Good News for NFL and college football fans. You now have a viable alternative during off-season. NBC Sports signed a contract to provide national coverage for the Arena Football League this year. Unlike last years debacle with the now-defunct XFL, the AFL is really taking off well. However, a lot of people still do not know much about the Arena Football League. So I can going to give you some basic information on the League and the game.

The Arena Football League is no baby league, having been around for 17 years. However, the AFL seems to be coming into its' own lately. One thing to help the league has been the interest of NFL owners in purchasing teams. Most of the AFL teams now have owners with at least some connection to the NFL. Owners such as the Dallas Desperado's Jerry Jones and Colorado Crush's John Elway realized that there was a market out there for off-season football. And the attendance figures show it. Most major city teams are selling out all of their games.

However, Arena Football League also allows the chance for smaller cities to offer professional football in their cities. Places like Grand Rapids, Orlando and Las Vegas can afford to bring teams to their cities. And owners that own both AFL and NFL teams are using the AFL to scout out future talent for the NFL. Perfect examples of that would be the recent success stories of Tommy Maddox, Kurt Warner, and Jeff Garcia. All three NFL quarterbacks have ties to AFL teams.

The AFL also allows a very fan-friendly environment to enjoy the game. First, you have enclosed arenas, which allow for physical comfort while watching the games. The AFL is different from the NFL though, in that they place major emphasis on the fan/player relationship. The AFL requires that every team meet with fans after every game. As soon as the games are over, the players head to the stadium seats, instead of the locker rooms like the NFL does. Most teams, such as the Dallas Desperadoes, and the Colorado Crush require that the teams remain on the field as long as their are fans there wanting to speak with them. This provides a very close bond between the team players, and their fans. As a fan of the game of football, I love seeing this connection. The NFL seems to set up a barrier between its players and fans sometimes making it difficult for fans to meet their grid-iron heroes. That wall has been brought to the ground in the AFL.

The game is similar to the NFL in that, there are four quarters of play, each lasting 15 minutes. The 25-second clock applies, along with most penalties and rules being similar to the NFL. Uniforms and safety equipment are the same. Scoring is pretty much the same as the NFL also, except that you can pooch kick your field goals and extra points, which allows you to score two points instead of one on PAT's, and four points instead of three on field goals. But that is pretty much where the similarities end.

To begin with, the field is only 50 yards long instead of 100 in the NFL. There are  barriers along the sidelines, and you can play off the barriers, meaning that ball carriers can still keep going after they hit the foam pads. AFL team rosters are much smaller, allowing only 20 active players, and four reserves. Only the quarterback remains a pure position player. Some teams will also have what is called Offensive or Defensive Specialists. These players also only play either offense or defense . But most players on the roster will play for offense and defense.

On the defensive side of the ball, eight players line up, with three being down lineman. On the offensive side of the ball, you also line up eight players, with four players lining up on the line of scrimmage. There is no punting. The quarterback is very much the key to the team in this league, much more so than in the NFL. With the smaller fields, and a normally pass-happy offense, the AFL teams put up a lot more points than the NFL teams, which adds a great deal more excitement.