The Eastern Division is one of the four divisions of the American Arena Football League

Arena Football League

The Arena Football League is the highest level of professional indoor American football in the United States. It is currently the second longest running professional football league in the United States, after the National Football League. It was founded in 1987 by Jim Foster...

. It is currently one of two divisions in the "American Conference". It was first formed in 1995 as part of the National Conference when expansion brought up the current divisions.

Division lineups

1995 and 1996

• Albany Firebirds
  Indiana Firebirds
  The Indiana Firebirds were a team in the Arena Football League.The team was based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Home games were played at the Conseco Fieldhouse, also the home of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association and Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball...
  
  
• Charlotte Rage
  Charlotte Rage
  The Charlotte Rage was a team in the Arena Football League.-History:They competed in the 1992-1996 seasons. They played their home games at the Charlotte Coliseum, then also home of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association....
  
  
• Connecticut Coyotes
  Connecticut Coyotes
  The Connecticut Coyotes were a franchise in the Arena Football League.-History:They competed in the 1995 and 1996 AFL seasons. They played their home games at the Hartford Civic Center....
  
  

Creation of the Eastern Division as part of National Conference. Albany moved in from American Conference. Connecticut Coyotes enfranchised.

1997

• Albany Firebirds
• Nashville Kats
  Nashville Kats
  The Nashville Kats were an Arena Football League team, located in Nashville, Tennessee. They were last coached by Pat Sperduto, who coached the team's original incarnation to two ArenaBowl appearances prior to the original franchise's move to Atlanta in 2002...
  
  
• New Jersey Red Dogs
• New York Cityhawks
  Toronto Phantoms
  The Toronto Phantoms was the final name of a team in the Arena Football League, that also operated in New York City and Hartford, Connecticut.-New York CityHawks :The team began in 1997 as the New York CityHawks...
  
  

Charlotte and Connecticut folded. Nashville, New Jersey, and New York are enfranchised.

1998

• Albany Firebirds
• New Jersey Red Dogs
• New York Cityhawks

Nashville moved to National Conference's Southern Division.

1999 and 2000

• Albany Firebirds
• Buffalo Destroyers
  Columbus Destroyers
  The Columbus Destroyers were an Arena Football League team based in Columbus, Ohio. The team was founded in as the Buffalo Destroyers, based in Buffalo, New York, and relocated to Columbus in . They folded along with the original incarnation of the AFL following the 2008 season, after a total of...
  
  
• New England Sea Wolves
• New Jersey Red Dogs

Buffalo Destroyers enfranchised. New York moved to Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

 as New England Sea Wolves.

2001

• Buffalo Destroyers
• Carolina Cobras
  Carolina Cobras
  Not to be confused with the Los Angeles Cobras, who played in the 1988 AFL season.The Carolina Cobras were an expansion franchise in the Arena Football League...
  
  
• New Jersey Gladiators
• New York Dragons
  New York Dragons
  The New York Dragons were an Arena Football League team based in the New York metropolitan area. The team was founded in as the original incarnation of the Iowa Barnstormers, and relocated to New York in . They played in New York until 2008, when the league folded...
  
  
• Toronto Phantoms
  Toronto Phantoms
  The Toronto Phantoms was the final name of a team in the Arena Football League, that also operated in New York City and Hartford, Connecticut.-New York CityHawks :The team began in 1997 as the New York CityHawks...
  
  

As Indiana Firebirds, Albany moved to Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

 as part of the American Conference's Central Division. Carolina moved in from Southern Division. Iowa Barnstormers moved to Uniondale, New York

Uniondale, New York

Uniondale is a hamlet as well as a suburb of New York City in Nassau County, New York, United States, on Long Island, in the Town of Hempstead. The population was 24,759 at the 2010 United States Census.-Geography:...

 as New York Dragons. New England moved to Toronto as the Phantoms. New Jersey Red Dogs renamed the Gladiators.

2002

• Buffalo Destroyers
• New Jersey Gladiators
• New York Dragons
• Toronto Phantoms

Carolina moved back to Southern Division.

2003

• Buffalo Destroyers
• Detroit Fury
  Detroit Fury
  The Detroit Fury were an Arena Football League team. The team began play in 2001 and was based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at The Palace of Auburn Hills, also the home of the NBA's Detroit Pistons. The team was co-owned by William Davidson, who owned the Pistons, along with...
  
  
• Las Vegas Gladiators
• New York Dragons

Detroit moved in from Central Division. New Jersey moved to Las Vegas. Toronto Phantoms folded.

2004

• Carolina Cobras
• Columbus Destroyers
  Columbus Destroyers
  The Columbus Destroyers were an Arena Football League team based in Columbus, Ohio. The team was founded in as the Buffalo Destroyers, based in Buffalo, New York, and relocated to Columbus in . They folded along with the original incarnation of the AFL following the 2008 season, after a total of...
  
  
• Dallas Desperados
  Dallas Desperados
  The Dallas Desperados were a professional Arena Football team. The Desperados played in the Southern Division of the now-defunct Arena Football League from 2002 to 2008....
  
  
• New York Dragons
• Philadelphia Soul
  Philadelphia Soul
  The Philadelphia Soul are an Arena Football League team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They began play in as an expansion team. The team plays in the Eastern Division of the American Conference. They won their first ArenaBowl in 2008, defeating the San Jose SaberCats 59–56 in ArenaBowl XXII...
  
  

Buffalo moved to Columbus, Ohio

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

. Dallas moved in from Central Division. Detroit moved back to Central Division as well. Las Vegas moved to American Conference's Western Division. Philadelphia Soul enfranchised.

2005-2007

• Columbus Destroyers
• Dallas Desperados
• New York Dragons
• Philadelphia Soul

Carolina Cobras folded.

2008

• Cleveland Gladiators
• Columbus Destroyers
• Dallas Desperados
• New York Dragons
• Philadelphia Soul

Las Vegas moved back from Western Division as Cleveland Gladiators. After the 2008 season, Columbus, Dallas, and New York folded while Philadelphia is suspended and the AFL is put on a one-year hiatus. Also, the Cleveland Gladiators joined the Central Division (now part of the National Conference) for the 2010 season when that division was known as the Midwest Division.

2010

• Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings
  Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings
  The Bossier Shreveport Battle Wings were an Arena Football League team based in Bossier City, Louisiana. They played at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City and represented both Bossier City and Shreveport...
  
  
• Dallas Vigilantes
  Dallas Vigilantes
  The Dallas Vigilantes were an Arena Football League team based in Dallas, Texas. Like its AFL predecessor, the Dallas Desperados, the Vigilantes played at the American Airlines Center. The Vigilantes and the Jacksonville Sharks began play in the 2010 season, the first after the league's...
  
  
• Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz
  Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz
  The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz was a member of the new Arena Football League. The team began play as a 2004 expansion team of the original Arena Football League's now-defunct minor league af2...
  
  
• Tulsa Talons
  Tulsa Talons
  The San Antonio Talons are a professional arena football franchise in San Antonio, Texas that plays in the Arena Football League.The Talons began in 2000 in Tulsa, Oklahoma as the Tulsa Talons, a charter member of the defunct minor league Arena Football 2, also known as af2...
  
  

The Eastern Division moved to the American Conference as Southwest Division for this season. Dallas Vigilantes enfranchised while the other three teams come from the defunct af2

Af2

AF2 was the name of the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup...

.

2011

• Cleveland Gladiators
• Milwaukee Mustangs
  Milwaukee Mustangs
  The Milwaukee Mustangs were an Arena Football League team. They played from 1994 to 2001 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin's Bradley Center.-History:The team was founded in 1994 amidst rumors that the Green Bay Packers would soon stop playing games in Milwaukee, something they'd been doing since 1936...
  
  
• Philadelphia Soul
• Pittsburgh Power
  Pittsburgh Power
  The Pittsburgh Power is an Arena Football League team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that began play in March of 2011. The team plays its home games at the new Consol Energy Center, which they share with the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League...
  
  

The Southwest Division changed its name back to Eastern Division. Bossier-Shreveport moved to New Orleans as the VooDoo

New Orleans VooDoo

The New Orleans VooDoo are an Arena Football League team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They play their home games in New Orleans Arena....

. Cleveland Gladiators and Milwaukee Iron (renamed Mustangs) moved in from the Central Division (known as Midwest in 2010). Dallas and Tulsa moved to Central Division. Oklahoma City folded. Philadelphia Soul returned. Pittsburgh Power enfranchised.

Division Champions

• 1995: Albany Firebirds (7-5)
• 1996: Albany Firebirds (10-4)
• 1997: Nashville Kats (10-4)
• 1998: Albany Firebirds (10-4)
• 1999: Albany Firebirds (11-3)
• 2000: Albany Firebirdss (9-5)
• 2001: New York Dragons (8-6)
• 2002: New Jersey Gladiators (9-5)
• 2003: New York Dragons (8-8)
• 2004: New York Dragons (9-7)†
• 2005: New York Dragons (10-6)
• 2006: Dallas Desperados (13-3)
• 2007: Dallas Desperados (15-1)
• 2008: Philadelphia Soul (13-3)
• 2010 (as Southwest Division): Tulsa Talons (10-6)

†Despite winning their division in 2004, the New York Dragons failed to qualify for the playoffs.