Arena Football League hires Butera as commissioner

CHICAGO (AP) — The Arena Football League has hired entertainment and hospitality executive Scott Butera as its commissioner.

Butera will leave his job as CEO of Foxwoods Resort Casino to become the league’s seventh commissioner. He succeeds Jerry Kurz, who became commissioner in 2010 and is now the league’s president.

The league said Monday that Butera he will concentrate on increasing consumer awareness of league so it can “grow revenues through strategic partnerships and sponsor programs.” Butera says he believes the league can become “a truly prominent sport in the United States and abroad.”

Arena Football began in 1987. Butera is encouraged by its “appeal to a younger generation of fans who appreciate the pace of the game, its social media potential and the intimacy of the arena experience.”

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