Alternate History of the Arena Football League

The Arena Football League began in 1985. One of the people behind the AFL helped start the USFL and 5 teams from that league moved in: The Pittsburgh Maulers (Civic Arena), Denver Gold (McNichols Sports Arena), Portland Breakers (Memorial Coliseum), & Tampa Bay Bandits (Florida State Fairgrounds main arena).
 
In 1986 the infant league did something very foolish. It expanded, adding the San Antonio Tornadoes (Freeman Coliseum), New York Lazers (Nassau Coliseum), Seattle Lumberjacks (Seattle Center Arena), L.A. Lobos (LA Sports Arena), & Indiana Shine (Market Square Arena).

These were the divisions:
West Division: Portland Breakers, LA Lobos, Seattle Lumberjacks, Denver Gold
Central Division: Pittsburgh Maulers, Indiana Shine, Tampa Bay Bandits, San Antonio Tornadoes
The Lazers did not play.
 
The actual play began on November, 8, 1986. Quickly throughout the 1986-1987 season, the Denver Gold created a new standard of play. They won the West Division, and then creamed the Central Division champion the San Antonio Tornadoes.
 
2 new teams were announced for the 1987-1988 season: The Georgia Peaches (Georgia World Congress Center) & The New England Minutemen (Hartford Civic Center).
The divisions would now look like this
West Division: Portland Breakers, LA Lobos, Seattle Lumberjacks, Denver Gold
Central Division: Pittsburgh Maulers, Indiana Shine, San Antonio Tornadoes
Eastern Division: Georgia Peaches, New England Minutemen, Tampa Bay Bandits, New York Lazers
 
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