The Las Vegas Outlaws and the New Orleans VooDoo were dropped from the league at the end of the 2015 season because new ownership groups could not be found for either team.
[1] The AFL claimed ownership of the Shock name, forcing the team to rename itself the Spokane Empire.
[2] On October 30, 2015, the league announced that there would not be any expansion teams for the 2016 season; this event occurred just under three hours before what had been slated to be the expected announcement of an expansion franchise in San Antonio to be owned by the ownership group of the San Antonio Spurs.
Commissioner Scott Butera said the league would try to find new ownership, but this was not forthcoming in time for the team to operate during the 2016 season to defend its championship.
[3] Because the league was now down to eight teams for the 2016 season, there were still the American and National Conferences but no divisional play.