Indoor football
Encyclopedia
Indoor football is a term used to describe several variations of American football
which are played indoors. It is important to note that NFL or College games played in locations such as the Astrodome or the Superdome do not qualify as indoor football as they are using a standard size playing field. The rules of indoor football are specifically designed to allow for play in a smaller area which would normally be used for a sport such as basketball or ice hockey. An indoor football playing season is typically scheduled to begin in mid to late winter and continue to the middle of summer.
in 1902 and 1903 known as the "World Series of Pro Football
." They were the first efforts at a national professional football championship. The games were played on a 70-yard by 35-yard dirt field but otherwise adhered to outdoor rules. Poor attendance led to the tournament being discontinued for 1904.
The first major indoor football game was the 1932 NFL Playoff Game
, which was played indoors in the Chicago Stadium
due to a severe blizzard that prevented playing the game outside. A dirt floor was brought in, and to compensate for the 80-yard length of the field, the teams' positions were reset back twenty yards upon crossing midfield.
In 1930, the Atlantic City Convention Center
constructed a full-size indoor football field, and used it for one to three games a year during the 1930s; the stadium stopped hosting games in 1940 and did not resume hosting football games until 1961. In the 1960s the Boardwalk Bowl
, a post-season game involving small college teams, was contested at the convention center. The Bowl was an attempt to make Atlantic City more of a year-round resort in the pre-gambling era as opposed to a single-season one (the Miss America Pageant, also held at the center, likewise began as an attempt to extend the season beyond Labor Day). The Philadelphia-based Liberty Bowl
game, which had been played at Municipal Stadium
from 1959–1963, was moved into the Convention Center in 1964 for the contest between Utah
and West Virginia
. The game drew just over 6,000 fans, though, and the Liberty Bowl moved to Memphis
the next year, where it is still held as of 2010.
This, however, was not technically "indoor football" as discussed here, as the size of the playing surface and hence the rules were essentially the same as in the standard outdoor game, with only the necessity of contingencies for what were to happen should, say, a punt strike the ceiling. (The end zones were slightly shorter—eight yards instead of the standard ten—but this was relatively minor and also occasionally happened in outdoor stadiums as well.) Some would say that the relative success of this game, which was staged for several years, helped lead to the domed stadium era which began with the opening of the Houston Astrodome in 1965. The Astrodome in turn led to the development of the artificial turf playing surface required to make the indoor game truly practicable. (The Houston Oilers
did not move their games inside the Astrodome as soon it was completed; they continued to play outdoors until 1968.) Football played in domed stadiums such as the Astrodome, however, is not truly "indoor football", as the game as played in domed stadiums is essentially identical to that played outdoors.
, devised by Jim Foster, a former executive of the United States Football League
and the National Football League
. He devised his game on the back of a manila envelope while watching indoor soccer
, another game derived from a sport traditionally played in a large outdoor venue. He worked on the game in the early 1980s, but put any plans for full development of it on hold while the United States Football League
, an attempt to play traditional American football in a non-traditional (spring-summer) season, was in operation in 1983–1985. When the USFL ceased operations following an pyrrhic
anti-trust suit against the NFL (the USFL won the case, but was awarded only $
3 in damages), Foster saw his opportunity. He staged a "test game" in Rockford, Illinois
in 1986 and put together a four-team league for a "demonstration season" in the spring of 1987, with games televised on ESPN
. The relative success of this league, which operated for 22 years, led to the inevitable attempts at imitation.
To adapt to the smaller indoor playing surface, which was half the length of the traditional 100 yard field and about half the width as well, with eight yard rather than ten yard end zones, conveniently making the dimensions exactly the same size as a professional ice hockey
rink. Foster, instead of trying to cram a full team of eleven players onto this reduced-size field, instead adopted a modified version of eight-man football
. He also mandated a one-platoon system
that required at least six players "go both ways", playing on both offensive and defensive downs. This additionally had the desirable effect of limiting roster sizes and team payrolls.
There were numerous other rules designed to help the offense and ensure high-scoring games. Two are most noteworthy: the banning of punting
, meaning that if a team felt it was not likely to get a first down after three plays its only kicking option was to attempt a field goal
, even if it were of the very unlikely distance of 60 yards or more (Foster had also instituted rules that had favored the drop kick
as a substitute for the punt, but such rules were rarely used); and the placing of rebound nets around the ends of the playing surface. Kicked and passed balls bouncing off of these nets are still in play. In the case of a pass, the ball is live only until it touches the ground, but in the case of an unsuccessful field goal or a kickoff, the ball remains in play unless it goes out of bounds or until the player recovering it is downed by contact or scores. This means that on every kicking play except an extra point attempt, either team may have a shot to regain the ball and advance it, much as a blocked kick could be in the traditional outdoor game. Only kicked or passed balls touching the slack nets behind the goalposts (which were only about half of the traditional width) are ruled dead at that point. To further an offensive passing advantage over the defense, Foster also imposed strict restrictions on the defensive formation, mandating that all defenses played a 3-2-Monster formation (three defensive linemen, two linebackers, two cornerbacks, and one safety). Linebackers were not permitted to blitz and were required to stay in boxes behind the line of scrimmage, while defensive linemen where hindered by restrictions that prevented them from using certain techniques to penetrate the offensive line. The AFL also adopted the USFL's concept of playing in the spring, which has since been imitated by virtually all other professional indoor leagues as of 2010.
Within a year of the AFL kicking off, its first challenger, the World Indoor Football League
formed. The WIFL planned to play a schedule with six teams beginning in summer of 1988 with its own set of indoor-inspired rules, including an unusual system that would have eight men on offense and seven men on defense. Despite having backing from former NFL players, veteran coaches, and singer John Mellencamp
, the league canceled its 1988 season, folded half of its franchises (including Mellencamp's), and made an unsuccessful bid for the remaining three teams to join the AFL.
In 1990, Foster patented the rules of Arena football, meaning that only persons authorized by him could use his rules and his name for the sport. The patent specifically covered the rebound net feature, meaning that competitors and imitators who attempted to copy the game couldn't use this aspect of the rules. However, under provisions of U.S. patent law
, Foster's patent expired on March 27, 2007, enabling imitators to use his rebound nets (at least as originally envisioned, without other innovations that he may have patented).
The most remarkable development in Arena football, other than the AFL signing a major network television broadcasting contract with NBC
, was the development of the official Arena minor league
, af2
, beginning in 2000. This effort basically served two purposes: one as a developmental league for Arena and as a place where former collegiate players could develop while at the same time learning and becoming accustomed to the unique Arena rules, and secondly as a pre-emptive way of shutting out potential new indoor football competitors (this was especially important as the 2007 expiration of Foster's patent on the rebound nets approached). At times over forty teams participated in this league, almost uniformly in cities which also had minor league ice hockey teams and hence suitable arenas.
Shortly before the end of 2008, the Arena Football League
announced that it would not be playing a 2009 Spring season but that the play of its developmental league (AF2
) would continue as scheduled. During the previous few years, the league administrators and team owners had allowed player salaries and other costs to rise to the point where the league and many of the teams were losing a substantial amount of money. Late in the summer of 2009, with the team owners unable to agree on a plan for making the league viable again the AFL announced that it was folding.
The Arena Football 2 League played a successful 2009 season. Most of the teams made a sustainable profit and the team owners were eager to see the AF2 continue for another year. However, as it became apparent that the AFL owners would not be able to adopt a workable business model, the AF2 team owners found themselves facing a problem. With the AFL owning 50.1% of the AF2, it would fold if the AFL folded. At the end of the 2009 season, a gathering of AF2 and AFL team owners set out to form their own organization, originally known as Arena Football 1. AF1 went on to purchase all assets of the original AFL and AF2, except for a few team names and logos owned by outside parties, in a December 2009 bankruptcy auction. Shortly after the purchase, AF1 adopted the Arena Football League name, and the reborn AFL began operations in 2010
with 15 teams. The league will expand to 19 teams for 2011 with the addition of one completely new franchise and the return of three former AFL teams; additionally, two existing teams will move into former AFL markets and take up the names of their markets' former teams.
The Indoor Football League
will enter 2010 as the largest (in number of teams) of the currently existing indoor leagues. It began in the Autumn of 2008 when two already established leagues (Intense Football League
and United Indoor Football
) chose to merge into a single organization. The IFL's expansion model is based less on establishing brand-new teams and more on acquiring existing teams from other leagues. Since the initial announcement of the IFL's formation, the league has experienced a solid pattern of growth and profit. Teams have left the Continental Indoor Football League and the Southern Indoor Football League
to join the IFL. At least four franchises of the now defunct AF2 have chosen to join the IFL instead of aligning with the revived AFL.
The most recent incarnation of the Southern Indoor Football League
was the result of a merger of a smaller league of the same name, which was founded in 2009, and a portion of the American Indoor Football Association. The league is the second reorganization of what originally began as the Atlantic Indoor Football League in 2005. The AIFL was dissolved after the AIFA absorbed the remaining teams after a tumultuous 2006 season; the AIFA merged with the original SIFL in fall 2010 after the league's western teams split off to form their own league (which ceased operations before beginning play). The SIFL, including its predecessors, played its seventh season in 2011 as a near-national league stretching from Pennsylvania to Texas before breaking up into three regional leagues prior to 2012: the revived AIFA, the Lone Star Football League and the Professional Indoor Football League (see next section).
Since the first non arena league (Professional Indoor Football League) began in the late 1980s, there has often been a pattern of instability. Each off-season has seen teams jumping from league to league. In addition, leagues have annually merged, changed names, and separated. The organization that is now the AIFA went through three names in its first three seasons.
A few leagues have achieved a certain level of stability, though still many teams go from one league to another annually, both between each other and between regional and national leagues. Currently, several regional professional leagues exist: the Continental Indoor Football League is concentrated in the Great Lakes
region, the American Professional Football League
plays in the eastern Great Plains
region, the Professional Indoor Football League
plays in the Southern United States
, both the Independent Indoor Football Alliance
and Lone Star Football League
play in Texas
(with the former playing at a near-amateur level), the Ultimate Indoor Football League
, backed by former AIFL founder Andrew Haines, plays in Appalachia
, and American Indoor Football operates two regional divisions, one in the west and one in the Mid-Atlantic
.
Many leagues have also been plagued with internal dissension. For example, the NIFL
was characterized by annual issues between teams and league owner Carolyn Shiver before it folded after its 2007 season, while the APFL
ended its 2006 season with a forfeit of the championship game when the league offices refused to allow the championship game to be hosted at the home of the team who had won the right to host and refused to play the game, and the CIFL had its defending champion Rochester Raiders
quit the league in the middle of the playoffs in 2008. At the end of the 2009 season, the league champion Chicago Slaughter left the CIFL to join the IFL. They were joined in this move by the Austin TurfCats who had left the SIFL.
Only one indoor women's league
has ever taken the field: the Lingerie Football League
, known for its scantily-clad players and its signature event, the Lingerie Bowl
, plays by a variant of indoor rules, and eight of its ten franchises play in indoor arenas (the other two, the Dallas Desire
and Denver Dream
, play outdoors, but use the same indoor football rules; they are the only two teams known to have ever played the indoor game outdoors). Otherwise, all other women's leagues play on outdoor fields.
All indoor football teams play at a minor league
or even semi-pro
level. The average player's salary in the Arena Football League was US$
1,800 per game in 2008; this is about a third of the per-game salary of players in outdoor leagues such as United Football League, Canadian Football League
and the XFL
(adjusted for inflation). Lower leagues such as af2 and the AIFA had per-game salaries of about $200 per game; AF1 plans on paying approximately $400 per game.
, and his high quality play earned him a spot on USA Today's All Joe Team. Jackson played the early part of his professional football career for the Sioux City Bandits
of the Indoor Football League
. 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. The National Football League has removed a ban that had been in place on any of its owners owning teams in any other sort of football operation with respect to Arena football only, and several of them have bought or started Arena teams. However, the NFL allowed to lapse an option it had negotiated allowing it to purchase up to 49% of Arena football, and as of early 2007 seemed to have backed away from any plan it may have had to use Arena football as a developmental league in any sort of "official" sense, perhaps in the interest of not undermining its then-existing "official" developmental league, NFL Europa.
Several NFL owners owned Arena Football League teams in their own cities prior to the league's bankruptcy. At the end of the 2008 season, Jerry Jones
and the Dallas Desperados
(who have similar colors and logos to the Dallas Cowboys
), Arthur Blank
's Georgia Force
, and the Colorado Crush
(whose shareholders included Broncos owner Pat Bowlen
and Rams then-minority owner Stan Kroenke) were still in the league. San Francisco 49ers owner Denise DeBartolo York
and Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder
had future expansion rights to their respective cities. Tom Benson
's New Orleans VooDoo
and Bud Adams
's Nashville Kats
had folded. None of the NFL owners with AFL franchises returned to the league after its reformation in 2010, and most favored abolishing the league entirely.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
which are played indoors. It is important to note that NFL or College games played in locations such as the Astrodome or the Superdome do not qualify as indoor football as they are using a standard size playing field. The rules of indoor football are specifically designed to allow for play in a smaller area which would normally be used for a sport such as basketball or ice hockey. An indoor football playing season is typically scheduled to begin in mid to late winter and continue to the middle of summer.
Early history
The first documented indoor football games were those played at Madison Square GardenMadison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
in 1902 and 1903 known as the "World Series of Pro Football
World Series of Football (1902)
The World Series of Football was a series of football games played indoors at New York's Madison Square Garden in 1902 and 1903. It originally comprised five teams, four from New York state and one from New Jersey...
." They were the first efforts at a national professional football championship. The games were played on a 70-yard by 35-yard dirt field but otherwise adhered to outdoor rules. Poor attendance led to the tournament being discontinued for 1904.
The first major indoor football game was the 1932 NFL Playoff Game
NFL Playoff Game, 1932
The 1932 NFL Playoff Game was the first ever playoff game held by the National Football League , the major professional American football sports league in the United States. Due to extremely cold weather, the game was played indoors on December 18, 1932 at Chicago Stadium in Chicago...
, which was played indoors in the Chicago Stadium
Chicago Stadium
The Chicago Stadium was an indoor sports arena and theater in Chicago. It opened in 1929, and closed in 1994.-History:The Stadium hosted the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL from 1929–1994 and the Chicago Bulls of the NBA from 1967–1994....
due to a severe blizzard that prevented playing the game outside. A dirt floor was brought in, and to compensate for the 80-yard length of the field, the teams' positions were reset back twenty yards upon crossing midfield.
In 1930, the Atlantic City Convention Center
Boardwalk Hall
Boardwalk Hall, formally known as the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, is an arena in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States...
constructed a full-size indoor football field, and used it for one to three games a year during the 1930s; the stadium stopped hosting games in 1940 and did not resume hosting football games until 1961. In the 1960s the Boardwalk Bowl
Boardwalk Bowl
The Boardwalk Bowl is a post-season college football game held at the former Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The game featured an annual matchup between Pennsylvania Military College and the United States Merchant Marine Academy, known as the "Little Army–Navy Game"...
, a post-season game involving small college teams, was contested at the convention center. The Bowl was an attempt to make Atlantic City more of a year-round resort in the pre-gambling era as opposed to a single-season one (the Miss America Pageant, also held at the center, likewise began as an attempt to extend the season beyond Labor Day). The Philadelphia-based Liberty Bowl
Liberty Bowl
The Liberty Bowl is an annual U.S. American college football bowl game played in December of each year from 1959 to 2007 and in January in 2009 and 2010. The Liberty Bowl was sponsored by AXA Financial and was known as the AXA Liberty Bowl from 1997 to 2003...
game, which had been played at Municipal Stadium
John F. Kennedy Stadium
John F. Kennedy Stadium was an open-air stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that stood from 1925 to 1992. The South Philadelphia stadium was situated on the east side of the far southern end of Broad Street at a location that is now part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
from 1959–1963, was moved into the Convention Center in 1964 for the contest between Utah
Utah Utes
The Utah Utes are the athletics teams of the University of Utah. They are named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans. The men's basketball team is known as the "Runnin' Utes"; the women's basketball team, formerly known as the "Lady Utes," now prefers to be referred to as the "Utes"; and the...
and West Virginia
West Virginia Mountaineers football
The West Virginia Mountaineers football team represents West Virginia University in the NCAA FBS division of college football. Dana Holgorsen is the team's 33rd head coach. He has held the position since he was promoted in June 2011 after the resignation of Bill Stewart. The Mountaineers play their...
. The game drew just over 6,000 fans, though, and the Liberty Bowl moved to Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
the next year, where it is still held as of 2010.
This, however, was not technically "indoor football" as discussed here, as the size of the playing surface and hence the rules were essentially the same as in the standard outdoor game, with only the necessity of contingencies for what were to happen should, say, a punt strike the ceiling. (The end zones were slightly shorter—eight yards instead of the standard ten—but this was relatively minor and also occasionally happened in outdoor stadiums as well.) Some would say that the relative success of this game, which was staged for several years, helped lead to the domed stadium era which began with the opening of the Houston Astrodome in 1965. The Astrodome in turn led to the development of the artificial turf playing surface required to make the indoor game truly practicable. (The Houston Oilers
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
did not move their games inside the Astrodome as soon it was completed; they continued to play outdoors until 1968.) Football played in domed stadiums such as the Astrodome, however, is not truly "indoor football", as the game as played in domed stadiums is essentially identical to that played outdoors.
Arena football
While several attempts to make up a true indoor football game have been made since shortly after American football was developed, the first version to meet with anything resembling true success and acceptance is Arena footballArena football
Arena football is a variety of gridiron football played by the Arena Football League . It is a proprietary game, the rights to which are owned by Gridiron Enterprises, and is played indoors on a smaller field than American or Canadian outdoor football, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game....
, devised by Jim Foster, a former executive of the United States Football League
United States Football League
The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...
and the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. He devised his game on the back of a manila envelope while watching indoor soccer
Indoor soccer
Indoor soccer or arena soccer, or six-a-side football in the United Kingdom, is a game derived from association football adapted for play in an indoor arena such as a turf-covered hockey arena or skating rink. The most important difference in play is that the indoor field is surrounded by a wall...
, another game derived from a sport traditionally played in a large outdoor venue. He worked on the game in the early 1980s, but put any plans for full development of it on hold while the United States Football League
United States Football League
The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...
, an attempt to play traditional American football in a non-traditional (spring-summer) season, was in operation in 1983–1985. When the USFL ceased operations following an pyrrhic
Pyrrhic victory
A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with such a devastating cost to the victor that it carries the implication that another such victory will ultimately cause defeat.-Origin:...
anti-trust suit against the NFL (the USFL won the case, but was awarded only $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
3 in damages), Foster saw his opportunity. He staged a "test game" in Rockford, Illinois
Rockford, Illinois
Rockford is a mid-sized city located on both banks of the Rock River in far northern Illinois. Often referred to as "The Forest City", Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County, Illinois, USA. As reported in the 2010 U.S. census, the city was home to 152,871 people, the third most populated...
in 1986 and put together a four-team league for a "demonstration season" in the spring of 1987, with games televised on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
. The relative success of this league, which operated for 22 years, led to the inevitable attempts at imitation.
To adapt to the smaller indoor playing surface, which was half the length of the traditional 100 yard field and about half the width as well, with eight yard rather than ten yard end zones, conveniently making the dimensions exactly the same size as a professional ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
rink. Foster, instead of trying to cram a full team of eleven players onto this reduced-size field, instead adopted a modified version of eight-man football
Eight-man football
Eight-man football is a type of American football, generally played by small high schools. Rules and formations vary greatly among states and even among different organizations, but the one constant is eight players from each team on the field at one time, as opposed to eleven-man football, which...
. He also mandated a one-platoon system
One-platoon system
The one-platoon system, also known as iron man football, was a system in American football where players played on both offense and defense. It was the result of rules that limited player substitutions. The alternative system is known as the "two-platoon system", or simply the "platoon system",...
that required at least six players "go both ways", playing on both offensive and defensive downs. This additionally had the desirable effect of limiting roster sizes and team payrolls.
There were numerous other rules designed to help the offense and ensure high-scoring games. Two are most noteworthy: the banning of punting
Punt (football)
In some codes of football, a punt is a play in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it touches the ground. A punt is in contrast to a drop kick, in which the ball touches the ground before being kicked....
, meaning that if a team felt it was not likely to get a first down after three plays its only kicking option was to attempt a field goal
Field goal (football)
A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick.The drop kick fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed...
, even if it were of the very unlikely distance of 60 yards or more (Foster had also instituted rules that had favored the drop kick
Drop kick
A drop kick is a type of kick in various codes of football. It involves a player dropping the ball and then kicking it when it bounces off the ground. It contrasts to a punt, wherein the player kicks the ball without letting it hit the ground first....
as a substitute for the punt, but such rules were rarely used); and the placing of rebound nets around the ends of the playing surface. Kicked and passed balls bouncing off of these nets are still in play. In the case of a pass, the ball is live only until it touches the ground, but in the case of an unsuccessful field goal or a kickoff, the ball remains in play unless it goes out of bounds or until the player recovering it is downed by contact or scores. This means that on every kicking play except an extra point attempt, either team may have a shot to regain the ball and advance it, much as a blocked kick could be in the traditional outdoor game. Only kicked or passed balls touching the slack nets behind the goalposts (which were only about half of the traditional width) are ruled dead at that point. To further an offensive passing advantage over the defense, Foster also imposed strict restrictions on the defensive formation, mandating that all defenses played a 3-2-Monster formation (three defensive linemen, two linebackers, two cornerbacks, and one safety). Linebackers were not permitted to blitz and were required to stay in boxes behind the line of scrimmage, while defensive linemen where hindered by restrictions that prevented them from using certain techniques to penetrate the offensive line. The AFL also adopted the USFL's concept of playing in the spring, which has since been imitated by virtually all other professional indoor leagues as of 2010.
Within a year of the AFL kicking off, its first challenger, the World Indoor Football League
World Indoor Football League
This article is about the proposed league that was to begin in 1988, for the 2007 indoor football league, see World Indoor Football League The World Indoor Football League was an indoor football league that was to begin in 1988 to compete with the Arena Football League, which was playing its second...
formed. The WIFL planned to play a schedule with six teams beginning in summer of 1988 with its own set of indoor-inspired rules, including an unusual system that would have eight men on offense and seven men on defense. Despite having backing from former NFL players, veteran coaches, and singer John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp, previously known by the stage names Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American rock singer-songwriter, musician, painter and occasional actor known for his catchy, populist brand of heartland rock that eschews synthesizers and other artificial sounds...
, the league canceled its 1988 season, folded half of its franchises (including Mellencamp's), and made an unsuccessful bid for the remaining three teams to join the AFL.
In 1990, Foster patented the rules of Arena football, meaning that only persons authorized by him could use his rules and his name for the sport. The patent specifically covered the rebound net feature, meaning that competitors and imitators who attempted to copy the game couldn't use this aspect of the rules. However, under provisions of U.S. patent law
Term of patent in the United States
In the United States, under current patent law, the term of patent, provided that maintenance fees are paid on time, are:* For applications filed on or after June 8, 1995, the patent term is 20 years from the filing date of the earliest U.S...
, Foster's patent expired on March 27, 2007, enabling imitators to use his rebound nets (at least as originally envisioned, without other innovations that he may have patented).
The most remarkable development in Arena football, other than the AFL signing a major network television broadcasting contract with NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, was the development of the official Arena minor league
Minor league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities. This term is used in North America with regard to several organizations competing in...
, af2
Af2
AF2 was the name of the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup...
, beginning in 2000. This effort basically served two purposes: one as a developmental league for Arena and as a place where former collegiate players could develop while at the same time learning and becoming accustomed to the unique Arena rules, and secondly as a pre-emptive way of shutting out potential new indoor football competitors (this was especially important as the 2007 expiration of Foster's patent on the rebound nets approached). At times over forty teams participated in this league, almost uniformly in cities which also had minor league ice hockey teams and hence suitable arenas.
Shortly before the end of 2008, the Arena Football League
Arena Football League
The Arena Football League is the highest level of professional indoor American football in the United States. It is currently the second longest running professional football league in the United States, after the National Football League. It was founded in 1987 by Jim Foster...
announced that it would not be playing a 2009 Spring season but that the play of its developmental league (AF2
AF2
AF2 was the name of the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup...
) would continue as scheduled. During the previous few years, the league administrators and team owners had allowed player salaries and other costs to rise to the point where the league and many of the teams were losing a substantial amount of money. Late in the summer of 2009, with the team owners unable to agree on a plan for making the league viable again the AFL announced that it was folding.
The Arena Football 2 League played a successful 2009 season. Most of the teams made a sustainable profit and the team owners were eager to see the AF2 continue for another year. However, as it became apparent that the AFL owners would not be able to adopt a workable business model, the AF2 team owners found themselves facing a problem. With the AFL owning 50.1% of the AF2, it would fold if the AFL folded. At the end of the 2009 season, a gathering of AF2 and AFL team owners set out to form their own organization, originally known as Arena Football 1. AF1 went on to purchase all assets of the original AFL and AF2, except for a few team names and logos owned by outside parties, in a December 2009 bankruptcy auction. Shortly after the purchase, AF1 adopted the Arena Football League name, and the reborn AFL began operations in 2010
2010 Arena Football League season
The 2010 Arena Football League season was the twenty-third season in the history of the league. The regular season began on April 2, 2010 and ended on July 31...
with 15 teams. The league will expand to 19 teams for 2011 with the addition of one completely new franchise and the return of three former AFL teams; additionally, two existing teams will move into former AFL markets and take up the names of their markets' former teams.
Other national indoor football leagues
As the AFL and AF2 were having to deal with the fact that the AFL had overextended itself, two newer leagues were solidifying their positions in the world of Indoor football. It should be noted that the brand of Indoor football they are playing does not use the rebound nets and is more of a defense based game than Arena football. On 19 October 1998 Richard F. Suess filed for and was subsequently awarded U.S. patent number 6045466 for his version of Indoor Football; Suess's proprietary version, which included rebound nets in the middle of the field instead of the ends, has never been played.The Indoor Football League
Indoor Football League
The Indoor Football League began in 1999 as an offshoot of the troubled Professional Indoor Football League. Keary Ecklund, the owner of the Green Bay Bombers and Madison Mad Dogs, left the PIFL after its first, financially-troubled, season to start his own league. Unlike the PIFL, the IFL was an...
will enter 2010 as the largest (in number of teams) of the currently existing indoor leagues. It began in the Autumn of 2008 when two already established leagues (Intense Football League
Intense Football League
The Intense Football League was a professional indoor football league that initially began operations in 2004. Its focus was in Texas, but was notable for being the first professional football league to place a franchise in Alaska.-History:...
and United Indoor Football
United Indoor Football
United Indoor Football was a United States indoor football league that started in 2005. Ten owners from the National Indoor Football League, including one expansion and two from arenafootball2 took their franchises and formed their own league...
) chose to merge into a single organization. The IFL's expansion model is based less on establishing brand-new teams and more on acquiring existing teams from other leagues. Since the initial announcement of the IFL's formation, the league has experienced a solid pattern of growth and profit. Teams have left the Continental Indoor Football League and the Southern Indoor Football League
Southern Indoor Football League
The Southern Indoor Football League was an indoor football league based in the Southern and Eastern United States. The most recent incarnation of the league was a consolidation of an earlier league of the same name that was formed by Thom Hager along with Dan Blum, Robert Winfrey and Dan Ryan in...
to join the IFL. At least four franchises of the now defunct AF2 have chosen to join the IFL instead of aligning with the revived AFL.
The most recent incarnation of the Southern Indoor Football League
Southern Indoor Football League
The Southern Indoor Football League was an indoor football league based in the Southern and Eastern United States. The most recent incarnation of the league was a consolidation of an earlier league of the same name that was formed by Thom Hager along with Dan Blum, Robert Winfrey and Dan Ryan in...
was the result of a merger of a smaller league of the same name, which was founded in 2009, and a portion of the American Indoor Football Association. The league is the second reorganization of what originally began as the Atlantic Indoor Football League in 2005. The AIFL was dissolved after the AIFA absorbed the remaining teams after a tumultuous 2006 season; the AIFA merged with the original SIFL in fall 2010 after the league's western teams split off to form their own league (which ceased operations before beginning play). The SIFL, including its predecessors, played its seventh season in 2011 as a near-national league stretching from Pennsylvania to Texas before breaking up into three regional leagues prior to 2012: the revived AIFA, the Lone Star Football League and the Professional Indoor Football League (see next section).
Other pro leagues
Several other indoor leagues have been announced without ever actually commencing play, or operating only briefly with a handful of teams. (At least most of these leagues are compiled in the list below, including all which attempted to operate on anything resembling a nationwide level.) Like the original Arena Football League, all of these operations contemplated their playing season as being entirely or primarily outside the traditional fall/early winter season of the older sport so as not to be competing with it directly for fan support. Some were apparently attempts to form a second "major" league of indoor football while others were strictly efforts to form a new "minor" league. The common factor all seemed to share was serious undercapitalization.Since the first non arena league (Professional Indoor Football League) began in the late 1980s, there has often been a pattern of instability. Each off-season has seen teams jumping from league to league. In addition, leagues have annually merged, changed names, and separated. The organization that is now the AIFA went through three names in its first three seasons.
A few leagues have achieved a certain level of stability, though still many teams go from one league to another annually, both between each other and between regional and national leagues. Currently, several regional professional leagues exist: the Continental Indoor Football League is concentrated in the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
region, the American Professional Football League
American Professional Football League
The American Professional Football League is a Midwestern United States-based indoor football league founded in 2003. The league consists of professional and semi-professional teams, with a few core teams that play a full 10 game schedule and other teams that play partial schedules. At the end of...
plays in the eastern Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
region, the Professional Indoor Football League
Professional Indoor Football League (2012)
The Professional Indoor Football League is a regional professional indoor football league set to begin its inaugural season in 2012. Like the Lone Star Football League, the PIFL is mainly composed of teams formerly from Southern Indoor Football League .Despite the name, this PIFL has no...
plays in the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
, both the Independent Indoor Football Alliance
Independent Indoor Football Alliance
The Independent Indoor Football Alliance is a class A professional developmental indoor football league based in the state of Texas. The league played an abbreviated 2009 season punctuated by a number of forfeits. The league grew and had tighter restrictions for 2010 in hopes of better football...
and Lone Star Football League
Lone Star Football League
The Lone Star Football League is a regional professional indoor football league set to begin its inaugural season in 2012. All six of the LSFL's charter teams are based in the state of Texas, with five teams coming from the Southern Indoor Football League and two from the Indoor Football...
play in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
(with the former playing at a near-amateur level), the Ultimate Indoor Football League
Ultimate Indoor Football League
The Ultimate Indoor Football League is a regional professional indoor football league that began its inaugural season on February 18, 2011.-History:...
, backed by former AIFL founder Andrew Haines, plays in Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
, and American Indoor Football operates two regional divisions, one in the west and one in the Mid-Atlantic
Mid-Atlantic
Mid-Atlantic can refer to:*Mid-Atlantic English, a mix between British English and American English*Mid-Atlantic Region , one of the United States geographic divisions of the Little League World Series...
.
Many leagues have also been plagued with internal dissension. For example, the NIFL
National Indoor Football League
National Indoor Football League was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, af2, however, that changed briefly with their expansion into AFL...
was characterized by annual issues between teams and league owner Carolyn Shiver before it folded after its 2007 season, while the APFL
American Professional Football League
The American Professional Football League is a Midwestern United States-based indoor football league founded in 2003. The league consists of professional and semi-professional teams, with a few core teams that play a full 10 game schedule and other teams that play partial schedules. At the end of...
ended its 2006 season with a forfeit of the championship game when the league offices refused to allow the championship game to be hosted at the home of the team who had won the right to host and refused to play the game, and the CIFL had its defending champion Rochester Raiders
Rochester Raiders
The Rochester Raiders are a professional indoor football team based in the Rochester, New York area. They are currently a member of the Indoor Football League and play their home games at the Dome Arena in the suburb of Henrietta...
quit the league in the middle of the playoffs in 2008. At the end of the 2009 season, the league champion Chicago Slaughter left the CIFL to join the IFL. They were joined in this move by the Austin TurfCats who had left the SIFL.
Only one indoor women's league
Women's American football
Women have begun playing full-contact American football. Most leagues play by the same rules as their male counterparts, with one exception: women's leagues use a slightly smaller football. Women primarily play on a semi-professional or amateur level in the United States...
has ever taken the field: the Lingerie Football League
Lingerie Football League
The Lingerie Football League is a women's 7-on-7 tackle American football league, created in 2009, with games played in the fall and winter at NBA, NFL, NHL and MLS arenas and stadiums. The league was founded by Mitch Mortaza...
, known for its scantily-clad players and its signature event, the Lingerie Bowl
Lingerie Bowl
The Lingerie Bowl is an annual Super Bowl halftime alternative shown on pay-per-view TV. It features a game of full-contact American football with female athletes playing seven-on-seven tackle football. Lingerie Bowl I aired during Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004 with Team Euphoria losing to the Team...
, plays by a variant of indoor rules, and eight of its ten franchises play in indoor arenas (the other two, the Dallas Desire
Dallas Desire
The Dallas Desire are a professional women's American football team located in Dallas, Texas. They are one of five teams of the Lingerie Football League's Western Division. The Desire was one of two teams introduced to LFL in 2004, the other being the Los Angeles Temptation...
and Denver Dream
Denver Dream (football)
The Denver Dream started as an expansion member of the Lingerie Football League in 2009. They play two dates at their home field, Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado. The team was one of only two to have played its home games in an outdoor stadium, and one of the few short-field...
, play outdoors, but use the same indoor football rules; they are the only two teams known to have ever played the indoor game outdoors). Otherwise, all other women's leagues play on outdoor fields.
Style of play
Play in all forms of indoor football has tended to emphasize the forward passing game at the expense of rushing the football. Whereas in a typical National Football League game perhaps half of the total offensive plays are rushing plays and 35 or 40 per cent of all of the yardage gained comes from rushing plays, in Arena and other indoor football it is far more common for rushing plays to constitute only 10 per cent of the offense, or even less in some instances.All indoor football teams play at a minor league
Minor league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities. This term is used in North America with regard to several organizations competing in...
or even semi-pro
Semi-pro
Semi-pro may refer to:* a semi-professional athlete* Semi-Pro, a 2008 sports comedy starring Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, and Andre Benjamin...
level. The average player's salary in the Arena Football League was US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1,800 per game in 2008; this is about a third of the per-game salary of players in outdoor leagues such as United Football League, Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
and the XFL
XFL
The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of WWE...
(adjusted for inflation). Lower leagues such as af2 and the AIFA had per-game salaries of about $200 per game; AF1 plans on paying approximately $400 per game.
Connection to NFL
Running Back Fred Jackson rushed for over 1,000 yds. as the starting Running Back for the 2009 Buffalo BillsBuffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, and his high quality play earned him a spot on USA Today's All Joe Team. Jackson played the early part of his professional football career for the Sioux City Bandits
Sioux City Bandits
The Sioux City Bandits are a professional indoor football team, currently a member of the American Professional Football League. They play their home games at the Tyson Events Center....
of the Indoor Football League
Indoor Football League
The Indoor Football League began in 1999 as an offshoot of the troubled Professional Indoor Football League. Keary Ecklund, the owner of the Green Bay Bombers and Madison Mad Dogs, left the PIFL after its first, financially-troubled, season to start his own league. Unlike the PIFL, the IFL was an...
. Probably the most notable player to come out of Arena Football
Arena football
Arena football is a variety of gridiron football played by the Arena Football League . It is a proprietary game, the rights to which are owned by Gridiron Enterprises, and is played indoors on a smaller field than American or Canadian outdoor football, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game....
into the National Football League is Kurt Warner
Kurt Warner
Kurtis Eugene "Kurt" Warner is a retired American football player. He played quarterback for three National Football League teams: the St. Louis Rams, the New York Giants, and the Arizona Cardinals. He was originally signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 1994 after playing...
, former MVP
Most Valuable Player
In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...
quarterback of the Super Bowl XXXIV
Super Bowl XXXIV
Super Bowl XXXIV featured the National Football Conference champion St. Louis Rams and the American Football Conference champion Tennessee Titans in an American football game to decide the National Football League champion for the 1999 regular season...
champion (2000 game, 1999 season) St. Louis Rams
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...
, who had previously quarterbacked the former Iowa Barnstormers
New York Dragons
The New York Dragons were an Arena Football League team based in the New York metropolitan area. The team was founded in as the original incarnation of the Iowa Barnstormers, and relocated to New York in . They played in New York until 2008, when the league folded...
of the AFL. The National Football League has removed a ban that had been in place on any of its owners owning teams in any other sort of football operation with respect to Arena football only, and several of them have bought or started Arena teams. However, the NFL allowed to lapse an option it had negotiated allowing it to purchase up to 49% of Arena football, and as of early 2007 seemed to have backed away from any plan it may have had to use Arena football as a developmental league in any sort of "official" sense, perhaps in the interest of not undermining its then-existing "official" developmental league, NFL Europa.
Several NFL owners owned Arena Football League teams in their own cities prior to the league's bankruptcy. At the end of the 2008 season, Jerry Jones
Jerry Jones
Jerral "Jerry" Wayne Jones is the owner and general manager of the NFL team, the Dallas Cowboys.-Early life:Jones was born in Los Angeles, California. His family moved to North Little Rock, Arkansas when he was an infant. Jones was a star running back at North Little Rock High School...
and the Dallas Desperados
Dallas Desperados
The Dallas Desperados were a professional Arena Football team. The Desperados played in the Southern Division of the now-defunct Arena Football League from 2002 to 2008....
(who have similar colors and logos to the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
), Arthur Blank
Arthur Blank
Arthur M. Blank is an American businessman and a co-founder of The Home Depot. Today he is known for his philanthropy and his ownership of the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football League.-Early life:...
's Georgia Force
Georgia Force
The Georgia Force are an Arena Football League team based in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States that plays in the South Division of the American Conference. The team is owned by Doug MacGregor and Donn Jennings...
, and the Colorado Crush
Colorado Crush
Colorado Crush were an Arena Football League team that began play as a 2003 expansion team. The Crush played in the Central Division of the American Conference until the Arena Football League suspended operations in 2009...
(whose shareholders included Broncos owner Pat Bowlen
Pat Bowlen
Patrick Dennis Bowlen is the Majority Owner, President, and Chief Executive Officer of the Denver Broncos. The Bowlen Family, including his two brothers and sister, purchased the team from Edgar Kaiser in 1984 and saved the team from possible bankruptcy.-Biography:Pat's father, Paul D...
and Rams then-minority owner Stan Kroenke) were still in the league. San Francisco 49ers owner Denise DeBartolo York
Denise DeBartolo York
Marie Denise DeBartolo York is the former owner and current co-chair of the San Francisco 49ers. She is the daughter of late construction magnate Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. and the late Marie Patricia Montani DeBartolo....
and Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder
Daniel Snyder
Daniel M. Snyder is the current owner of the Washington Redskins American football team, owner of the Dick Clark Productions television production company, and primary investor in Red Zebra Broadcasting, which is home to the Redskins Radio Network. Snyder has a net worth of $1.05 billion...
had future expansion rights to their respective cities. Tom Benson
Tom Benson
See also Tom Benson and Tom Benson for the Northern Ireland Unionist.Tom Benson is the owner of the New Orleans Saints. He is currently the owner of several automobile dealerships in the Greater New Orleans and San Antonio areas...
's New Orleans VooDoo
New Orleans VooDoo
The New Orleans VooDoo are an Arena Football League team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They play their home games in New Orleans Arena....
and Bud Adams
Bud Adams
Kenneth Stanley "Bud" Adams, Jr. is the owner of the Tennessee Titans' National Football League franchise. He was instrumental in the founding and establishment of the former American Football League. Adams became a charter AFL owner with the establishment of the Titans franchise, which was...
's Nashville Kats
Nashville Kats
The Nashville Kats were an Arena Football League team, located in Nashville, Tennessee. They were last coached by Pat Sperduto, who coached the team's original incarnation to two ArenaBowl appearances prior to the original franchise's move to Atlanta in 2002...
had folded. None of the NFL owners with AFL franchises returned to the league after its reformation in 2010, and most favored abolishing the league entirely.
Indoor football leagues
Following is a list of indoor football leagues, including arena football leagues.Current leagues
- Arena Football LeagueArena Football LeagueThe Arena Football League is the highest level of professional indoor American football in the United States. It is currently the second longest running professional football league in the United States, after the National Football League. It was founded in 1987 by Jim Foster...
- (1987–2008, 2010–present) - American Indoor Football (2007–2010, 2012–future)
- American Professional Football LeagueAmerican Professional Football LeagueThe American Professional Football League is a Midwestern United States-based indoor football league founded in 2003. The league consists of professional and semi-professional teams, with a few core teams that play a full 10 game schedule and other teams that play partial schedules. At the end of...
2003–present - Continental Indoor Football League 2006–present
- Independent Indoor Football AllianceIndependent Indoor Football AllianceThe Independent Indoor Football Alliance is a class A professional developmental indoor football league based in the state of Texas. The league played an abbreviated 2009 season punctuated by a number of forfeits. The league grew and had tighter restrictions for 2010 in hopes of better football...
2007–present - Indoor Football LeagueIndoor Football LeagueThe Indoor Football League began in 1999 as an offshoot of the troubled Professional Indoor Football League. Keary Ecklund, the owner of the Green Bay Bombers and Madison Mad Dogs, left the PIFL after its first, financially-troubled, season to start his own league. Unlike the PIFL, the IFL was an...
2008–present - Lone Star Football LeagueLone Star Football LeagueThe Lone Star Football League is a regional professional indoor football league set to begin its inaugural season in 2012. All six of the LSFL's charter teams are based in the state of Texas, with five teams coming from the Southern Indoor Football League and two from the Indoor Football...
2012–future - Professional Indoor Football LeagueProfessional Indoor Football League (2012)The Professional Indoor Football League is a regional professional indoor football league set to begin its inaugural season in 2012. Like the Lone Star Football League, the PIFL is mainly composed of teams formerly from Southern Indoor Football League .Despite the name, this PIFL has no...
2012–future - Ultimate Indoor Football LeagueUltimate Indoor Football LeagueThe Ultimate Indoor Football League is a regional professional indoor football league that began its inaugural season on February 18, 2011.-History:...
2011–present
Defunct leagues
- arenafootball2AF2AF2 was the name of the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup...
2000-2009 (may return in time for a 2012 season) - Atlantic Indoor Football League 2005–2006
- Eastern Indoor Football LeagueEastern Indoor Football LeagueThe Eastern Indoor Football League was an extremely short-lived Indoor American football league that comprised teams located in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States. Play under the auspices of the league began in 2007 amongst four new teams: the 3 Rivers Rats , Mahoning Valley HitMen,...
2007 - Indoor Football League 1999-2000
- Indoor Professional Football LeagueIndoor Professional Football LeagueThe Indoor Professional Football League was the new incarnation of the Professional Indoor Football League , which started in 1998. Two of its teams left the league and their owner, Kerry Ecklund, founded the Indoor Football League in 1999...
1999-2001 - Intense Football LeagueIntense Football LeagueThe Intense Football League was a professional indoor football league that initially began operations in 2004. Its focus was in Texas, but was notable for being the first professional football league to place a franchise in Alaska.-History:...
2004, 2006–2008, merged with United Indoor Football to become IFL in 2009 - National Indoor Football LeagueNational Indoor Football LeagueNational Indoor Football League was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, af2, however, that changed briefly with their expansion into AFL...
2001-2007 - North American Indoor Football League (2005) 2005, a Canadian Indoor Football League with rules like that of Canadian Football (Never played)
- Professional Indoor Football LeagueProfessional Indoor Football LeagueThe Professional Indoor Football League was the second league to successfully play indoor football as a paid pro-league sport, after the Arena Football League. Since the AFL had a patent given in 1990 on the gameplay of "Arena Football" , the PIFL played with mostly the same rules, but without the...
1998 - Southern Indoor Football LeagueSouthern Indoor Football LeagueThe Southern Indoor Football League was an indoor football league based in the Southern and Eastern United States. The most recent incarnation of the league was a consolidation of an earlier league of the same name that was formed by Thom Hager along with Dan Blum, Robert Winfrey and Dan Ryan in...
2008–2011 - United Indoor FootballUnited Indoor FootballUnited Indoor Football was a United States indoor football league that started in 2005. Ten owners from the National Indoor Football League, including one expansion and two from arenafootball2 took their franchises and formed their own league...
2005-2008, merged with Intense Football League to become IFL in 2009 - World Indoor Football LeagueWorld Indoor Football LeagueThis article is about the proposed league that was to begin in 1988, for the 2007 indoor football league, see World Indoor Football League The World Indoor Football League was an indoor football league that was to begin in 1988 to compete with the Arena Football League, which was playing its second...
1988 (Never played) - World Indoor Football LeagueWorld Indoor Football League (2007)The World Indoor Football League was an indoor football league founded by Harry Pierce, owner of the Rome Renegades and Raleigh Rebels of the American Indoor Football League...
2007 - Xtreme Football LeagueAF2AF2 was the name of the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup...
1999 (Never played, merged with af2)
External links
- http://www.thestatguys.com