Manchester Wolves

Arena Football 2 (2004-2009)

Tombstone

Born: October 29, 2003 – The Mohegan Wolves relocate to Manchester, NH
Folded: October 30, 2009

First Game: April 3, 2004 (L 71-32 @ Quad City Steamwheelers)
Last Game: July 31, 2009 (L 70-53 @ Iowa Barnstormers)

ArenaCup Championships: None

Arena

Verizon Wireless Arena (9,500)¹
Opened: 2001

Marketing

Team Colors:

Dance Team: The Lady Wolf Pack

Mascot: Blitz (the Wolf)

Ownership

Owners: Steve Schubert, et al.

Background

The Manchester Wolves were an Arena Football franchise based in New Hampshire’s largest city during the 2000’s. The team competed in Arena Football 2 (AF2), a small-market brand extension of the bigger budget Arena Football League (AFL) at the time. The franchise began played at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut in 2002 as the Mohegan Wolves. After two seasons in Connecticut the team moved to Manchester in late 2003.

Manchester was a bit of a mixed bag as a destination for an AF2 team at the time. In a small-budget league where regional competition was an essential component of controlling expenses, Manchester would be the only New England franchise. The team’s nearest rival was in Albany, New York. In fact, this situation never changed. From 2003 until AF2 closed its doors in 2009, the Mohegan/Manchester franchise would remain alone in New England. The top flight Arena Football League also lacked any New England teams during this era.

On the plus side, Manchester’s $68 million downtown Verizon Wireless Arena, opened in 2001, was a roaring success. The city’s Manchester Monarchs were one of the most popular minor league hockey teams in North America at the time, averaging 9,141 fans per game during the 2003-04 season, just as the Wolves were preparing for the New Hampshire debut in April of 2004.

In Competition

After a rocky 2004 debut season that saw the Wolves finish last in their division with a 5-11 record, the team found its form as a consistently strong club. Manchester would qualify for the Arena Cup playoffs in each of their final five seasons, never finishing worse than 2nd place in their division.

The Wolves’ deepest run in the Arena Cup playoffs came in 2008. After early round victories over the South Georgia Wildcats and the Green Bay Blizzard, the Wolves advanced into the American Conference Championship Game (playoff semi-final) against the Tennessee Valley Vipers in Huntsville, Alabama. The Vipers eliminated the Wolves 45-35.

Extinction

The sport of Arena Football ran into severe headwinds during the offseason of 2008-09. The top flight Arena Football League cancelled its 2009 season amidst a labor dispute and failed acquisition by a private equity firm. Meanwhile the Great Recession brought the national economy to the brink of collapse. While AF2 forged ahead with its own 2009 season, the Arena Football League declared bankruptcy and folded in August 2009 just as AF2 opened its playoffs.

Arena Football 2 dissolved in September of 2009. A group of former AF2 owners re-organized to purchase the intellectual property of the bankrupt Arena Football League from the bankruptcy court and re-launch a lower-budget version of the Arena Football League in 2010. The Wolves declined to participate in the new league, citing their geographic isolation from the other proposed franchises. The Tennessee Valley Vipers in Alabama would have been the Wolves closest rivals, requiring plane travel, often with multiple connections, to all road games.

The Manchester Wolves went out of business in October 2009.

Trivia

Wolves owner Steve Schubert played wide receiver in the NFL for six seasons with the New England Patriots (1974) and Chicago Bears (1975-1979).