The Arena Football Hall of Fame was the official Hall of Fame of the Arena Football League (AFL). The inaugural class was announced in 1998 and the Hall was not formally organized until 2011. Prior to 2011, there were four classes: 1998–2000 and then another in 2002. The voting process consisted of fans and current Hall of Fame members voting on the finalists. The finalists were selected by the League Office in which they collected ballots from the Arena Football Hall of Fame Advisory Board, a group which consisted of former players, executives, journalists and media personnel with a long-time involvement in the league. After its decline in 2015, the hall stopped inducting new classes. The league folded for a second time in 2019. However, after the league's closure, ArenaFan, a long-running fan site, announced it had taken over operations of the Arena Football Hall of Fame.
In order to be nominated for the Arena Football Hall of Fame, a candidate must have met at least one of four criteria (as of 2015, depending upon whether he is being considered as a player, a coach, or a contributor). A player who had played after the 1989 season must have played a minimum of three seasons. A player had to be retired for a minimum of three full seasons. A coach must have been active for a minimum of five seasons but does not need to be retired. There was no minimum number of seasons required for contributors but rather contribution to the significant advancement of the AFL in general.
Even before ArenaFan's takeover, there was no physical location for the Arena Football Hall of Fame. However, within the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a small exhibit features the history of the Arena Football League.
Much like the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Arena Football League had a weekend dedicated to the inductees and during a selected Hall of Fame Game the inductees would partake in a Hall of Fame ceremony. The ceremony took place prior to the game and would feature highlights as well as speeches from each of the inductees. In late years, Hall of Fame Games were aired on CBS Sports Network prior to the termination of the league's agreement with CBSN following the 2018 season.
The list is complete up to date with the 2014 Hall of Fame class.
Class of 2015 Finalists:
These were the finalists for the 2015 Hall of Fame class; however, this was the year that began the decline of the league until its second bankruptcy in 2019. No future Hall of Fame announcements have been made since 2015.
With the dissolvement of the AF2 developmental league, there was a single class of ten members inducted into the AF2 Hall of Fame. While this league was owned and run by the AFL, a separate Hall of Fame was created. AFL and AF2 creators Jim Foster and Jerry Kurz are the only previous members of both Halls. This Hall was designed to recognize individuals who significantly impacted the AF2. While some members have been involved with AFL teams, this group was inducted based only on their contributions to the AF2. No members have been inducted beyond the inaugural class.
Joe DeLamielleure was the first Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee to ever play with an Arena Football Team; as an apparent publicity stunt, he played two games for the Charlotte Rage in the 1992 season, seven years after he had retired from professional football.
Kurt Warner, who played three seasons with the Iowa Barnstormers from 1995 to 1997 and was inducted into the Arena Football Hall of Fame in 2011, is the first player with substantial arena football experience to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as well as the first to be inducted into both halls. Warner was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017.
The ownership group of the Colorado Crush has also been inducted: John Elway was inducted as a player in 2004, while Pat Bowlen was inducted as an owner in 2019. Both Elway and Bowlen were inducted almost entirely for their contributions to the NFL's Denver Broncos.