A new ownership group has unveiled plans for a 2027 expansion franchise that would compete in the fledgling Continental Football League. The team, currently going by the placeholder name Milwaukee Pro Football, still doesn't have a nickname, a stadium, or a finalized roster — but its leaders say that's by design.
The venture was announced at a press event at the Ambassador Hotel in Milwaukee, according to WTMJ. Ahmed Hollowell, a Milwaukee Public Schools high school administrator according to his LinkedIn profile, will serve as team president, the station reports. Milwaukee would join the Continental Football League, which launched in 2025 and has targeted Milwaukee, Indianapolis and Cincinnati as expansion markets — and the league is explicitly unaffiliated with a similarly named league that operated in the 1960s, per the same report.
Milwaukee's addition would give the CoFL a three-team North Division alongside the Indianapolis Capitols and Cincinnati Dukes for the 2027 season. The league's materials describe an eight-team inaugural 2026 season, while another league source says its first eight-team season will be in 2027, according to the Continental Football League. The Cincinnati Dukes were founded as a semi-professional team in 2010, joined the Blue Collar Football League in 2015, and later joined the Continental Football League, as noted by Pro Football Newsroom. Indianapolis, meanwhile, made headlines of its own in August when it named former NFL All-Pro kicker Mike Vanderjagt as head coach and general manager, a hire that drew a public endorsement video from his former teammate Peyton Manning, according to the WTHR. That Capitols name revives a franchise that won the original Continental Football League title in 1969, the station notes.
No Name, No Stadium Yet
Despite the fanfare, Milwaukee Pro Football has not selected a team name or a venue, the station reports. A community ballot circulated by the ownership group lists several venue possibilities: American Family Field, the Milwaukee Mile, Hart Park, and a temporary lakefront location, according to WTMJ. The group has set a minimum venue capacity requirement of around 3,500 seats.
The options vary wildly in scale. Hart Park Stadium in Wauwatosa, which has modern synthetic turf, currently hosts Marquette University lacrosse, according to the City of Wauwatosa. The Milwaukee Mile at Wisconsin State Fair Park sits at the other end of the spectrum, seating roughly 35,000 to 37,000 as the oldest continuously operating motor speedway in the world, per Wisconsin State Fair Park.
Milwaukee has a history with pro football, and the venue search adds another chapter.
A Modest Debut Plan
Rather than promising a splashy full slate, Milwaukee Pro Football is proposing six inaugural-season games, three of them at home, played between May and July, per WTMJ's reporting. The team describes the approach as a controlled market test, not an oversized promise, the station reports. The team's roster plans remain in development.
CoFL founder and CEO Manny Matsakis said in a news release that Milwaukee Pro Football is the kind of ownership group the league was built to work with, according to WTMJ. The league has also built a formal partnership with organized labor and the ALBAT Apprenticeship Program, offering players vocational training and career pathways in trades like electrical work and construction, according to the Continental Football League. The league operates as a third-tier minor circuit using a hybrid of American and Canadian football rules and broadcasts its games publicly on YouTube, positioning itself as complementary to higher-tier spring leagues like the UFL rather than a direct competitor, per Wikipedia.
Milwaukee's Bumpy Minor-League Past
Milwaukee has tried alternative pro football before, with mixed results. The original Milwaukee Mustangs of the Arena Football League played at the Bradley Center in the mid-1990s, according to Fun While It Lasted.
The city has seen other attempts at alternative pro football.
Milwaukee's stadium search also comes amid broader local discussions about sports venues.
