2005 AFL Season
Late in the 2004 Arena Football League season, the AFL and NBC agreed on a 2 year media rights extension through 2006, in which NBC would continue to televise its weekly slate of regional AFL games.
As for team changes, the Carolina Cobras, Detroit Fury, and Indiana Firebirds all folded, while the second incarnation of the Nashville Kats entered the league, leaving the league at the following 16 team lineup for its 2005 season:
Dallas Desperados
Grand Rapids Rampage
Chicago Rush
San Jose SaberCats
Los Angeles Avengers
Arizona Rattlers
Colorado Crush
New York Dragons
Las Vegas Gladiators
Columbus Destroyers
Tampa Bay Storm
Orlando Predators
Georgia Force
New Orleans VooDoo
Austin Wranglers
Philadelphia Soul
Nashville Kats
In addition, after the New York Dragons had missed the playoffs in 2004 despite winning its division, the AFL changed its rules to guarantee that a team which won its division would gain an automatic spot into the playoffs.
Regular Season
WEEK 1, 2005
Sunday 1-30:
Soul-Wranglers, NBC, 12:00 (regional). Bill Weber, Mike Pawlawski, Roger Wallace
Crush-Predators, NBC, 12:00 (regional). Bob Papa, Ray Bentley, Marty Snider
Rush-Desperados, NBC, 3:00 (regional). Tom Hammond, Pat Haden, Lewis Johnson
Avengers-Gladiators, NBC, 3:00 (regional). Eli Gold, Charles Arbuckle, Mitch Roberts
SaberCats-Storm, NBC, 3:00 (regional). Allen Bestwick, Charles Davis, J.P Peterson
WEEK 2, 2005
Sunday 2-6:
Soul-Rush, NBC, 1:00 (regional). Tom Hammond, Pat Haden, Lewis Johnson
Desperatos-Dragons, NBC, 1:00 (regional). Bob Papa, Ray Bentley, Otis Livingston
WEEK 3, 2005
Sunday 2-13:
Destroyers-Desperados, NBC, 3:00 (regional). Bill Weber, Mike Pawlawski, Newy Scruggs
Rush-Crush, NBC, 3:00 (regional). Tom Hammond, Pat Haden, Lewis Johnson
Kats-Soul, NBC, 3:00 (regional). Bob Papa, Ray Bentley, Vai Sikahema
SaberCats-VooDoo, NBC, 3:00 (regional). Allen Bestwick, Charles Davis, Rich Lenz
WEEK 4, 2005
Sunday 2-20:
Rush-VooDoo, NBC, 12:00 (regional). Tom Hammond, Pat Haden, Lewis Johnson
SaberCats-Avengers, NBC, 6:00 (west coast). Bob Papa, Ray Bentley, Fred Roggin
WEEK 5, 2005
Sunday 2-27:
Desperados-Soul, NBC, 3:00 (regional). Tom Hammond, Pat Haden, Lewis Johnson
Rattlers-Dragons, NBC, 3:00 (regional). Allen Bestwick, Charles Davis, Otis Livingston
Avengers-Crush, NBC, 3:00 (regional). Bob Papa, Ray Bentley, Ryan Chiaverini
WEEK 6, 2005
Sunday 3-6:
Dragons-Soul, NBC, 12:00 (regional). Tom Hammond, Pat Haden, Lewis Johnson
SaberCats-Predators, NBC, 12:00 (regional). Bob Papa, Mike Pawlawski, Pat Clarke
WEEK 7, 2005
Sunday 3-13:
Rattlers-Storm, 12:00 (regional). Tom Hammond, Ray Bentley, Lewis Johnson
Rush-Rampage, 12:00 (regional). Bob Papa, Charles Davis, Jack Doles
WEEK 8, 2005
Sunday 3-20:
VooDoo-Rush, NBC, 12:00 (regional). Tom Hammond, Ray Bentley, Lewis Johnson
Storm-Soul, 12:00 (regional). Bob Papa, Mike Pawlawski, Vai Sikahema
WEEK 10, 2005
Sunday 4-3:
Avengers-Predators, NBC, 12:00 (regional). Tom Hammond, Pat Haden, Lewis Johnson
Soul-Destroyers, NBC, 12:00 (regional). Bob Papa, Ray Bentley, Dave Maetzold
WEEK 11, 2005
Sunday 4-10:
SaberCats-Rush, NBC, 1:00 (regional). Allen Bestwick, Ray Bentley, Mark Schanowski
Soul-Crush, NBC, 1:00 (regional). Tom Hammond, Pat Haden, Lewis Johnson
WEEK 12, 2005
Sunday 4-17:
Gladiators-Soul, NBC, 1:00 (regional). Bob Papa, Ray Bentley, Vai Sikahema
Crush-Rush, NBC, 1:00 (regional). Tom Hammond, Pat Haden, Lewis Johnson
WEEK 13, 2005
Sunday 4-24:
Soul-Dragons, NBC, 1:00 (regional). Tom Hammond, Pat Haden, Lewis Johnson
Storm-Kats, NBC, 1:00 (regional). Bob Papa, Ray Bentley, Steve Wrigley
WEEK 14, 2005
Sunday 5-1:
Gladiators-Rush, NBC, 1:00. Bob Papa, Ray Bentley, Marty Snider
WEEK 15, 2005
Sunday 5-8:
Crush-VooDoo, NBC, 1:00 (regional). Tom Hammond, Pat Haden, Lewis Johnson
Storm-Force, NBC, 1:00 (regional). Allen Bestwick, Ray Bentley, Fred Kalil
WEEK 16, 2005
Sunday 5-15:
Dragons-Storm, NBC, 1:00. Tom Hammond, Pat Haden, Lewis Johnson
WEEK 17, 2005
Sunday 5-22:
VooDoo-Predators, NBC, 3:00 (regional). Tom Hammond, Pat Haden, Lewis Johnson
Rush-Kats, NBC, 3:00 (regional). Allen Bestwick, Ray Bentley, Steve Wrigley
Playoffs
QUARTERFINALS
Sunday 5-29:
Storm-Force, NBC, 3:30 (regional). Bill Weber, Mike Pawlawski, Fred Kalil
SaberCats-Crush, NBC, 3:30 (regional). Bob Papa, Ray Bentley, Marty Snider
Rush-Avengers, NBC, 3:30 (regional). Allen Bestwick, Charles Davis
Predators-Dragons, NBC, 3:30 (regional). Tom Hammond, Pat Haden, Lewis Johnson
SEMIFINALS
Saturday 6-4:
Predators-Force, NBC, 3:00. Bob Papa, Ray Bentley, Dave Burns
Sunday 6-5:
SaberCats-Crush, NBC, 3:00. Tom Hammond, Pat Haden, Marty Snider
ArenaBowl XIX
Sunday 6-12:
Force-Crush (Las Vegas), NBC, 3:00. Tom Hammond, Pat Haden, Marty Snider
- In week 1, NBC televised a doubleheader of games at noon and 3.
- NBC did not televise any games in week 9 due to coverage of The Players Championship