Major League Football (MLFB), a new offseason professional football league, announced Thursday it has selected Mobile as the fourth and final home city for its inaugural season that begins. Aug. 9. Mobile joins previously announced Canton, Ohio, Little Rock, Ark., and Virginia Beach, Va., as MLFB’s “Core Four” – cities selected, according to a league press release, as “four football-hungry cities that support MLFB’s vision of exciting football played within a sustainable business model.”
Mobile’s team will be known as the Alabama Airborne and its home games will be played at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Arkansas Attack home games will be played in historic War Memorial Stadium. Virginia Armada home games are set for the Virginia Beach Sportsplex while Ohio Force fans can cheer their team at the Canton Hall of Fame Bowl.
“Today I am delighted to announce Mobile as MLFB’s fourth host city,” said MLFB CEO Frank Murtha. “… These four unbelievably supportive markets provide not only a tremendous base for this season but also a solid foundation for Spring 2023 when we begin our quest to become America’s home for Spring Professional Football.
“While each community is unique, Mobile, Little Rock, Canton, and Virginia Beach all had what we felt were the essential ingredients for success – a tradition of supporting football, strong demographics, and suitable facilities. With the addition of Mobile to our league lineup, we genuinely believe we have found a core and are positioned for growth this season and beyond.”
Jerry Glanville, the former Atlanta Falcons and Houston Oilers head coach of Mobile’s team. All four teams will arrive in Mobile in July where the league will hold a training camp. Danny Corte, executive director of Mobile Sports Authority, said the camp and use of Ladd-Peebles Stadium should generate anywhere from $3 million to $4 million in economic impact to the city.
The Airborne’s first game will be Aug. 9 against Ohio, followed by an Aug. 16 home game against Arkansas.
Mobile will serve as the training site for all four teams. Players and coaches will arrive in town beginning July 9, with players set to take physicals. Training camps will begin on Monday, July 18, using both Ladd-Peebles Stadium and Archbishop Lipscomb Stadium (McGill-Toolen’s home field). The teams will be in Mobile for approximately three weeks, with each team starting with 70 players and trimming their rosters to 50 players before leaving to begin the season.
Bill Lyons, MLFB chief marketing officer, said the hope is to expand the league by at least two more teams, possible as many as four more teams, when the league is set to begin its spring season in April of 2023. That season will run through the middle of July. He said the league, which is a publicly-traded company, will not attempt top compete with the NFL. The purpose of the league, he noted, is to offer opportunities fort players, coaches, personnel people and trainers to be presented the opportunity to advance in professional football.
For further information, visit the league’s website at www.mlfb.com.
Rosters for each of the teams will be announced at a later date.
This page is available to our subscribers. Join us right now to get the latest local news from local reporters for local readers.
The best deal is found by clicking here. Click here right now to find out more. Check it out.
Already a member of the Lagniappe family? Sign in by clicking here
