HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. — Truist Arena on Northern Kentucky University's campus, is getting a new professional sports tenant.
NKU officials announced the "Kentucky Barrels" will bring professional arena football back to the Greater Cincinnati area.
There were some hints this would be the new professional sports tenant at NKU; AF1 said it planned to announce the league's newest expansion team at 10 a.m. on Monday — the same time NKU announced its press conference.
AF1 announced previously that it would add new teams for the 2025 season, as it expands into new markets. The league announced a new team, the Beaumont Renegades, in Texas on last week.
The Kentucky Barrels will also begin its inaugural season in roughly eight months, officials announced at the press conference.
It's not the first time arena football buzz hit the Tri-State area. In 2023, the now-defunct Arena Football League announced it planned to make its return in 2024 with 16 teams, including one that could have been based in Cincinnati.
It's also not the first time Cincinnati has had an arena football team of some kind. The Cincinnati Rockers, owned by local restaurateur Ted Gregory, competed in 1992 and 1993 at what is now the Heritage Bank Center.
Since then, the Cincinnati Commandos have also called the region home, playing from 2010 to 2013 at Cincinnati Gardens.
You can watch the full announcement in the player below:
The press conference, announced by NKU at the end of last week, would feature representatives from the team and spokespeople with Truist Arena, NKU, MeetNKY and CincySports.
Truist Arena can accommodate up to 10,000 spectators and boasts 14 luxury suites, two party suites and other fan amenities.
Truist Arena has not just been home to Norse basketball and other sporting events since it was built in 2008. It's also hosted large-scale concerts and events, including Carrie Underwood and Alan Jackson.
NKU is an entrepreneurial state university with over 15,000 students, situated in Highland Heights, Ky., roughly 10 minutes south of downtown Cincinnati.
