Pittsburgh's prior AFL history Prior to the announcement of Pittsburgh's 2011 expansion team, the city was the home to the Pittsburgh Gladiators, one of the four original franchises of the Arena Football League in 1987. The AFL's very first league game, not counting the playtest games at the
Rockford MetroCenter and the
Rosemont Horizon, was played in the
Pittsburgh Civic Arena between the Gladiators and
Washington Commandos. The Gladiators would go on to lose
ArenaBowl I to the
Denver Dynamite, 45–16, that season in a game played at the Civic Arena. Two years later, the team lost
ArenaBowl III, held at
Joe Louis Arena, to the
Detroit Drive by a score of 39–26.
The following season was the Gladiators' fourth and last in Pittsburgh after co-owner Bob Greis decided to move the franchise to
Tampa, Florida. The team was renamed the
Tampa Bay Storm. Greis, who had several business interests in Florida, sold the franchise a few years later. During
the Storms' first year in Tampa, the team defeated the Detroit Drive, 48–42, to win
ArenaBowl V. The Storm remained in Tampa and reached the playoffs in each of their next 15 seasons, winning four more AFL titles. In 2011,
Jerry Kurz, the commissioner of the Arena Football League, stated to the
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that the Gladiators move to Tampa had nothing to do with the attendance for the games. He instead stated that the issues that prompted the team to relocate had more to do with the lack of additional accouterments at the Civic Arena, such as updated luxury suites.
2011 expansion season The current AFL policy is to give expansion teams in markets previously served by AFL teams the same name as their predecessor, since the league owns almost all rights to all team names in the league's history. However, because the unrelated
Cleveland Gladiators already use the "Gladiators" name, that required the adoption of a new franchise name. Incidentally, the Power's logo is a thunderbolt, the same as a previous Cleveland AFL team,
Cleveland Thunderbolts. The team was originally rumored to be called the
Pittsburgh River Wizards, according to sports blog
Inside Pittsburgh Sports and by Pittsburgh-area radio host
Mark Madden. The team name was changed to the Power before the official announcement by the team. The Power played their first game in franchise history on March 11, 2011 at
Consol Energy Center in front of 13,904 fans. They lost to the
Philadelphia Soul in overtime by a score of 58–52. Despite this loss, the Power led the East Division with a 7–4 record at the end of week 13. However, they lost five of their final seven games, falling to 9–9 at the end of the season and finishing second in the division.
2012 season at the
Tampa Bay Times Forum on July 20, 2013. On March 9, 2012, the entire Pittsburgh Power roster was released prior to its opening game against the
Orlando Predators due to a labor disagreement between the owners and the players' union. However, with the aid of a few
replacements, the team managed to win 40–26. Following the victory, 22 of the 24 released players were offered their jobs back (quarterback
Kyle Rowley and kicker
Taylor Rowan being the lone exceptions), with 18 immediately accepting and returning to the team. Neil Purvis signed a contract a few days later, bringing the total to 19. Defensive backs
Josh Lay and Tyrrell Herbert and offensive lineman Dan Jones elected not to re-sign with the Power and were consequentially placed on the League Suspension list. Jones was traded to the
Kansas City Command on May 2, 2012. On April 14, the Power orchestrated the largest comeback in
Arena Football League history. Down 48–17 in the third quarter to the
Orlando Predators, backup quarterback Derek Cassidy led the team on a 34–3 run, taking the game into overtime. After the Predators kicked a field goal to make it 54–51,
P. J. Berry returned the ensuing kickoff 38 yards to the Predators' 19-yard line. On the very next play, Cassidy connected with Christian Wise for a touchdown to win the game 57–54. On June 8, the Power were scheduled to face the
Cleveland Gladiators at
Quicken Loans Arena. However, due to yet another labor dispute, the Gladiators failed to field enough players and forfeited, making the Power the first team in Arena Football League history to win in this manner. On June 16, Power kicker Geoff Boyer successfully converted a two-point
drop kick against the
Milwaukee Mustangs. It was the first successful drop kick in the Arena Football League since 1997. With a 5–13 record, the Power failed to qualify for the playoffs with a last place finish in the division.
2013 season On March 23, the Power opened the 2013 season against the
Utah Blaze. The Power were still in the playoff hunt through Week 10 with a 3–6 record, but a 7-game losing streak lost the Power their chance at a playoff spot. With a 4–14 record, the Power failed to qualify for the playoffs with a last place finish in the division.
2014 season During the off-season following the 2013 season, the Power made drastic changes to their roster. In addition to reassigning nearly every player from the previous season's roster, the team acquired quarterback
Tommy Grady and wide receiver
Aaron Lesué in the
Utah Blaze dispersal draft. The Power also traded their franchise leader in nearly every receiving category,
Mike Washington, to the
Spokane Shock for quarterback
Arvell Nelson. Near the end of the off-season, the team acquired wide receiver
Prechae Rodriguez in a trade with the
Orlando Predators. By the time of the season opener, the Power's 24-man roster contained only four players who had played with the team in 2013 (
Curtis Young, Brandon Freeman, Sergio Gilliam and Julian Rauch). On March 15, the Power opened the season against the
Cleveland Gladiators. After a net recovery touchdown by
Arvell Nelson in the third quarter, the Power took a 45–28 lead. However, the Gladiators outscored the Power 35–8 the rest of the way to pull out a comeback victory. Head coach
Derek Stingley was fired six days later and replaced by former Utah Blaze head coach
Ron James. James's first move was to acquire center Antonio Narcisse from the
Portland Thunder. Narcisse had played with quarterback Tommy Grady (and under James) with the Utah Blaze from 2011 to 2013. Narcisse was the first of several players that James brought to the Power from his coaching tenures with the Blaze and
Las Vegas Gladiators. James led the Power to three consecutive wins in his first three games, during which the Power outscored opponents by a combined score of 174–78. However, back-to-back road trips to undefeated
Arizona and
Cleveland brought consecutive losses. At 3–3, the Power returned home to face the
Philadelphia Soul, whom they had never defeated at
Consol Energy Center. The Power set a new record against the Soul for points scored at home (65) in what would become their first of 12 consecutive wins to conclude the regular season. During this streak, the Power set new team records for wins in a season (15), consecutive wins (12), consecutive home wins (8) and consecutive road wins (6). The Power clinched their first winning season on June 14 against the Soul and their first playoff berth on June 20 against the
Iowa Barnstormers. ==Ownership==