Oregon Lightning quarterback Matthew Ioane, right, fires a pass toward one of his receivers during team practice at the Jaqua Fields in Redmond Tuesday afternoon.

Arena football is back in Central Oregon, and Chuck Jones believes it is here to stay.

The head coach and part-owner of the Redmond-based Oregon Lightning, Jones will lead his team in its opening game in the inaugural season of Arena Football One on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Redmond’s First Interstate Bank Center.

The Lightning are a rebrand of the Oregon High Desert Storm, a Jones-coached team that played in Redmond from 2021 to 2023 in the now-defunct America West Football Conference.

“The big difference is the TV contracts,” Jones said. “Being able to spread this brand all over the United States … it gives visibility to the city that we’re playing in and also visibility to the program. It’s stronger leadership at the top, which allows the ground level to work more efficiently. I do feel like it’s a league that can last for years and years.”

Arena Football One (AF1) games can be streamed on EvergeenNOW! and some games will be available on the Vice TV cable channel. The Commissioner of AF1 is Jeff Fisher, a former head coach in the NFL for 22 years who led the Tennessee Titans to the Super Bowl in 2000. Jones said Fisher will be at the game Saturday night in Redmond, when the Lightning take on the Billings (Mont.) Outlaws.

“We have some great players,” Jones said. “We don’t have the traditional roster with all the big names that everybody knows, but we have a ton of hungry guys who are trying to make a name for themselves.”

Arena football is played indoors on a 50-yard field and includes eight players per team.

The Lightning’s roster is a near-complete overhaul, with only four players who played for the Storm two years ago. That includes former Crook County High School player Parker Lapsley, a running back for the Storm and now for the Lightning.

The Lightning’s starting quarterback is Dalton Cole, who played at Brevard College in North Carolina.

“We have some veterans who have been on other arena teams,” Jones said. “We’re gelling, we’re together.”

The Oregon Lightning players live together on a two-acre property dubbed Lightning Ranch near Eagle Crest Resort and they practice at the Jaqua Fields in Redmond.

After Saturday night’s opening game, the Lightning will play four straight road games, starting March 22 at the Washington (Everett) Wolfpack.

AF1 currently has eight teams for its debut season: The Oregon Lightning; Albany (N.Y.) Firebirds; Billings Outlaws; Corpus Christi (Texas) Tritons; Nashville (Tenn.) Kats; Salina (Kan.) Liberty; Southwest Kansas Storm; and the Washington Wolfpack.

“The level of competition is way higher,” Jones said. “The New York team has six or seven guys who just got cut by NFL teams.”

The Lightning has a total of six home games on its schedule. After Saturday night’s debut, the remaining home games are April 25 vs. the Washington Wolfpack, May 12 vs. the Corpus Christi Tritons, May 18 vs. the Wolfpack, June 8 vs. the Tritons and June 14 vs. the Outlaws.

Tickets range from $15 to $45 per game.

“We’re just building,” Jones said. “We just want all the fans to come out and support us, because those cameras are gonna be there, and if we keep packing this place out, the cameras will continue to come. There’s a lot riding on this for us, especially the owners. And we’re just regular people. We’re not millionaires. We’re hard-working people and we took a chance and put our financial life on the line for this team and for this city.”

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the theoregonlightning.com.

For more information on Arena Football One, visit theaf1.com.