The AFL turned its focus for representation to an annual International Rules Series against Ireland in 1998 before abolishing State of Origin in 1999.

It proved to be a center of opposition to AFL – CIO president John Sweeney, and was abolished in 1999.

The Buffalo Destroyers began play during the 1999 AFL season, playing their home games at HSBC Arena ( now known as First Niagara Center ), and were owned by Buffalo-area businessman Mark Hamister.

The last official state of origin game involving AFL players was held in 1999.

The last official AFL game was played in 1999 between Hawthorn and Sydney in front of a sell-out crowd of 72, 130.

Probably the most notable player to come out of Arena Football into the National Football League is Kurt Warner, former MVP quarterback of the Super Bowl XXXIV champion ( 2000 game, 1999 season ) St. Louis Rams, who had previously quarterbacked the former Iowa Barnstormers of the AFL.

According to the round 3 AFL Record of 1999, between the beginning of the 1994 and end of the 1998 seasons, Long played only 38 of a possible 119 games.

AFL Record, A mighty Long performance to offset a captain's pain, Australian Football League, Progress Printers & Distributors, Round 3 1999, page 61

* North Melbourne Football Club-in 1999, backed by the AFL, the club changed their trading name to the Kangaroos, and played a handful of home games interstate in Sydney.

The AFL did add the Buffalo Destroyers as an expansion team in 1999.

The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena became a companion facility to the adjacent Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and home court to the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA from October 1960 to December 1967, the Los Angeles Clippers also of the NBA from 1984 – 1999, the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL from October to December 1967 during their inaugural 1967-68 season, the USC Trojans basketball team of the NCAA from 1959 – 2006, the UCLA Bruins Basketball team of the NCAA from 1959 – 1965 and again as a temporary home in 2011-2012, the Los Angeles Blades of the Western Hockey League from 1961 to 1967, the Los Angeles Sharks of the WHA from 1972 – 1974, the Los Angeles Cobras of the AFL in 1988, and the original Los Angeles Stars of the ABA from 1968 – 1970.

In 1999, the SCG witnessed its only modern-day pitch invasion when Tony Lockett kicked his 1300th career goal to become the highest goalkicker in VFL / AFL history.

Brown drew the attention of AFL recruiters while playing under 18 representative football for the Geelong Falcons in 1999 at the national carnival in Brisbane when he was named All-Australian.

Brown was selected by the Brisbane Lions in the 1999 AFL Draft under the Father-Son Rule and subsequently made the move to Brisbane and was immediately groomed as the club's centre half forward.

* Foxtel's owners ( Telstra, News Corporation and PBL ) signed an agreement in late 1999 to ensure Foxtel gained the AFL and NRL rights.

After a lean few years, Essendon became an AFL powerhouse in 1999, 2000 and 2001, winning the 2000 premiership, while they lost the preliminary final by a point in 1999, along with losing the 2001 Grand Final to Brisbane.

He captained the club between 1999 and 2000 AFL season.

In 1997, Williams joined Port Adelaide as an assistant coach in its inaugural season in the AFL, and in 1999, won the head coaching role at Port Adelaide, replacing John Cahill.

He made his AFL debut in 1999, but did not make his mark on the league until 2002.

In 1999, the AFL became a founding member of the Canadian Senior Football League, which is now known as the Canadian Major Football League.

In the end he finished with 226 AFL games and 426 goals in 1999, third best all-time for a Melbourne player.

This marked the first time since the 1966 NFL season and the AFL seasons of 1966 and 1967 that there were byes in week 1 ; in those years, byes were necessary every week since there were an odd number of teams ( this would happen again between 1999 and 2001 ).

From 1977 to 1999, players were generally selected under State of Origin selection rules and they were chosen mostly from the Australian Football League ( AFL ).

In the second game of the Falcons 1999 season, running back Jamaal Anderson, who had been a key player in the Falcons ' 1998 success, suffered a season-ending knee injury.

In 1999, Arizona won 100 games in only its second season to win the NL West title.

* In the episode " 11: 59 " of Star Trek: Voyager's fifth season ( original air date: May 5, 1999 ), Earth's first self-contained ecosystem known as " The Millennium Gate " is referenced and described as one kilometer tall and having begun construction in 2001.

This new design remained until the 1999 season, at which point the artwork was returned to the classic " Chicago " and the " C ".

For the 1999 season, Cleveland added relief pitcher Ricardo Rincón and second baseman Roberto Alomar, brother of catcher Sandy Alomar, Jr, and won the Central Division title for the fifth consecutive year.

On April 4, 1999, the Rockies made history as they played their Opening Day game against the defending National League champion San Diego Padres at Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico – marking the first time Major League Baseball opened the regular season outside the United States or Canada.

Before the 1999 season, fans began discussing Earnhardt's age and speculating that with his son, Dale Jr. getting into racing, Earnhardt might be contemplating retirement.

Gailey led the team to two playoff appearances with a 10 – 6 record in 1998 and an NFC East championship, but the Cowboys were defeated in the playoffs by the Arizona Cardinals 20-7 ; after an 8 – 8 season in 1999 ( during which Irvin suffered a career-ending spinal injury in a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles ) ending in another playoff loss ( this time to the Minnesota Vikings 27-10 ), he was fired and became the first Cowboys coach who did not take the team to a Super Bowl.

Tiger Stadium was used by the Tigers until the end of the 1999 season ; from 2000 they have played in Comerica Park.

The following season, the Wings looked poised to " three-peat " for the first time in franchise history, acquiring three-time top blueliner Chris Chelios from his hometown Chicago Blackhawks in March 1999, but they would end up losing the Western Conference Semifinals to Colorado in six games.

Scraping into the finals the year previous, Essendon's emergence in 1999 took the league by surprise, finishing atop of the premiership ladder and entering the finals as premiership favourites, having beaten fellow contenders North Melbourne twice during the regular season in convincing fashion.

The only seasons in recent times when this pattern was not followed were 1999 – 2000, when most rounds were played a few weeks earlier than normal as an experiment, and 2010 – 2011 when the FA Cup Final was played before the Premier League season had finished, in order to allow the stadium to be ready for the UEFA Champions League final.

* Before the 2008 season, the temporary luxury boxes installed for the 1999 All-Star Game were removed and permanent ones were added to the State Street Pavilion level.

The Marlins finished the 1999 season with the worst record in baseball at 64 – 98, and traded World Series MVP Liván Hernández to the San Francisco Giants.

After posting the worst record in baseball for the 1999 season, the Marlins had the first overall pick in the 2000 first-year player draft and selected first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, a 16-year-old native of Bonita, California.

Final Astros regular season game ( in the Astrodome ) on October 3, 1999

* The Aces are now a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, and won the 1999 regular season title.

The Colts began to improve towards the end of the 1998 season and showed continued growth in 1999.

Indianapolis drafted Edgerrin James in 1999 and continued to improve their roster heading into the upcoming season.

The 2000 and 2001 Colts teams were considerably less successful compared to the 1999 team and pressure began to mount on team administration and the coaching staff following a 6 – 10 season in 2001.

The rivalry would in the following years be virtually negated by very poor play of he Colts ; the Colts would win just 117 games in the twenty-one seasons ( 1978 – 98 ) that bracketed their 1977 playoff loss to the Oakland Raiders and the 1999 trade of star running back Marshall Faulk ; this included a 0 – 8 – 1 record during the NFL's strike shortened 1982 season.

In 1999, the Jaguars compiled a league best 14 – 2 regular season record, the best record in franchise history.

The Jaguars finished the 1999 season 15 – 3, with all three of their losses coming against the Titans ( the only time in NFL history that a 3-loss team had all of its losses to one team ).

Only two players have won both the Norris and Hart Memorial Trophy for the league Most Valuable Player in the same season: Bobby Orr, who won both trophies in the 1969 – 70, 1970 – 71 and 1971 – 72 seasons, and Chris Pronger, who won the Hart and Norris in the 1999 – 2000 NHL season.