Arena Football League (2011-2012)
Tombstone
Born: January 27, 2011 – Re-branded from Milwaukee Iron
Folded: October 11, 2012
First Game: March 14, 2011 (L 49-41 vs. Chicago Rush)
Last Game: July 22, 2012 (L 49-39 @ Orlando Predators)
Arena Football League Championships: None
Arena
The Bradley Center (15,000)12011 Arizona Rattlers Media Guide
Opened: 1988
Demolished: 2019
Marketing
Team Colors: Orange, Black & Chrome22011 Arizona Rattlers Media Guide
Ownership
Owners: Chris Rebholz, Todd Hansen & Dave Bahl
Attendance
Milwaukee Mustangs attendance ranked dead last in the 18-team Arena Football League during their debut season of 2011.
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Source: ArenaFan.com Attendance Charts3“AFL Arena Football History – Year by Year – 2011,” AFL Arena Football History – Year By Year – 2011 | ArenaFan.com, accessed February 15, 2023, http://www.arenafan.com/history/?page=yearly&histleague=1&fpage=attendance&year=2011.
Background
The Milwaukee Mustangs of 2011-2012 were an unsuccessful brand revival of Milwaukee’s popular Arena Football League franchise of the 1990’s. The original Mustangs often drew capacity crowds to the Bradley Center in the mid-1990’s before building lease problems doomed the team in 2001.
The “new” Mustangs started play in 2009 as the Milwaukee Iron in AF2, a lower-budget version of Arena Football played primarily in minor league markets. That same year, the original major-market AFL filed for bankruptcy and went out of business. A new investment group led by the poorer AF2 owners purchased the AFL intellectual property rights from the bankruptcy court and re-organized the Arena Football League in 2010. AF2 went out of business in the process. The Iron joined the new AFL as a founding member in 2010. The franchise re-claimed the old “Mustangs” name prior to the AFL’s second season in 2010.
The re-branding failed to re-ignite the team’s fortunes. The Mustangs announced 2011 attendance average of 3,953 for 9 dates at the Bradley Center was the worst figure in the 18-team Arena Football League. After a grim 5-13 season in 2012, the club effectively went out of business that October. The league tried to save face by spinning the Mustangs’ departure as an indefinite leave of absence. But in reality indoor football was dead in Milwaukee.
The Mustangs’ league membership was transferred to Oregon trucking magnate Terry Emmert in the fall of 2013. The former Mustangs franchise became the Portland Thunder for the 2014 season.
Links
Arena Football League Media Guides
Arena Football League Programs
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