It may have a new name, but Rush returning in 2011

Alan Levin realizes how much fans of Arena League Football and the Chicago Rush have struggled since the league postponed its 2009 season.

Levin, part of the ownership group of the Rush, along with Arthur Price, Peter Levin and Mike Ditka, gets plenty of reminders.

"I get e-mails every day saying 'please bring it back,'" Levin said. "Chicago has the most loyal fan base in the world."

If things go as planned, that fan base will be rewarded by a return of a reincarnated AFL in 2011. It may have fewer teams, and perhaps some with different names, but according to Levin, the league will be stronger than ever.

"It will look like the Arena Football League - same quality, same intensity," he said. "If all of what we want happens, it's going to be very significant."

And it will be operated differently this time around, with the ownership group making sure it can sustain itself for the long run, making postponement of seasons - like this past one and next season - a thing of the past.

"The league was fraught with financial problems," Levin said. "The league budget was so enormous. The ownership group allowed the commissioner to create an entity that could not sustain itself."

The league's struggles were so bad that is was placed into bankruptcy. The AFL and its assets are currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and bankruptcy bidding for those assets began Friday. Among the bidders is AFL 1, meaning it's conceivable the Rush name and logo could wind up somewhere else.

But whether it returns to Chicago as the Rush or with another name, Rush fans can rest easy that it's the same ownership group that produced eight straight playoff appearances, which included an Arena Bowl championship in 2006.

"Even if it's not called the Rush, it's the Rush," Levin said. "It's the group that made it what it was."