ArenaBowl XXXII was the 32nd and most recent ArenaBowl and the championship game of the
2019 Arena Football League season. The game took place on August 11, 2019, with kickoff at 8:00 p.m.
EDT on
ESPN2.[1] It featured the winners of the two semifinals, the No. 1 seed
Albany Empire and the No. 3 seed
Philadelphia Soul.
AFL Commissioner
Randall Boe also confirmed that the league's expansion plans for next season would be unveiled during the game;[1] however, these plans were pushed back to several weeks after the game[2] after Boe said that negotiations for the two new teams would not be finished in time.[3] The league ultimately filed for
Chapter 7 bankruptcy on November 27 of that year, making the game the final one in the league's history until the league was purchased in 2023 and the league was revived.[4][5]
Venue
As the higher seed, the No. 1 Albany Empire hosted ArenaBowl XXXII at the
Times Union Center.[6]
The Empire, led by head coach
Rob Keefe, finished the regular season 10–2 and earned the No. 1 seed for the second straight season. They defeated No. 4
Baltimore home and away in the semifinal to advance to their first ArenaBowl.
The Soul, led by head coach
Clint Dolezel, finished the regular season 7–5 and earned the No. 3 seed for the second straight season. They defeated No. 2
Washington home and away in the semifinal to advance to their sixth ArenaBowl; they are 3–2 in previous appearances.
Series record
The all-time series between the Empire and the Soul dates back to the Empire's inaugural game on April 14, 2018. Entering the game, Albany led the series 4–3.