Arena Football League to close season in shopping mall

The Arena Football League season is over. Not with the remaining teams disbanding. With a championship game. Played in a mall.

It’s fitting, we think, that a few relics from the ’80s and ’90s find a way to come together. Either way, it was shocking to see images of a football match played at a location other than an arena.

At the American Dream Mall in New Jersey, the Billings Outlaws defeated the Albany Firebirds 46-41 to capture their 33rd AFL championship.

The season ended with eight teams. It started with maybe twice that many. They started disappearing the moment the season started. Eventually, former NFL coach Jeff Fisher became interim commissioner and helped hold it all together.

The bigger question is whether there will be another season. Fisher suggested in comments on the league’s website that there will be.

“This game had all the hallmarks of a true championship game: hard action, fast play, high scoring and incredible passion,” Fisher said of the title game. “This is the level of competition we expect in the AFL every game as we head into the next season.”

Perhaps the most encouraging development is the fact that the AFL has found a TV partner for the finals; the game will be televised by CBS Sports Network. When the season started, a deal with NFL Network imploded. As the league was about to make it to the finish line. It’s amazing that they made it to the finish line.

But not as surprising as the finish line that is just a stone’s throw away from the finish line.