On December 5, 2009, the Blizzard announced a name-the-team contest. The Blizzard name and intellectual property was held by the then-defunct Arena Football League (AFL), which was the parent of the Blizzard's former league, af2. The assets of the former AFL were purchased by the newly formed Arena Football 1. The team ownership group was still attempting to purchase the rights to the Blizzard name and had decided to continue with the contest in case the Blizzard name was not able to be purchased, but the owners were able to acquire the Blizzard name and imagery.