Arena Football League (1992-1996)
Tombstone
Born: October 10, 1991 – Arena Football expansion franchise11992 Arena Football League Media Guide
Folded: 1996
First Game: May 30, 1992 (W 43-23 vs. New Orleans Night)
Final Game: July 27, 1996 (L 50-43 vs. Milwaukee Mustangs)
Arena Bowl Championships: None
Arenas
1992-1994 & 1996: Charlotte Coliseum (21,864)21992 Arena Football League Media Guide
Opened: 1988
Demolished: 2007
1995: Independence Arena (10,035)31995 Arena Football League Record & Fact Book
Opened: 1955
Marketing
Team Colors: Red, Teal & White41995 Arena Football League Record & Fact Book
Mascot: Boomer (the Bull)
Radio:
- 1994 – 1995: WRFX (610 AM)
Radio Broadcasters:
- 1995: Sam Smith
Ownership
Owners: Allen J. Schwalb, Joanne Faruggia & Cliff Stoudt
Background
This early Arena Football franchise played five seasons in North Carolina, splitting dates between the massive, NBA-scale Charlotte Coliseum and the smaller Independence Arena. The franchise was owned by motion picture financier Allen J. Schwalb, who backed some of the biggest blockbusters of the 1980’s, including Rambo, Rain Main, Moonstruck and Thelma & Louise.
Joe DeLamielleure
During the Charlotte Rage’s first season in 1992, the team signed Joe DeLamielleure, a perennial All-Pro offensive lineman for the Buffalo Bills during the late 1970’s. 41 years old at the time, DeLamielleure was seven years removed from his last NFL game in 1985. He played in a handful of games for Charlotte in 1992 before retiring for good. Until Kurt Warner’s 2017 induction, DeLamielleure was the only member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to play Arena Football.
Decline & Closure
After a promising start in 1992 (13,248 average attendance for five dates), attendance plummeted to below 7,500 per game in 1993. At some point, Schwalb’s relations with AFL Commissioner Jim Drucker and his fellow owners appeared to sour. In July 1996, the Charlotte Business Journal reported that league officials were pressuring Schwalb to sell the franchise. Schwalb had discussions with groups in Salt Lake City and Long Island, but ultimately folded the team in late 1996, taking an $850,000 payout from the league to turn in the franchise.
Schwalb would later file a $200 million Sherman anti-trust lawsuit against the league. The former Rage owner asserted that the league unlawfully scuttled his efforts to sell and relocate the franchise and coerced him to sell the team back to the league for a below market price. The suit seems to have been resolved in the early 2000’s, but it’s not clear what the resolution was.
Arena Football replaced the Charlotte Rage in the North Carolina market with the Raleigh-based Carolina Cobras in 2000. The Cobras would later move to Charlotte in 2003 before going out of business in late 2004.
Charlotte Rage Shop
Charlotte Rage Video
The Rage host the Massachusetts Marauders at Charlotte Coliseum. August 5th, 1994 ESPN2 broadcast.
In Memoriam
Former Charlotte Rage owner Allen Schwalb passed away on July 14, 2014 at age 76. Variety obituary.
Downloads
7-29-1994 Rage vs. Miami Hooters Roster
7-29-1994 Charlotte Rage vs. Miami Hooters Roster
Links
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