The Cincinnati Swarm were a Arena Football 2 franchise that played a single season at the U.S. Bank Arena (AKA Riverfront Coliseum) during the summer of 2003. The Swarm were just another chapter in that building’s grim history with indoor football, following the Cincinnati Rockers (1991-1992) and preceding the Marshalls (2005-2006) and the Jungle Kats (2007).
The fourth time was not the charm for the Arena Football brand in Cincinnati. Celebrity ownership in the form of Cincinnati Reds slugger Ken Griffey Jr. and former All-Pro defensive lineman Sam Adams of the Cincinnati Bengals wasn’t enough to make the Cincinnati Jungle Kats succeed where the Rockers (1992-1993), the Swarm (2003) and the Marshals (2005-2006) failed before them. Like all three of their predecessors, the Jungle Kats played at U.S. Bank Arena (formerly the Riverfront Coliseum).
The Fresno Frenzy were a One-Year Wonder in the small market indoor football league known as Arena Football 2. The Frenzy were an expansion team during AF2’s third season of play in 2002. They joined the 34-franchise league’s West Division, which also included teams in Bakersfield, Hawaii and San Diego. The Frenzy went out of business after one last-place season at Selland Arena. Arena Football 2 returned to Selland Arena two years later in 2004 with a new franchise, the Central Valley Coyotes.
The Central Valley Coyotes were a Fresno-based indoor pro football team that played six seasons in Arena Football 2, the small-market developmental league of the original Arena Football League. The Coyotes, who played from 2004 through 2009, were the second AF2 franchise to try and make a go of it at Fresno’s Selland Arena. They followed on the heels of the ill-fated Frenzy, who closed up after only one summer of play in 2002.
Arena Football 2 (2001-2004) Born: 2000 – AF2 expansion franchise Ceased Operations: October 2004 Moved: Summer 2005 (Mississippi Headhunters) First Game: April 7, 2001 (L 43-20 vs.
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