Earlier this week, Arena Football One was announced as a new league for arena football that spun off of the Arena Football League. The AFL shenanigans from 2024 are well chronicled, and this seems to be a fresh start for the team owners that went through hell and back this past season.
While they didn’t go with any of my league name recommendations smh, they landed on Arena Football One (stylized as AF1). It's got a 'Formula One' feel to it -- kinda elevated with a clean logo. It's a solid name and I get the vision..
BUT
from an SEO (search engine optimization) perspective, it’s an interesting choice.
Walk with me here.
When you Google IFL, you get the Indoor Football League.
When you Google NAL, you get the National Arena League.
When you Google AF1, you get Nike Air Force 1s.
Now, I understand they just announced the name — I’m not expecting them to be the number one search result on Day 1. But when the stylized initials for your new league name pits it against one of the most iconic and best selling sneakers of ALL TIME, you’re somewhat putting yourself in a hole from the jump.
I like the Arena Football One name, but when you are starting a new league like this, strictly from a branding perspective you'd think you would want to be able to stand out when people search for your name. Even when you search AF1 football, you get pages and pages of customize Air Force One football cleats.
But ultimately, the league doesn’t make it or break it based solely on the name. We saw that clear as day in 2024 with the AFL. The league’s success is determined by its leadership, the commitment of its teams and — most importantly — the product on the field.
I was very, very cautiously optimistic (like 5 out of 10) about how the AFL could learn from it's abysmal 2024 and grow from here, but the new league entity forming and its teams and leadership separating itself entirely from some of the mess and starting anew in 2025 makes me feel a litttttle better about it.
There's obviously a LOT of work ahead for the league and it seems like they are embracing the challenge and looking to put 2024 in the rear view. I'm a fan of arena football and really hope for a healthy indoor & arena football ecosystem. Here's to AF1 and seeing how things go for 2025. We'll be watching.
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