The Philadelphia Soul is back as part of the revamped Arena Football League
The indoor football team which won three championships under the ownership of Jon Bon Jovi and later Ron Jaworski has been revived after ceasing operations alongside the entire league in 2019.
The Arena Football League will be back in 2024 after a four-year hiatus, and with it returns one of the league’s most successful franchises, the Philadelphia Soul.
The league, which announced in July that it would be returning next year with 16 teams, officially revealed Friday that the Philadelphia team would keep the Soul name. The Soul initially was owned by Jon Bon Jovi and previously existed from 2004-08 and 2011-19. The team and league ceased operations in 2019 after the league went bankrupt.
The Soul won three championships, the first in 2008 under the Bon Jovi regime followed by back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017 under an ownership group led by former Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski. Jaworski is expected to be involved in some capacity with the new team, while the release did not reveal where the new iteration of the franchise will play. The Soul’s primary home previously was the Wells Fargo Center.
“The Philadelphia Soul has a historical connection to arena football that no other team or league can overshadow,” AFL commissioner Lee Hutton said in Friday’s release. “It is with pride that the Soul returns and with leadership that desires to be in Philadelphia.”
That leadership will come from the Logan Venture Group, which will be led by former professional basketball player and Philadelphia native Mustafa Shakur. Shakur is a graduate of Friends’ Central and later played at Arizona before embarking on a pro career that included 25 games in the NBA and stops in seven countries. The 39-year-old currently is the co-president of Pure Fuel, a nutrition company he co-founded.
“The Soul is a storied AFL team with a rich history ― both of winning championships and providing top quality entertainment to the people of our great city and state,” Shakur said. “I remember watching the Soul growing up in Philly and know first-hand the sense of pride and community it brought us. I’m honored to be part of continuing its legacy in a new era of arena football.”
Longtime AFL coach Patrick Pimmel will serve as head coach of the Soul, with the season expected to kick off next spring. In addition to Philadelphia, the league will field teams in Austin, Texas; Boise, Idaho; Bakersfield, Calif.; Chicago; Denver; St. Paul, Minn.; Lake Charles, La.; Cincinnati; Orlando; Salem, Ore.; San Antonio; Tallahassee, Fla.; Nashville; Everett, Wash.; and Odessa, Texas.