Cleveland Gladiators

Cleveland Gladiators
Cleveland Gladiators
	Logo
General information
Founded	1997
Folded	2019
Headquartered	Quicken Loans Arena; in Cleveland, Ohio
Colors	Red, black, white;
Mascot	Rudi
	ClevelandGladiators.com
Personnel
Owner	Dan Gilbert
Head coach	Ron Selesky
President	Kerry Bubolz
Team history
	New Jersey Red Dogs (1997–2000); New Jersey Gladiators (2001–2002); Las Vegas Gladiators (2003–2007); Cleveland Gladiators (2008–2017);
Home fields
	Continental Airlines Arena (1997–2002); Thomas & Mack Center (2003–2006); Orleans Arena (2007); Quicken Loans Arena (2008–2017);
League / conference affiliations
	Arena Football League (1997–2017) American Conference (2004–2007, 2011–2015); National Conference (1997–2003, 2008–2010, 2016) Western (2004–2008); Midwest Division (2010); Eastern (1997–2003, 2008, 2011–2015); ; ;
Championships
	Conference championships: 1; American: 2014;
	Division championships: 3; Eastern: 2002, 2011, 2014;
Playoff appearances (10)
	1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017

The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association and the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League. The franchise was originally based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and then later in Las Vegas, Nevada, before relocating to Cleveland for the 2008 AFL season. The Gladiators qualified for the playoffs eight times in their history, reaching the ArenaBowl in 2014.

The Gladiators announced that they would not play the 2018 and 2019 seasons due to renovations on Quicken Loans Arena that required it to close during the NBA offseason and were granted a two-season hiatus. Before the team could return in 2020, the league filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations.