Amarillo Venom owner Stephanie Tucker announced this week that the team will forego the 2022 season. Tucker also confirmed that the team is for sale.
“The Venom have been an important part of our families and we loved the opportunity to serve the great communities of the Texas Panhandle. I want to take this time to personally say thank you for allowing us to be a part of your love for sports in the Texas Panhandle.
“It is now time to focus on my family. As you know, our daughter will be graduating and leaving for college this year, so I want to soak up the little bit of time I have left with her.
"I have high hopes of finding a local family interested in continuing this amazing opportunity and help them transition during this time. We wish many years of success for this organization," Tucker said.
The Venom began play in 2004 as the Amarillo Dusters, a charter member of the Intense Football League, a small indoor football league based in Texas. They won the championship in their first and only season with the Intense Football League.
In 2005, the Dusters became the first team to leave the Intense Football League and join the AF2, the minor league of the Arena Football League, where they played for four seasons until the AF2's folding in 2009.
The team held a fan vote as to whether to join some of their AF2 brethren in the new Arena Football 1 (later gaining rights to the name as Arena Football League) or enjoy numerous Texas rivalries in the Indoor Football League.
In 2009, it was announced that the Dusters would be moving to the Indoor Football League for the 2010 season. It was then announced that the Dusters would have to be renamed because the Arena Football League owned the rights to the Dusters name and logo and the team became the Venom.
The Venom then joined the Lone Star Football League for the 2012 season, which eventually merged into Champions Indoor Football (CIF) prior to the 2015 season. Prior to the 2021 season, the Venom withdrew from the CIF and later formed the Arena Football Association for the 2022 season. However, the team suspended operations in February 2022.
Tags:
Sports