Charlotte Thunder
Established 2017
Folded 2022
Played in Bojangles' Coliseum
in Charlotte, North Carolina
CharlotteThunder.com
League/conference affiliations
  • American Arena League (2018–2021)
    • Southern Division (2019)
    • East Division (2021)
  • Arena Professional Football League (2022)
Current uniform
Team colorsBlack, Panther blue, silver
     
Personnel
Owner(s)Thomas Davis Sr.
Ted Ginn Jr.
Joe Maus[1]
Head coachErvin Bryson
Team history
  • Carolina Energy (2018–2019)
  • Charlotte Thunder (2020–2022)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (2)
  • AAL Southern: 2019
  • AAL East: 2021
Playoff appearances (3)
  • AAL: 2018, 2019, 2021
Home arena(s)

The Charlotte Thunder were a professional indoor American football team based out of Charlotte, North Carolina, and played their home games at the Bojangles' Coliseum.

The team was formed prior to the 2018 season as the Carolina Energy as members of the American Arena League (AAL) and was co-owned by Daniel Rudmann and head coach Ervin Bryson.[2] They are the fourth team to play in Charlotte behind the Charlotte Rage and Carolina Cobras, both formerly of the Arena Football League, and the Carolina Speed of the American Indoor Football Association.

In 2020, the team was sold to an ownership group led by former NFL players, Ted Ginn Jr. and Thomas Davis Sr. and rebranded as the Charlotte Thunder.[3] The team also has several other minority owners including former players Jeff Reed and Frank Garcia.[4] The team left the AAL following the 2021 season and founded the Arena Professional Football League, recruiting several other team teams from the AAL while it was on hiatus.[5] The Thunder scheduled games against the West Michigan Ironmen, Alabama Empire, Carolina Predators, and Maryland Warriors.[6] On October 21, 2022, the team announced on their Facebook page that the team would not be playing in the 2023 season.[7]

Season-by-season results

League Champions Conference Champions Division Champions Playoff berth League leader
Season League Division Regular season Postseason results
Finish Wins Losses Ties
2018 AAL 5th[a] 5 3 0 Lost semifinal (Richmond) 43–57[9]
2019 AAL Southern 1st[b] 6 0 0 Division final (Peach State)[c]
Won semifinal (Carolina) 58–38
Lost AAL Championship (West Virginia) 29–55
2020 AAL Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 AAL East 1st 10 0 0 No official postseason held by the league; named East Division champion via regular season record[11]
Lost league championship, 43–60 vs. (North Texas)[d]
Totals 21 3 0 All-time regular season record (2018–2021)
1 3 — All-time postseason record (2018–2021)
22 6 0 All-time regular season and postseason record (2018–2021)
  1. ^ Qualified for the playoffs as the fourth seed due to the Georgia Doom opting not to participate.[8]
  2. ^ The AAL counted all games played by member teams, including games against non-league members, and forfeits in the league standings for the 2019 season.
  3. ^ The Energy had scheduling issues with their arena and the league awarded the Energy a bye to the next round.[10]
  4. ^ The two teams chose to play each other after the league announced there would be no league championship.[12]

References

  1. ^ "Charlotte Thunder Front Office". Charlotte Thunder. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
  2. ^ David Boraks (February 15, 2018). "Charlotte Gets A New Arena Football Team - The Carolina Energy". WFAE.com.
  3. ^ "Former Georgia football star Thomas Davis buys arena football team". UGA Wire. March 6, 2020.
  4. ^ "Charlotte Thunder Roll Into Inaugural Season". Spectrum Local News. March 12, 2021.
  5. ^ "Join us tomorrow night live on the Baller's report 8pm EST/7pm Central and hear all about the new APFL owned by NFL great Thomas Davis Snr and Charlotte businessman Joe Maus". Arena Professional Football League Facebook. December 6, 2021.
  6. ^ "We look forward to see you this season as we bring arena football back to the Carolina's!". Charlotte Thunder Facebook. May 4, 2022.
  7. ^ "We would like to thank all our fans , players , coaches , volunteers, cheerleaders and sponsors for an incredible experience the last several years. We all fought through COVID and still was able to bring exciting Arena Football to the Queen City at Bojangles Arena! Unfortunately we have decided that we will not be playing the 2023 season. Thank you all for the love and incredible memories! We will never forget YOU!!!". Charlotte Thunder Facebook. October 21, 2022.
  8. ^ "2018 American Arena League Final Regular Season Standings and Playoff Pairings". AAL. June 12, 2018. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018.
  9. ^ "Carolina Energy Exits Arena Playoffs, Looks To 2019". WFAE. June 21, 2018.
  10. ^ "AAL Playoff Picture Set". OurSports Central. June 6, 2019.
  11. ^ "Your AAL 2021 Eastern Champions The Charlotte Thunder!!! Here's to an undefeated 2021 Season!". Charlotte Thunder Facebook. June 7, 2021.
  12. ^ "Its Official!!! The championship game will take place June 26th at 6:30PM. The Charlotte Thunder go against The North Texas Bulls ALL TICKETS ONLY $25!!!". Charlotte Thunder. June 7, 2021.

External links

Sports teams based in North Carolina
Categories