2024 National Arena League season

Last updated
2024 NAL season
NAL Logo.png
League National Arena League
Sport Indoor American football
DurationMarch 15 – June 8
Number of teams6
Regular season
Season championsOmaha Beef
2024 NAL Championship
ChampionsOmaha Beef
  Runners-upSioux City Bandits
Finals MVP Tommy Armstrong Jr.
NAL seasons

The 2024 National Arena League season was the seventh season of the National Arena League (NAL). The league will include six teams, five of which are new, with only the Carolina Cobras returning from the previous season.

Contents

Offseason

In August 2023, the league announced it had added the Omaha Beef [1] and Sioux City Bandits [2] from Champions Indoor Football for the 2024 season. On August 22, 2023, the Jacksonville Sharks announced they were joining the Indoor Football League (IFL). [3] The league added the expansion Colorado Spartans, based out of Loveland, Colorado, on August 31. [4] Also on August 31, the Warbirds, which had been renamed as the West Texas Desert Hawks, were announced as joining the relaunched Arena Football League. [5] On September 14, the Topeka Tropics, another CIF team, were accepted into the NAL. [6] On September 21, the two-time American West Football Conference champions Idaho Horsemen joined the NAL. [7] On September 26, the San Antonio Gunslingers were announced as also joining the IFL. [8] The next day, the North Texas Bulls announced their membership in the NAL. [9] On October 16, the Oklahoma Flying Aces were as announced as the eighth and final team for the 2024 NAL season. [10] On February 17, 2024, the league announced that they had terminated the membership of the Bulls. [11] On February 28, 2024, the league terminated the Tropics membership, [12] prompting the team's planned owner to back out of the purchase agreement in protest and the current owners to release an open letter begging for new investors. [13]

Teams

TeamLocationArenaCapacityFoundedJoinedHead coach
Carolina Cobras Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro Coliseum Complex 12,00020172018Brandon Negron
Colorado Spartans Loveland, Colorado Blue Arena 7,50020232024Fred Shaw
Idaho Horsemen Nampa, Idaho Ford Idaho Center 12,2792018 [lower-alpha 1] 2024Chris Reynolds
Oklahoma Flying Aces [lower-alpha 2] Enid, Oklahoma Chisholm Trail Coliseum 8,0002018 [lower-alpha 3] 2024Richard Davis
Omaha Beef Omaha, Nebraska Liberty First Credit Union Arena 4,6002000 [lower-alpha 4] 2024 Mike Tatum
Sioux City Bandits Sioux City, Iowa Tyson Events Center 6,9412000 [lower-alpha 5] 2024Erv Strohbeen
  1. In the American West Football Conference.
  2. The Oklahoma Flying Aces suspended operations mid-season amid ownership restructuring.
  3. In Champions Indoor Football.
  4. In the Indoor Professional Football League.
  5. In the original Indoor Football League.

Standings

2024 National Arena League Standings [14]
TeamWinLossPCTGBPFPASTK
(1) Omaha Beef 801.000381238W8
(2) Sioux City Bandits 53.6253321300W2
Carolina Cobras 54.5563.5392378L2
Colorado Spartans 45.4444.5381375W1
Idaho Horsemen 17.1257229373L4
Oklahoma Flying Aces04.000120170L4
Legend
(1) – hosting Championship game
(2) – clinched Championship game
† – did not finish the season
All other teams eliminated from postseason

Season schedule

Regular season

All times shown are local to the home team.

Week 1

DateTimeAway TeamResultHome TeamStadiumNotesRef
March 157:10 p.m. CT Oklahoma Flying Aces 2437 Sioux City Bandits Tyson Events Center
March 157:00 p.m. MT Carolina Cobras 5149 Idaho Horsemen Ford Idaho Center

Week 2

DateTimeAway TeamResultHome TeamStadiumNotesRef
March 243:00 p.m. ET Omaha Beef 5443 Carolina Cobras Greensboro Coliseum Complex

Week 3

DateTimeAway TeamResultHome TeamStadiumNotesRef
March 306:30 p.m. CT Colorado Spartans 3245 Omaha Beef Liberty First Credit Union Arena
April 17:30 p.m. ET Idaho Horsemen 642 Carolina Cobras Greensboro Coliseum Complex

Week 4

DateTimeAway TeamResultHome TeamStadiumNotesRef
April 67:00 p.m. ET Colorado Spartans 3544 Carolina Cobras Greensboro Coliseum Complex
April 67:10 p.m. CT Oklahoma Flying Aces 2442 Sioux City Bandits Tyson Events Center

Week 5

DateTimeAway TeamResultHome TeamStadiumNotesRef
April 137:10 p.m. CT Colorado Spartans 6162 Sioux City Bandits Tyson Events Center

Week 6

DateTimeAway TeamResultHome TeamStadiumNotesRef
April 197:00 p.m. CT Idaho Horsemen 1463 Omaha Beef Liberty First Credit Union Arena
April 197:00 p.m. MT Carolina Cobras 3855 Colorado Spartans Blue Arena

Week 7

DateTimeAway TeamResultHome TeamStadiumNotesRef
April 277:00 p.m. MT Oklahoma Flying Aces 3649 Idaho Horsemen Ford Idaho Center
April 283:00 p.m. ET Sioux City Bandits 2455 Carolina Cobras Greensboro Coliseum Complex

Week 8

DateTimeAway TeamResultHome TeamStadiumNotesRef
May 46:30 p.m. CT Oklahoma Flying Aces 3642 Omaha Beef Liberty First Credit Union Arena
May 55:00 p.m. MT Colorado Spartans 3433 Idaho Horsemen Ford Idaho Center

Week 9

DateTimeAway TeamResultHome TeamStadiumNotesRef
May 116:30 p.m. CT Sioux City Bandits 633 Omaha Beef Liberty First Credit Union Arena

Week 10

DateTimeAway TeamResultHome TeamStadiumNotesRef
May 177:00 p.m. MT Idaho Horsemen 1855 Colorado Spartans Blue Arena
May 187:10 p.m. CT Omaha Beef 3432 Sioux City Bandits Tyson Events Center

Week 11

DateTimeAway TeamResultHome TeamStadiumNotesRef
May 257:00 p.m. ET Colorado Spartans 3953 Carolina Cobras Greensboro Coliseum Complex
May 257:00 p.m. MT Sioux City Bandits 5634 Idaho Horsemen Ford Idaho Center

Week 12

DateTimeAway TeamResultHome TeamStadiumNotesRef
June 17:10 p.m. CT Carolina Cobras 3562 Sioux City Bandits Tyson Events Center
June 17:00 p.m. MT Omaha Beef 5634 Colorado Spartans Blue Arena

Week 13

DateTimeAway TeamResultHome TeamStadiumNotesRef
June 86:30 p.m. CT Carolina Cobras 3154 Omaha Beef Liberty First Credit Union Arena
June 87:00 p.m. MT Idaho Horsemen 2636 Colorado Spartans Blue Arena

[15]

Postseason

NAL Championship

DateTimeAway TeamResultHome TeamStadiumNotesRef
June 156:30 p.m. CT Sioux City Bandits 4647 Omaha Beef Liberty First Credit Union Arena Double overtime result [16]

Awards

AwardWinnerPositionTeam
Most Valuable Player Tommy Armstrong Jr. Quarterback Omaha Beef
Coach of the YearBrandon NegronHead Coach Carolina Cobras
Offensive Player of the YearJason Whittaker Quarterback Colorado Spartans
Defensive Player of the YearRashad Flanders Defensive back Idaho Horsemen
Special Teams Player of the YearKevin Dido-Weber Kicker Carolina Cobras
Offensive Rookie of the YearSteven Newbold Jr Wide receiver Colorado Spartans
Defensive Rookie of the YearJavaris Thompson Defensive back Colorado Spartans

[17]

See also

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References

  1. "CIF CHAMPION OMAHA BEEF JOINS THE NAL". National Arena League. August 9, 2023.
  2. "NAL ANNOUNCES SIOUX CITY BANDITS AS EXPANSION FRANCHISE". National Arena League. August 8, 2023.
  3. "IFL ADDS JACKSONSVILLE SHARKS". Indoor Football League. August 22, 2023.
  4. "Colorado Spartans Expansion Team Joins the NAL for 2024". NAL. August 31, 2023.
  5. "Arena Football League announces that the West Texas Desert Hawks will be the newest franchise". NewsWest9. August 31, 2023.
  6. "NATIONAL ARENA LEAGUE EXPANSION CONTINUES IN KANSAS". NAL. September 14, 2023.
  7. "IDAHO REVEALED AS THE NEXT NAL FRANCHISE TO JOIN IN 2024". NAL. September 21, 2023.
  8. "IFL ADDS SAN ANTONIO GUNSLINGERS". Indoor Football League . September 26, 2023.
  9. "NORTH TEXAS BULLS READY TO RUN WITH THE NAL FOR 2024". NAL. September 27, 2023.
  10. "OKLAHOMA ACES JOIN THE NAL FOR THE 2024 SEASON". NAL. October 16, 2023.
  11. "NAL BOARD TERMINATES NORTH TEXAS BULLS MEMBERSHIP". NAL. February 17, 2024.
  12. "NAL BOARD TERMINATES TOPEKA TROPICS MEMBERSHIP". National Arena League. 28 February 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  13. Self, Matthew (2024-02-22). "Topeka Tropics put out 'heartfelt call' for investors after owner backs out". KSNT via Yahoo! News . Retrieved 2024-02-23.
  14. "Stats - National Arena League". www.nationalarenaleague.com. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  15. "National Arena League Reveals 2024 Schedule". www.nationalarenaleague.com. 17 October 2023. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  16. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foltI8XSYiM&ab_channel=NationalArenaLeague
  17. "NAL Announces it's [sic] 2024 Award Winners". June 14, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024.