The Arena Football League is expanding from four teams to five teams with a new club “down the shore.”

Atlantic City’s new squad doesn’t have a name yet, and you can get in on that action at the official website, but the plan is to have them begin playing at Boardwalk Hall this Spring.

Christian Hetrick at the Inquirer:

The league made the announcement after the New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Development Authority board voted to authorize the agency to reach a deal for a team to play at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.

The authority, which owns Boardwalk Hall, will make $500,000 in capital expenditures such as a turf field and field goal posts. The authority said it will not fund the operations of the team. The three-year deal is subject to final approval and execution of a license agreement.

The operations of the team will be funded by some the same people who currently own and operate the Soul.

Writes John George at the Philly Business Journal:

The new team will be operated by Trifecta Sports and Entertainment, which also operates the AFL’s Philadelphia Soul and Albany Empire.

The AFL has struggled in recent years and shrunk to four teams last season, its lowest number since its first year in 1987. Likewise, Atlantic City has been working in recent years to regain its economic footing – taking steps to diversify its economy and add more pillars, besides gaming, to the infrastructure of its tourism industry.

Trifecta is owned by a group of businessmen, many based in the Philadelphia region, consisting of Ron Jaworski, George Hearst III, Craig Spencer, Dan Nolan, Ed Swyer, Dick Vermeil, Marques Colston and Jahri Evans.

Let’s get some name ideas going for the team.

I like “Shoobies” personally.

A few more off the top of my head:

  • Atlantic City Manco and Mancos
  • Atlantic City Degenerate Gamblers
  • Atlantic City Parlay
  • Atlantic City Bankruptcy
  • Atlantic City Donald Trumps
  • Atlantic City CardSharks
  • Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies

On a serious note, nice to see the league bring in a new franchise after being put on life support these past few years.