Annual league championship game
ArenaBowl VIII was the Arena Football League's eighth ArenaBowl. The game featured the #3 Arizona Rattlers (8โ4) of the American Conference against the #1 Orlando Predators (11โ1) of the National Conference. The Rattlers were making their first ArenaBowl appearance in their three-year history, while the Predators were in their second ArenaBowl in their four years in the league (having lost to the Detroit Drive in ArenaBowl VI).
Arena Bowl VIII was the first to use a roman numeral in its name (a la the Super Bowl); all previous games used a shortened version of the year in which it was played (such as ArenaBowl '93).