Minnesota Myth owners Diana and Lee Hutton III have come under strong criticism as the relaunch of the Arena Football League experienced its latest setbacks this weekend.
Diana Hutton serves as the president for the Myth and is married to Lee Hutton III, who is a Minneapolis attorney, former Minnesota Golden Gophers football player and serves as commissioner of the current iteration of the league.
After folding in 2019, the AFL announced its return in February 2023 with 16 teams including the Myth scheduled to begin play this spring, but the relaunch hasn’t gone as planned as teams experienced issues on and off the field.
The Myth was scheduled to host the Albany Firebirds on Saturday at Target Center but the game was moved to Monday in Albany due to the NBA playoff series between the Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Firebirds announced on Saturday that the game would be canceled after the Myth claimed they could not make the trip to New York.
“Due to circumstances beyond our control, we regrettably have been forced to cancel Monday night’s game against Minnesota,” Firebirds president Jeff Levack said in a news release. “The Myth can not make the trip, so we will refund everyone who purchased tickets to the game.”.
The cancelation represents the latest in a string of issues for the Myth, who saw head coach Rickey Foggie resign after two games and was replaced by special teams coordinator Javon Hering.
While the team split its first two games, a May 4 report by Indoor Football Insider quoted a source close to the team claiming that the Huttons failed to provide the basics including meals for the players, staff and coaches.
“They didn’t believe they were responsible for paying for the meals for the players (even though it’s in the AFL contract they signed),” the source said, adding that the coaches have spent thousands of dollars over the past few weeks covering meals for the players.
The Myth isn’t the only franchise that has struggled with the AFL’s rebirth.
The Billings Outlaws refused to travel to a Week 2 game against the Oregon Blackbears after citing unsafe field conditions. They then found out that their Week 3 game against the Rapid City Marshalls was canceled as they were warming up on the field Saturday afternoon when the Marshalls decided to forfeit.
We regret to confirm the cancellation of tonight’s game due to the continuous ongoing issues within the AFL and their inability to meet the commitments made to the owners, teams, players and coaches.
All ticket holders will be refunded for this evenings game.
As we have more… pic.twitter.com/bit9r3BZMu
— Rapid City Marshals (@MarshalsAFL) May 12, 2024
Louisana VooDoo head coach Pat Pimmel resigned a day before their game against the Philadelphia Soul according to Front Office Sports, and the team relocated from Lake Charles to Layfayette after Lake Charles mayor Nic Hunter claimed the city saw “multiple red flags” with AFL representatives.
Meanwhile, the Soul was evicted from its team hotel after failing to make payments and the team canceled the remainder of its season on Friday with hopes to return to play in 2025, but even that looks uncertain with the Georgia Force and Iowa Rampage folding in the opening weeks.
While 16 teams started the AFL season, only eight will play in Week 3 and a television deal with NFL Network has been canceled.
“Lee Hutton and his team have destroyed not only the revival of the AFL, but they have destroyed the hopes of players all over the U.S.,” Rampage owners Trevor Burdett and Mike Taliaferro said in a press release announcing the liquidation of the team on May 2. “As owners, we do not take this decision lightly and we wished this wouldn’t have come, but with the promised support of the league, we have no other option than to discontinue operations immediately.”
While Diana Hutton told Michael Kelly of the Albany Times-Union that the Myth would play their scheduled game against the Wichita Regulators at Target Center on May 18, the unstable structure of the league could put their future in question.
