1987 Arena Football League season
| 1987 Arena Football League season | |
|---|---|
| League | Arena Football League |
| Sport | Arena football |
| Duration | June 19, 1987 – August 1, 1987 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Pittsburgh Gladiators |
| Season MVP | Russell Hairston, PIT |
| ArenaBowl I | |
| Champions | Denver Dynamite |
| Runners-up | Pittsburgh Gladiators |
| Finals MVP | Gary Mullen, DEN |
The 1987 Arena Football League season was the first season, also known as the "demonstration season", of the Arena Football League (AFL). The league champions were the Denver Dynamite, who defeated the Pittsburgh Gladiators in ArenaBowl I.
The Arena Football League played its inaugural season in 1987 with four teams to introduce the sport to the American public. The Chicago Bruisers, Denver Dynamite, Pittsburgh Gladiators and Washington Commandos comprised the four-team league that ran a schedule from June 19 to August 1. The AFL drew an impressive average of 11,000 fans per game and TV coverage on ESPN. The four teams Pittsburgh (12,856), Denver (12,098/game),Washington (11,525) and Chicago (8,638) drew fairly well in their respective facilities; Washington and Chicago both managed to outdraw the 1984 averages of their respective USFL franchises, the Federals and Blitz. Denver played at the old McNichols Arena, Pittsburgh at the Civic Arena, Washington at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, and Chicago at the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois (now the Allstate Arena and the only one of the AFL venues still extant As of 2015[update]).
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