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AFL Owners To Vote Again Today

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By ADAM ADKINS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 14, 2008

TAMPA - The fate of the 2009 Arena Football League season could be decided today.

According to Storm coach and general manager Tim Marcum, it's now a numbers game on whether the AFL will play in 2009. And a decision could come today as to whether the season will be played.

Marcum said the league's board of directors will hold another vote today to determine whether the league should suspend operations for the season or continue on and play. The board voted on the issue Wednesday and decided not to suspend the season at that time.

Marcum said there are five teams pushing to play this year - Tampa Bay, Orlando, Arizona, San Jose and New York. The other teams have decided to suspend operations for the season, a move spearheaded by Columbus, Dallas and Philadelphia, Marcum said.

What's keeping hope alive is that the league can't be shut down without a three-quarters vote of approval from the league's board of directors, Marcum said. There are 17 voters on the board, Marcum said, with each of the 16 teams getting one vote and one going to Gridiron Enterprises, which holds the patent for the league.

As long as none of the five teams pushing to play sways from its current mind-set, the league could move forward this season, though it likely will be with a severely reduced number of teams. But, Marcum said, the most important thing is that the AFL continues.

"The USFL took a year off in 1986," Marcum said. "The last I looked, I haven't seen many USFL games since then.

"It may be a small league next year, but that's fine. If you don't want to play, step aside and we'll go forward. We don't want this league to die."

Reporter Adam Adkins can be reached at (813) 259-7616.

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