A new arena football team for Southwest Florida was announced Monday as part of a brand new Florida-based league.
The new team, the Gulf Coast Fire, will maintain a roster of 16 elite players along with three other teams: the Lakeland Tarpons, Manatee Neptunes, and Sarasota Bigcats.
Each team is within a 90-minute radius of the other.
Commissioner of the league, Gary Tufford, is excited to share this experience with the community.
The Gulf Coast Fire will play home games at Hertz Arena (formerly Germain Arena).
At a press conference Monday, Tufford emphasized the importance of athleticism because each team will only have 16 spots. The commissioner is also seeking locally-grown players who do not have a passion to play in the NFL. "Make no mistake about it, this is minor league football."
Kicking and punting were also ruled out of this league. The idea is to keep the tempo fast and offensive. Two players per team are required to play the entire length of the game.
They kick off the first game at the Hertz Arena is on May 12th, 2019. Single game ticket prices are $15, $20, $30, and $50. Season and group tickets are available at their website www.gcfirefootball.com.
