and its members have been put in a difficult spot, forcing some interesting decisions. Decisions that that penalize the few teams left standing in the league that began the year with 16 members.

The Liberty unfortunately seem to receive the short end of the stick this time around, losing out on not only the chance at a win to clinch a playoff bye, but also its final home game on the schedule and the potential revenue that would have come with it. Regardless, the Liberty and their ownership group and front office seem to be handling the situation just as gracefully as it has the previous trials of this season.

“With all of the challenges that have been thrown to the Salina Liberty franchise, we have found ways to persevere this year. Salina Liberty has lived up to every commitment we have made to the league and our players in 2024! We accepted our responsibilities to deliver even when the league did not follow through on their commitments early on and as we’ve previously stated, we are addressing these issues off social media and through the legal process.”

“We are much more optimistic in the new AFL Ownership & Management Team looking to the future. However, the mess of the previous regime has put teams in has created some very difficult financial constraints. We are no different; however, we took on the financial issues as an Ownership Group as our obligation to our players, staff, sponsors & fans.”

The full statement made by the Salina Liberty can be seen in the post on social media below.

 

 

The full release from the AFL offices can be read below, including the six-team playoff format and schedule.

 

ARENA FOOTBALL LEAGUE ANNOUNCES 2024 PLAYOFF MATCHUPS AND SCHEDULE

The Arena Football League is thrilled to announce that matchups, dates, and kick-off times for the 2024 Playoffs, culminating in ArenaBowl XXXIII, have been set.

Over the next month, fans can look forward to thrilling games as our top teams compete for a championship title. By far, this is the most exciting time of the year as teams have worked tirelessly all season to earn their spot in postseason play. The Road to ArenaBowl XXXIII will be jam-packed with entertaining matchups between the top teams from the 2024 AFL season.

To ensure the best possible experience for our teams and fans, the League has scheduled a bye for all playoff teams this week. This break provides the League and member teams an opportunity to execute an extraordinary and memorable playoff and championship experience. Exciting announcements are scheduled for this week! Be sure to stay connected via the League website.

Wichita will travel to Washington to play their scheduled Week 10 matchup to close out an exciting first year in the AFL for both teams.

Commissioner Jeff Fisher said, “facing adversity, overcoming challenges, and reorganizing the league with one goal in mind, the playoffs. Congratulations to the entire ownership group, whose collaborative efforts made this possible.”

Fisher continued, “I’m looking forward to and honored to be a part of an extremely competitive and exciting playoff format. I sincerely appreciate the patience of out players, staff, and fan base as we are able to provide a glimpse of what the future holds.”

First-round playoff action will begin on Friday, July 5th, when the Orlando Predators host the Nashville Kats at the Kia Center. The second game of the weekend, on July 6th, will feature the Southwest Kansas Storm at the Salina Liberty at Tony’s Pizza Events Center.

The entire 2024 AFL Playoffs will be presented with a soon-to-be-announced broadcast partner.

 

PLAYOFFS – ROUND 1

Friday, July 5th (7 PM ET) – Nashville at Orlando

Saturday, July 6th (4 PM ET) – Southwest Kansas at Salina

PLAYOFFS – ROUND 2

Saturday, July 13th (2:30 PM ET) – Albany hosting one semifinal

Saturday, July 13th (10 PM ET) – Billings hosting one semifinal

ARENABOWL XXXIII 

Friday, July 19th (5:30 PM ET) – Winners of semifinal matchups

 

The League appreciates all of our incredible fans for their support and dedication. We look forward to welcoming you to a playoff games across the country and sharing this exciting championship journey together.

Visit our official website (www.theafl.com) for the latest news and updates from the Arena Football League.

— Arena Football League Commissioner Jeff Fisher —