The National Gridiron League, Australia has announced the addition of the Logan City Wolverines to the league joining the Brisbane Outlaws in what will be a nine team league starting in 2016.
Logan City Wolverines logo
Some of the other cities that will be added to the NGL over the course of 2015 are Sydney, Sunshine Coast, Canberra, Gold Coast and Newcastle (see the map below).
The Wolverines will immediately begin releasing current and future roster details and coaching appointments, with several high profiles signings expected.
National Gridiron League
The NGL will be the highest level of professional American football in Australia. The league has been launched with the aim of providing live sports entertainment to American football fans in Australia, and the NGL proposes to eventually have as large a fan following for American Football as is there for any other popular sport in Australia.
Logan City has a population of just over 300,000
The nine teams in the NGL will represent the two states of Queensland and New South Wales. Queensland has four teams representing it while there are five from New South Wales.
A number of players and coaches have already been signed by the Brisbane Outlaws so far. Notable additions with European backgrounds include defensive back Deante Battle and coach Kirk Mastromatteo.
The NGL plans to introduce more teams from the other states in successive seasons. The first season is set to start in 2016 and each of the nine teams will be unveiled before the tournament starts. The teams will play an 18 week season scheduled to run between the months of August and December, and each team is booked to play 16 weeks with two weeks as byes. Each of the league games will be played in major stadiums and the games will be telecast nationally.
Cities from Queensland and New South Wales will make up the nine team league in 2016.
The promoters and organizers of the NGL are optimistic about the reception of the league by the Australian general public and intend an aggressive expansion of the league in forthcoming years. This includes not only the number of franchises but also facilities and coaching. American Football players, coaches and trainers from Australia and many other countries are being recruited and are joining the league.
The league has as its goal;
“to popularize the sport across Australia by engaging the local populace through coaching camps which will eventually contribute future players to the League.”