Indoor football returns in 2010 as Cleveland franchise takes part in 'Arena Football 1'

gladiators.jpgArena football is expected to return to The Q in 2010.

UPDATED: 11:45 p.m.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Arena football is returning to Cleveland in 2010.

The Cleveland team will play in a new league, Arena Football 1, which begins in the spring. A news conference is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

Jim Ferraro, who owned the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League in 2008, will own the new team, also expected to be named the Gladiators.

A source said Ferraro will again have Bernie Kosar as part of the front office. Kosar, the former Browns quarterback, was president of the Gladiators in 2008.

The new Gladiators are expected to play at The Q, which was their original home.

The AFL's Gladiators reached the playoffs in their inaugural season in Cleveland after relocating from Las Vegas. They averaged 14,017 fans in nine home games. But Ferraro said last December that the franchise lost $2 million to $2.5 million. Add relocation fees from Las Vegas, and the loss was about $4 million, Ferraro said.

Last December, Ferraro voted with 11 other AFL teams to suspend operations for 2009. Ferraro said the AFL needed to drastically change its business model if it wanted to return. The league is not coming back, but Ferraro and others once associated with it are.

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