The Kentucky Barrels, an expansion team in the Arena Football One league, are calling Truist Arena at Northern Kentucky University home.
The newest team in Arena Football One, the Kentucky Barrels, will call Truist Arena at Northern Kentucky University home beginning in spring 2026.
The Aug. 18 announcement included remarks from NKU President Cady Short-Thompson, Truist Arena general manager Garrett Peters, Ben Huffman from Cincy Sports and Kentucky State Senator Shelley Funke Frommeyer from Alexandria.
Here's what we know.
What football league are the Kentucky Barrels?
The Kentucky Barrels will compete in the Arena Football One league, an organization that held its first season in 2025. The league currently has eight teams spanning the country from Albany, New York to Seattle, Washington.
Five more expansion teams are planned for 2026: the Arizona Bandits, Beaumont Renegades, Monterrey (Mexico) Kings, Stockton Crusaders and a yet-to-be-named team in Michigan.
Who runs the Arena Football One league?
Oak Hills and NKU graduate Corey Cunningham is the franchise's owner. Former NFL head coach Jeff Fisher is the league commissioner.
Fisher coached the Houston/Tennessee Oilers, who eventually became the Titans from 1994-2010, and then led the Rams from 2012-2016. He led the Titans to the Jan. 30, 2000 Super Bowl XXXIV when they narrowly lost to the Rams.
Former NFL coach Jeff Fisher leads Arena Football One
Fisher was familiar with the Nashville Kats franchise which had owners like Bud Adams (Titans owner) and country star Tim McGraw. He says they averaged anywhere from 6,000 to 8,000 fans per game.
His involvement stemmed from helping passionate people enjoy the sport. Cunningham's passion helped Northern Kentucky get the Barrels.
Fisher also sees the difference in the game, compared to a 10-3 outdoor, grind-it-out affair.
"Half the people walk out not even knowing if their team won or lost they had so much fun," Fisher said. "All you have to do is come to your first one and you'll keep coming back. I've been to games where there's 30 seconds left, a team's down by 21 points and they come back and won. It's amazing what happens at the end of these games."
Cunningham says the Barrels fans will have affordable tickets and they can come onto the field after games and get autographs from the players. He also plans affiliations with charities such as the Aubrey Rose Foundation and The Cincy Hat Foundation, an organization Cincinnati Bengal Ted Karras is involved with.
Entrepreneur Corey Cunningham, who now owns Kentucky Barrels, gets quick response from commissioner Fisher
After some involvement with an arena team in Corpus Christi, Cunningham emailed Arena Football One's commissioner Fisher and was quickly in a telephone conversation about bringing Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky a team.
"If you come to one game, you'll come to more," Cunningham said. "It's fast-paced, super exciting, they play it (the ball) off the nets. It's just a cool experience. They hit hard and you're actually so close to it, you can feel the pain."
Why is Cincinnati's Arena Football One team named the Kentucky Barrels?
"Being from here, knowing the bourbon history and a fan of bourbon myself, it didn't take long to come up with the name," Cunningham said.
Fisher, who still lives in Nashville dating to his days with the Tennessee Titans, drove here from the Music City and noticed the multiple bourbon references on the way with distilleries and tours.
Who is coaching the Kentucky Barrels? Learn about Cedric Walker
Cedric Walker played college football at Stephen F. Austin and was involved in arena ball as a player from 1996-2006. The Kentucky Barrels will be his 11th stop as a coach, and fourth as a head coach (Spokane, 2022, Wyoming 2023, Billings 2024-2025).
He led the Billings Outlaws to the championship of Arena Bowl 33 in 2024. He is now head coach and part salesman for the Barrels.
"I know a family of four can enjoy (the game) for $40," Walker said. "You get to catch the football and take it home with you. We used to call it blue-collar football. You just watched a guy play a game and you can meet him at Applebee's and have dinner with him. It gives guys different avenues to get to the big leagues."
Story continues after photo gallery.
Walker has been part of three Arena Bowl titles. They plan to have some local workouts to scout players, but he also deals with a lot of player agents. Those who get released from the NFL are obviously prime targets.
He's also quick to mention that Kentucky Barrels games will have no weather delays.
Previous arena football squads in Greater Cincinnati
Cincinnati has hosted the Rockers, the Marshals, the Swarm and the Jungle Kats at the arena now called Heritage Bank Center. It was known as Riverfront Coliseum when the Rockers were in town in 1992-1993 and has also been known as The Crowne, Firstar Center and U.S. Bank Arena before Heritage Bank took naming rights.
Rumors of a team coming in 2023 never came to fruition. The Cincinnati Gardens hosted the Cincinnati Commandos.
Truist Arena was formerly home to the Northern Kentucky River Monsters, who competed in the Ultimate Indoor Football League in 2011 and the Continental Indoor Football League in 2014. The River Monsters featured Highlands High School graduate Jared Lorenzen, who won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants.
Truist Arena is home to concerts, sporting events, family shows and a variety of other events, including the Northern Kentucky Norse men's and women's basketball teams.
CincinnatiEnquirer reporters Brendan Connelly and Scott Springer contributed to this report. Reach Marina Johnson at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: New pro team from Arena Football One, Kentucky Barrels, to reside at NKU
Category: General Sports
