'We felt like family': Glendale embracing Rattlers in new IFL home at Desert Diamond Arena

Outside Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, on a beautiful late Thursday morning, on the huge vision boards at the Westgate plaza, there were Rattlers images. The logo. Action shots.

Below, a large group of Rattlers fans stood and watched the news conference that introduced the 30-year-old professional football franchise's new home with a ribbon-cutting ceremony involving the Glendale mayor.

After 30 years playing in the Suns' arena in downtown Phoenix, starting with the Charles Barkley-playing era for the Suns there, the Rattlers have a new home. One that won't cause scheduling conflicts, having the Rattlers scramble for venue once the playoffs start and Footprint Center is already booked for other events.

"We felt like family, and welcomed," Rattlers owner Ron Shurts said about the City of Glendale and Desert Diamond Arena. "To see the fire department and police department to come out today, too, it tells us a lot about what we've done here."

Shurts gave major credit during the ribbon-cutting ceremony to coach and team president Kevin Guy, who went through the process the last two months of making this transition from downtown Phoenix to Glendale. At the same time, they were trying to figure out the schedule for the 2024 season, which starts in March.

First, they needed to let the league know where they're going to be playing.

That happened last week when the biggest Rattlers' news broke since Jerry Colangelo bought an Arena Football League franchise to put into his Suns' America West Arena for summer fun entertainment in 1992.

"On everybody's part, the negotiations, the contracts, the experience, Kevin and his team really grinded it out the last handful of days, hammering that out," Shurts said.

Shurts, who has business dealings with the Suns, thanks the NBA organization for the last 30 years.

Shurts' fast hot start with the Rattlers

Shurts, who was a Rattlers season-ticket holder in 1992 when it began playing and filled up the arena with 15,500 fans every game, bought the team in 2011. The Rattlers quickly won three consecutive ArenaBowl titles with Guy leading the team.

He credited the Suns for helping with tickets and building the attendance for games.

"These kinds of moves aren't easy for us to make," Shurts said.

Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers, City of Glendale Manager Kevin Phelps, and Desert Diamond Arena manager Dale Adams were part of the news conference Thursday.

The NHL Coyotes are no longer at Desert Diamond, a messy divorce with Glendale that now has them playing home games in Tempe at Arizona State's Mullet Arena until they can find a permanent home to be built in the Valley.

So there won't be conflicts in Glendale with another professional sports team for the Rattlers in the spring and summer. The Rattlers won five AFL titles and one Indoor Football League crown in their first year in that league in 2017. They've made 27 playoff appearances.

"We're excited to host the Arizona Rattlers, the most winning professional team in Arizona," Weirs said. "That's really exciting to know what they're bringing. I can only imagine what they'll have when we get going here at Desert Diamond Arena.

"We look forward to sharing all that Glendale has to offer with the Rattlers fans."

Phelps called himself K2 now that Kevin Guy has his team in Glendale.

"What has happened here today has been a long time coming," Phelps said. "Glendale has been able to work with the Rattlers over a number of years. It was all about timing."

New developments for the stadium and training headquarters

Phelps told the Rattlers fans in attendance Thursday that Glendale is getting ready to embark on a $40 million renovation of the arena next year.

"All of the $40 million will be to do things that will make your experience that much better when you come to the events here," Phelps said. "We will make sure we will do everything we can do to make sure that our fans know about the games, get fans to the games and we'll put the team in a position to be successful."

The Rattlers eventually hope to move their training headquarters from east Mesa to Glendale.

Guy let out a "What do you say, Rattler Nation!," when he came to the podium. He said that talks with Glendale started more than two years ago.

"Everything started moving that way," Guy said. "The timing wasn't right yet. But now I think the timing is perfect. I think the fan engagement we're going to have here. You see all these restaurants and bars. We're going to fill those things up on game night. We're going to have a good time out here."

The Rattlers have gone six years without holding up hardware at the end, something they feel can change with already some key player moves, such as signing 2023 IFL championship game MVP quarterback Dalton Sneed, a local guy who lives in Mesa. Sneed led Bay Area to the IFL championship last season.

Sneed attended Thursday's introduction ceremony at Westgate.

"We are putting this team in position to compete for a championship," Guy said.

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Glendale embracing AZ Rattlers in new IFL home at Desert Diamond Arena