Chinese fans of American-style football rejoiced as the China Arena Football League announced the inagural season's schedule on Tuesday in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
According to the announcement, the 2016 "Super Series" will start off with its first game on October 1 in Beijing. Beijing is one of the main bases of CAFL franchise teams alongside Shanghai, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Dalian. The teams started training in May 2013.
The introduction of American-style football in China was made possible by AFL Global, the parent company of the CAFL. AFL Global has been doing business in Chian for the past couple of years through its IT staffing services company, the Judge Group. According to the company's founder Martin E. Judge Jr., the Super Series will be making history and introduce to the Chinese people the excitement brought by American-style football.
He also said, "This is just the beginning. We intend to lead the amazing growth of China's sports industry with our knowledge of the world's most exciting contact sport."
In every stop of the Super Series, the teams will be meeting local community groups in order to promote the event and have training programs to introduce football. These events will be held throughout the week and banquets would be held to celebrate the event.
On Saturdays, weekly competitions will be held with a CAFL doubleheader and spectators will be treated with both American and Chinese entertainment performances in between games. On Sundays, the CAFL will feature a "Family fun showcase of the sport" and hold three events - fan festival, job fair and football expo - to boost interest before the final game of that week.
The Super Series will end on the weekend of November 5th in Shanghai and the winner of the playoffs will be crowned as the first champion of the CAFL season in "The China Bowl."
According to Gary Morris, CAFL's CEO, said "we traveled to each city and sought the very best, most modern arenas in order to properly present our great sport, as it is a multimedia presentation of entertainment for the whole family."
As part of the preparations for the event, the CAFL held scouting days and open tryouts in Beijing on April 16 and Shanghai on April 23.
Here is the calendar of activities for the CAFL's inaugural season:
Oct 1 weekend (LeSports Center, Beijing): Guangzhou vs Qingdao; Dalian vs Shenzhen; Shanghai vs Beijing;
Oct 8 weekend (Dalian Superdome): Guangzhou vs Shanghai; Shenzhen vs Beijing; Qingdao vs Dalian;
Oct 15 weekend (Qingdao Sports Center): Shanghai vs Shenzhen; Dalian vs Guangzhou; Beijing vs Qingdao;
Oct 22 weekend (Guangzhou Gymnasium Hall): Beijing vs Dalian; Qingdao vs Shanghai; Shenzhen vs Guangzhou;
Oct 29 weekend (Shenzhen Dayun Arena): Dalian vs Shanghai; Beijing vs Guangzhou; Qingdao vs Shenzhen;
China Bowl - Nov 5 weekend (Shanghai Oriental Stadium): No. 6 seed vs No. 5 seed; N o. 4 seed vs No. 3 seed; No. 2 seed vs No. 1 seed (championship)
CAFL All-Star Weekend (date and location to be announced). The game will feature players from the North (Beijing, Dalian, Qingdao) and South (Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen) squads.
