Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Mavericks
| Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Mavericks | |
|---|---|
| Established 2024 Folded 2025 Played in Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre Township, Pennsylvania WBSMavericks.com | |
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| League/conference affiliations | |
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Current uniform | |
| Team colors | Red and Carolina blue |
| Nicknames | TBA |
| Personnel | |
| Owner(s) | Matt Rowland |
| Head coach | Shawn Liotta |
| Team history | |
| |
| Championships | |
| League championships (0) | |
| Conference championships (0) | |
| Division championships (0) | |
| Playoff appearances (0) | |
| 0 | |
| Home arena(s) | |
| Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza (announced) | |
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Mavericks were a proposed professional arena football team based in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, founded in 2024 as an expansion team in Arena Football One. The team was to be owned by local businessman Matt Rowland, a college friend of the league's then-president Jared Widman. The Mavericks were to play their home games at the Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre Township, Pennsylvania beginning in the 2025 season. They ultimately disbanded before playing a single game, after Widman left Arena Football One.
History
The Mavericks are only the second arena football team to play in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton region and the first since the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers of the original af2 that played from 2002 to 2009, playing in two ArenaCup title games losing to the Tulsa Talons in 2007 and the Spokane Shock in 2009.
Fifteen years after the Pioneers played their final game in Wilkes-Barre, Arena Football One, (a reorganized offshoot of the failed second revival of the Arena Football League) granted an expansion franchise to local owner Matt Rowland, a graduate of Misericordia University, a private Catholic university in Dallas, Pennsylvania. In a press released posted by AF1, they were quoted as describing Rowland as an "extensive experience as an innovative boxing promoter and has several large boxing cards to his credit."[1][2] The team will play their home games starting in the 2025 season at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in the Wilkes-Barre Township. League president Jared Widman was quoted to say, โThe (Mohegan) Sun Arena has been wonderful to work with. Bringing arena football back to Wilkes-Barre, it is something that is exciting and the league is happy about.โ[3] Rowland and Widman were college classmates at Misericordia and teammates on that school's lacrosse team.[4]
The team was to play in the AF1's East Division along with the Albany Firebirds, Nashville Kats and Orlando Predators.
On November 21, Shawn Liotta was announced as the team's inaugural head coach.[5] Their first-ever signee was defensive back Ikenna Ahumibe.
On December 20, owner Matt Rowland announced the team would be known as the Mavericks and their colors would be red and Carolina blue, with the official logo to be revealed later in the day.[6]
The Mavericks held an open tryout on January 4, 2025, at Misericordia University, featuring 37 aspiring players.[7]
AF1 announced on February 14, 2025, that the Mavericks were out of the league and would not play the 2025 season, with league CEO Jerry Kurz noting that the decision was " one of the hardest messages any organization has to deliver" and that it was necessary to "eliminate concerns" in the interest of the league's long-term stability.[8] Widman admitted that he had largely taken over efforts to save the franchise but ultimately determined that there was not enough sponsorship money or local interest to launch the team.[9] The team's closure also coincided with Widman leaving AF1.[9]
Current roster
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
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Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
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Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
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Reserve lists
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Staff
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Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
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Defensive coaches
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References
- ^ "AF1 Announces Expansion Team in Wilkes-Barre for 2025". Arena Football One. September 10, 2024. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ "New arena football league awards expansion franchise to Wilkes-Barre". Times Leader. September 11, 2024. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ "Arena football returning to Wilkes-Barre". The Citizen's Voice. September 11, 2024. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ Bennett, Steve (September 11, 2024). "Arena football returning to Wilkes-Barre". The Citizens' Voice. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
- ^ @WBArenaFootball (November 21, 2024). ""This is an exciting time for football fans in Northeast PA, Arena football is back in a big way and ๐ ๐๐๐ง'๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐ง๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ค ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐ฐ๐๐๐ค." - Shawn Lotta, Head Football Coach, Wilkes-Barre Arena Football Team" (Tweet). Retrieved November 21, 2024 โ via Twitter.
- ^ @OffTheWallFB (December 20, 2024). "The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Mavericks! Official team logo to be unveiled later today #AF1" (Tweet). Retrieved December 20, 2024 โ via Twitter.
- ^ "Keeping the dream alive: Arena Football holds open tryouts for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton squad". Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice. January 4, 2025. Retrieved June 7, 2025.
- ^ Carroll, Kevin (February 15, 2025). "Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Mavericks withdraw from Arena Football One". Times Leader. Retrieved February 15, 2025.
- ^ a b "Mavericks no longer part of Arena Football One". Scranton Times-Tribune. February 15, 2025. Retrieved February 16, 2025.
