Pittsburgh Power
Encyclopedia
The Pittsburgh Power is an 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...

 team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

 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
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...

 of the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

. The team is part of the league's American Conference East Division.

Pittsburgh was the fourth city added for the 2011 AFL season
2011 Arena Football League season
The 2011 Arena Football League season was the twenty-fourth season in the history of the league. The regular season began on March 11, 2011 and ended on July 23, 2011...

, joining the San Jose SaberCats
San Jose SaberCats
The San Jose SaberCats are a professional arena football team in the Arena Football League. They began play as a 1995 expansion team. They played in the Western Division of the American Conference. Their final coach in the original Arena Football League was Darren Arbet, who will be a part of the...

, Kansas City Command and their new in-state rivals the 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...

 - who were all returning to the Arena Football League after a two year absence.

Pittsburgh's prior AFL history

Prior to the announcement of Pittsburgh's 2011 expansion team, the city was the home to the Pittsburgh Gladiators, one of the four original franchises of the first Arena Football League in 1987. The AFL's very first league game, (not counting the playtest games at the Rockford MetroCenter and the Rosemont Horizon), was played in the Pittsburgh Civic Arena between the Gladiators and Washington Commandos
Washington Commandos
The Washington Commandos were an Arena football team that operated from 1987 to 1990.-Inaugural season :The Washington Commandos were a charter member of the Arena Football League, playing in the initial four-team "demonstration season" of 1987....

. The Gladiators would go on to lose ArenaBowl I
ArenaBowl I
Arena Bowl '87 was the Arena Football League's very first Arena Bowl. In this match-up, it pitted the #2 Denver Dynamite against the #1 Pittsburgh Gladiators...

 to the Denver Dynamite
Denver Dynamite (arena football)
This article is about the former Arena Football League franchise. For the Professional Arena Soccer League soccer club, see Denver Dynamite ....

, 45–16, that season in a game played at the Civic Arena. Two years later, the team lost ArenaBowl III
ArenaBowl III
Arena Bowl '89 was the Arena Football League's third Arena Bowl. The game featured the #2 Pittsburgh Gladiators against the #1 Detroit Drive...

, held at Joe Louis Arena
Joe Louis Arena
Joe Louis Arena, nicknamed The Joe and JLA is a hockey arena located at 600 Civic Center Drive in Detroit, Michigan. It is the home of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. Completed in 1979 at a cost of $57 million, Joe Louis Arena is named after boxer and former heavyweight...

 to the Detroit Drive, by a score of 39–26.

The following season
1990 Arena Football League season
The 1990 Arena Football League season was the 4th season of the Arena Football League. The league champions were the Detroit Drive, who defeated the Dallas Texans in ArenaBowl IV.-Standings:* Green indicates clinched playoff berth...

 was the Gladiators' fourth and last in Pittsburgh after co-owner Bob Greis decided to move the franchise to Tampa
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....

, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. The team was renamed the Tampa Bay Storm
Tampa Bay Storm
The Tampa Bay Storm are an Arena Football League team based in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida. They play their home games in the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa....

. Greis, who had several business interests in Florida, sold the franchise a few years later. During the Storms' first year in Tampa
1991 Arena Football League season
The 1991 Arena Football League season was the 5th season of the Arena Football League. The league champions were the Tampa Bay Storm, who defeated the Detroit Drive in ArenaBowl V.-Standings:* Green indicates clinched playoff berth...

, the team defeated the Detroit Drive, 48–42, to win ArenaBowl V
ArenaBowl V
ArenaBowl '91 was the Arena Football League's fifth ArenaBowl. The game featured the #2 Tampa Bay Storm against the #1 Detroit Drive...

. The Storm remained in Tampa and reached the playoffs in each of their next 15 seasons, winning four more AFL titles.

In 2011, Jerry Kurz
Jerry Kurz
Jerry B. Kurz is one of the founding members of arena football, and part owner of Gridiron Enterprises. He currently serves as commissioner for the Arena Football League, and had previously been the league president for 10 seasons in the af2.-Formation of AF1:...

, the commissioner of the Arena Football League, stated to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, also known as "the Trib," is the second largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States...

that the Gladiators move to Tampa had nothing to do with the attendance for the games. He instead stated that the issues that prompted the team to relocate, had more to do with the lack of additional accoutrements at the Civic Arena, such as updated luxury suites.

2011 expansion

The current AFL policy is to give expansion teams in markets previously served by AFL teams the same name as their predecessor, since the league owns almost all rights to all team names in the league's history. However, because the unrelated Cleveland Gladiators already use the "Gladiators" name, that required the adoption of a new franchise name. Incidentally, the Power's logo is a thunderbolt, the same as a previous Cleveland AFL team, Cleveland Thunderbolts
Cleveland Thunderbolts
The Cleveland Thunderbolts were a professional American football team in the Arena Football League.-Columbus Thunderbolts:Established as the Columbus Thunderbolts and playing its home games at the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum, the team relocated to Cleveland after a winless single season in the Arena...

.

The team was originally rumored to be called The Pittsburgh River Wizards, according to sports blog Inside Pittsburgh Sports and by Pittsburgh-area radio host Mark Madden
Mark Madden
Mark Madden is an American radio sports talk-show host in Pittsburgh and also a former World Championship Wrestling color commentator. -Career:...

. The team name was changed to the Power before the official announcement by the team.

Franchise ownership

On August 20, 2010, Matt Shaner was revealed as the principal owner and general manager of the team. His father Lance, as well as former Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

 wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...

 Lynn Swann
Lynn Swann
-Collegiate:Swann attended the University of Southern California, where he was an All-American on the Trojans football team. He played under legendary coach John McKay, including the 1972 undefeated and national championship season. McKay said of Swann, "He has speed, soft hands, and grace." He...

, an NFL Hall-of-Famer
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...

 and Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 2006 gubernatorial nominee
Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 2006
The Pennsylvania gubernatorial election of 2006 was held on November 7, 2006, and included the races for the Governor of Pennsylvania and Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania.Incumbent Governor Ed Rendell, a Democrat, ran for re-election...

, will also be a part of the team's ownership group. Shaner's family owns the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center Hotel. Like Swann, Matt Shaner was once a political candidate. In 2008 he ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two year terms from single member districts....

. After the Colorado Crush
Colorado Crush
Colorado Crush were an Arena Football League team that began play as a 2003 expansion team. The Crush played in the Central Division of the American Conference until the Arena Football League suspended operations in 2009...

, Kansas City Command, and 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...

, the Power are the fourth team in Arena Football League history to have a former NFL player as part of its ownership group.

External links

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