Greensboro Prowlers

Arena Football 2 (2000-2003)

Tombstone

Born: 1999 – AF2 Founding Franchise
Folded: December 2003/January 2004

First Game: April 7, 2000 (L 18-7 @ Alabama Steeldogs)
Last Game: July 26, 2003 (W 67-65 @ Norfolk Nighthawks)

ArenaCup Championships: None

Arena

Greensboro Coliseum (10,602)¹
Opened: 1959

Marketing

Team Colors: Black, Red, Gold & Columbia Blue²

Dance Team: The Fever

Ownership

Owners: Art Donaldson & James Roscetti

Background

The Greensboro Prowlers were a misbegotten indoor football team that competed in the minor league Arena Football 2 (AF2) during the early 2000’s.

The Prowlers launched with a degree of promise in April 2000. Greensboro was one of 15 cities to take part in the debut season of AF2 that spring. Most of the clubs were clustered in the southeastern U.S. and all but three of the team were operated by minor league hockey team owners. The Prowlers were no exception. Local attorney Art Donaldson, who also owned the Greensboro Generals of the East Coast Hockey League, backstopped the Prowlers’ red ink. An announced crowd of 12,750 fans showed up for the Prowlers home debut, a 37-22 victory over the Roanoke Steam at the Greensboro Coliseum on April 16, 2000.

Things went south quickly from there. The Prowlers lost their next 11 games, including a grim 103-3 humiliation at the hands of the Quad City Steamwheelers at the Coliseum, en route to a 3-13 record.

Greensboro averaged a respectable 5,944 fans for eight home dates in 2000. But attendance cratered in the following seasons, hitting a low of 1,563 per game in 2002. The Prowlers managed their first winning campaign in 2003 (9-7) but attendance barely budged (1,750). Owner Art Donaldson gave up his investments in both the Prowlers and the ECHL’s Generals in 2003. The Prowlers dissolved around New Year’s 2004. The Generals left town several months later.