The Minnesota Myth (stylized as the Minnesota MYTH) were a professional indoor football team based in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. The Myth played their home games at the

Target Center Target Center is a multi-purpose arena located in Minneapolis that opened in 1990. It hosts major family shows, concerts, sporting events, graduations and private events. Target Corporation, founded and headquartered in Minneapolis since 1902, h ...

. They were announced as one of the inaugural teams for the revived

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL), playing its lone season in 2024. The Myth were, in the league's structure, effectively the flagship franchise, running much of the league's operations through the team under the auspices of commissioner Lee Hutton, whose wife Diana was listed as the Myth's owner. This structure was later found to have violated the Huttons' agreements with the financial backers of the league, leading to the team's dissolution and Hutton's firing partway through its first season.

History

The Myth were only the second official Minnesota-based team to play in the

, the first since the Minnesota Fighting Pike who played in 1996.

Birth

Four years after the AFL folded for the second time, it was announced on February 1, 2023, that the league intended on relaunching in 2024. On July 18, the 16 intended market cities were announced, including St. Paul, Minnesota. They have an

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page that announced their intentions of joining the AFL, though league commissioner Lee Hutton and the league would not confirm, nor deny it. On November 14, 2023, a press release announced that the team would be officially called the Minnesota Myth. The ownership group is led by Mexican-American attorney Diana Hutton, making her the first Latina majority team owner in league history; Hutton is the wife and

law firm partner A partner in a law firm, accounting firm, consulting firm, or financial firm is a highly ranked position, traditionally indicating co-ownership of a partnership in which the partners were entitled to a share of the profits as " equity partners". ...

of Commissioner Lee Hutton, who himself had played college football at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. Hutton had effectively structured the league so that it operated through the Myth's business operation, under license from G6 Sports Group; G6 president Anthony Rossi noted that Hutton had not paid the required licensing fees. Chairman Chris Chetty noted that Hutton's structuring of the league through a shell company tied to the Myth violated his contract with AFL trademark holder G6 Sports Group, a fireable offense. Their head coach was former University of Minnesota and former

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

quarterback

Rickey Foggie Rickey Foggie (born July 15, 1966) is an American former gridiron football quarterback. Foggie was the Starting lineup, starting quarterback for the Minnesota Golden Gophers for four seasons, before going on to play professionally in the Canadian ...

, who played for the Minnesota Fighting Pike in their only season in 1996 and for several others teams for the next eight seasons before becoming a coach. On January 30, 2024, the Myth announced that they will play at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

Closure of the franchise

On May 10, 2024, reports indicated that Rickey Foggie resigned as Myth head coach after only two games. Foggie confirmed the reports through his X account, along with the resignation of his special teams coach. On May 13, 2024, in an email from owner Diana Hutton, the Myth became the fourth team to suspend operations blaming it on "negative publicity" and the owners for "sabotage" in order to force her husband Lee Hutton to resign as commissioner. Lee Hutton was fired from his position the next day, replaced by

Jeff Fisher Jeffrey Michael Fisher (born February 25, 1958) is an American professional football coach and former cornerback and return specialist. He served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 22 seasons, primarily with the Houston / ...

. The team folded that same day.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minnesota Myth Arena Football League (2024) teams

Minnesota Myth The Minnesota Myth (stylized as the Minnesota MYTH) were a professional Indoor American football, indoor football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Myth played their home games at the Target Center. They were announced as one of the inau ...

American football teams in Minneapolis–Saint Paul American football teams established in 2023 American football teams disestablished in 2024