This pro football league is returning in 2024. Boise will be home to one of 16 teams

Boise is about to get a professional football team.

The Arena Football League is making its long-awaited return next year after declaring its second bankruptcy after the 2019 season, and the league announced via its official Twitter account that Boise is one of 16 cities that will host a team.

Arena Football was founded in 1986 and gained a niche following for its style, which was fast-paced and featured 8-on-8 play. It struggled to gain a real foothold, though, and filed its first bankruptcy in 2009 after losing some franchises. Further contraction followed, and there were only four teams when operations were shut down in 2019.

But amid a slew of other football leagues trying to gain the attention of the American sports public — such as the XFL and USFL — the AFL announced its grand return on Tuesday.

No further details about Boise’s new team have been disclosed, such as the name, where it will play or the ownership group. It will become Boise’s third professional sports team, alongside baseball’s Boise Hawks and hockey’s Idaho Steelheads.

Boise has had indoor pro football before. The Boise Burn played in af2 — an offshoot of the original Arena Football League — at what is now Idaho Central Arena for three seasons, from 2007 to 2009.

The Idaho Horsemen, a semi-pro team that plays home games at Nampa’s Idaho Center as part of the American West Football Conference, just won their second league championship in early July. They have a 35-10 record in four seasons of play.

As for AFL teams in this part of the country, the Utah Blaze operated out of Salt Lake City from 2006 to 2013 before being removed from the league for not submitting proper paperwork.

The following sites were announced to be part of the AFL’s return in 2024:

• Boise

• Austin

• Chicago

• Louisiana (Lake Charles)

• California

• Colorado (Denver)

• Ohio (Cincinnati)

• Orlando

• Oregon (Salem)

• St. Louis

• Minnesota (St. Paul)

• Tallahassee

• Washington (Everett)

• West Texas (Odessa)

• Philadelphia

• Tennessee (Nashville)