2025 Indoor Football League season

2025 IFL season
League	Indoor Football League
Sport	Indoor football
Duration	March 21 – August 23, 2025
Number of teams	14
TV partner(s)	CBS Sports
Streaming partner(s)	YouTube
Regular season
Playoffs
2025 IFL National Championship
Date	August 23, 2025
Venue	Tucson Convention Center
IFL seasons
← 2024 2026 →

The 2025 IFL season will be the 17th season of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The season will begin on March 21, 2025, with the Jacksonville Sharks facing the Massachusetts Pirates during the IFL Opening Weekend. The regular season will conclude on July 27. The playoffs start date is to be announced but will conclude with the 2025 IFL National Championship, the league's championship game, at the Tucson Convention Center in Tucson, Arizona, on August 23.

Team movement

Expansion

The IFL announced that one team would be established:

• On October 24, 2023, the IFL announced the addition of an expansion team in Indianapolis, Indiana who would play at the brand-new Fishers Event Center starting in 2025. ^[1] On December 15, the team was named the Fishers Freight. ^[2]

Dormancy

The IFL announced that three teams were going dormant:

• On October 16, 2024, the Duke City Gladiators owner Gina Prieskorn-Thomas announced that the team would be going dormant. She stated that there were problems with the team's marketing strategies due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. ^[3]
• On October 16, 2024, the Frisco Fighters announced that they would be entering dormant status without specifying why. ^[4]
• On October 30, 2024, the Sioux Falls Storm announced that they would be going dormant due to their inability to find a secure location to field a team. ^[5]

Rule changes

The following rule changes were approved at the IFL annual league meeting on January 13–14 in Phoenix, Arizona: ^[6]

• Any kicked ball that passes through the end zone without touching the field of play will now be marked at the kicking team’s 20-yard line. The previous adjustment to the 25-yard line has been removed for consistency.
• If a team leading by 14 points or fewer has possession of the ball during the last minute, they must gain positive yardage; otherwise, the clock will stop. The former rule requiring positive yardage in the final 60 seconds of the game has been reinstated.
• A linebacker who declares a blitz may now rush from inside or outside the alley. The league has eliminated the restriction on linebackers blitzing outside of the alley.
• Defensive linemen are now permitted to execute twist moves.
• The 1-yard grace for wide receivers in motion crossing the line of scrimmage has been removed. A receiver’s foot crossing the line at the snap will now be considered a false start. Other body parts, such as the knee, hand, or head, will not determine the penalty.

Regular season

The season will be played over a 19-week schedule, beginning on March 21, 2025, and ending on July 27, 2025. Each of the league's 14 teams will play 16 games, with three bye weeks.

Regular season standings

Eastern Conference Seed Team W L PCT GB CONF PF PA STK – Fishers Freight 0 0 – – 0–0 0 0 – – Green Bay Blizzard 0 0 – – 0–0 0 0 – – Iowa Barnstormers 0 0 – – 0–0 0 0 – – Jacksonville Sharks 0 0 – – 0–0 0 0 – – Massachusetts Pirates 0 0 – – 0–0 0 0 – – Quad City Steamwheelers 0 0 – – 0–0 0 0 – – Tulsa Oilers 0 0 – – 0–0 0 0 –

Western Conference Seed Team W L PCT GB CONF PF PA STK – Arizona Rattlers 0 0 – – 0–0 0 0 – – Bay Area Panthers 0 0 – – 0–0 0 0 – – Northern Arizona Wranglers 0 0 – – 0–0 0 0 – – San Antonio Gunslingers 0 0 – – 0–0 0 0 – – San Diego Strike Force 0 0 – – 0–0 0 0 – – Tucson Sugar Skulls 0 0 – – 0–0 0 0 – – Vegas Knight Hawks 0 0 – – 0–0 0 0 –

Postseason

2025 IFL playoffs

	Conference Quarterfinals					Conference Championships					2025 IFL National Championship August 23
	1
	4
	Eastern Conference
	2
	3
	1
	4
	Western Conference
	2
	3

Awards

Award	Winner	Position	Team
Most Valuable Player	—	—	—
Offensive Player of the Year	—	—	—
Defensive Player of the Year	—	—	—
Special Teams Player of the Year	—	—	—
Offensive Rookie of the Year	—	—	—
Defensive Rookie of the Year	—	—	—
Coach of the Year	—	—	—
Assistant Coach of the Year	—	—	—
IFL National Championship Most Valuable Player	—	—	—

All-IFL teams

All-IFL First Team Offense QB RB WR C OL Defense DL LB LB/DB DB Special Teams K KR IFL All-Rookie Team Offense QB RB WR C OL Defense DL LB LB/DB DB Special Teams K KR

All-IFL Second Team Offense QB RB WR C OL Defense DL LB LB/DB DB Special Teams K KR

Players of the Week

The following were named the top performers during the season:

Week	Offensive	Defensive	Special Teams
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19

Head coaching changes

Off-season

Team	Departing coach	Incoming coach	Notes
Fishers Freight	—	Dixie Wooten	Wooten was hired as Fishers' first head coach on August 22, 2024, after spending two seasons as the offensive coordinator for the Bay Area Panthers. This is his third head coaching job, having previously served as the head coach of the Iowa Barnstormers from 2017 – 2019 and Sioux Falls Storm from 2022 – 2023. He compiled a regular season record of 85–38 (.691) while making four playoff appearances, two United Bowl appearances, and winning the 2018 United Bowl. [7]
Massachusetts Pirates	Rod Miller	Ameer Ismail	After one season, an 8–8 (.500) regular season record, and a 2024 IFL National Championship appearance, Miller left Massachusetts and joined the San Diego Strike Force as their associate head coach and defensive coordinator on October 11, 2024. [8] On November 25, the Pirates hired Ameer Ismail as their head coach, this will be his second stint with the team. Ismail previously served as the head coach of the Bloomington Edge in 2017, Massachusetts Pirates in 2018, and the Iowa Barnstormers from 2020 – 2021. He has compiled a 34–16 (.680) regular season record and is 0–3 (.000) in three playoff appearances. [9]
Northern Arizona Wranglers	Les Moss	Ron James	On August 31, 2024, Moss stepped down as the head coach of Northern Arizona after leading the team to two playoff appearances, an IFL National Championship title, and a 28–19 (.596) regular season record. [10] James was hired as Northern Arizona's head coach on September 16, after serving five seasons as the head football coach of Juan Diego Catholic High School. This is James' seventh indoor football head coaching job, serving as the head coach of the Las Vegas Gladiators from 2005 – 2006, Utah Blaze from 2010 – 2013, Pittsburgh Power in 2014, Portland Steel in 2016, Tampa Bay Storm in 2017, and Atlantic City Blackjacks in 2019. In his time as an Arena Football League (AFL) head coach, James compiled a 74–77 (.490) regular season record, two AFL Coach of the Year awards, and an ArenaBowl XXX appearance. [11]

Arenas

• On October 24, 2023, the IFL announced that a 2025 Indianapolis expansion team – later to be named the Fishers Freight – would play in the Fishers Event Center. ^[12]
• On October 1, 2024, the IFL announced a three-year partnership between the San Diego Strike Force and Frontwave Arena that would start in 2025. ^[13]
• On October 20, 2024, the Sioux Falls Storm announced that they had been evicted from Denny Sanford Premier Center after its owners had refused to offer a lease renewal. ^[14]
• On October 21, 2024, it was announced that Casey's bought the naming rights of Wells Fargo Arena. Starting on July 1, 2025, the arena will be renamed Casey's Center. ^[15]
• On November 7, 2024, the IFL announced a three-year agreement to hold the IFL National Championship at the Tucson Convention Center starting in 2025. ^[16]

References

1. Van Beek, Eric (23 October 2023). "INDIANAPOLIS TO JOIN IFL IN 2025". Indoor Football League. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
2. "Kicking off March 2025..." Fishers Freight. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
3. Critchfield, Tristen (17 October 2024). "'We're just taking a little bit of a break': Duke City Gladiators going dormant in 2025". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
4. Yanes, Zachary (16 October 2024). "Frisco Fighters announces it will not participate in 2025 Indoor Football League season". WFAA. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
5. Hartigan, J.J. (30 October 2024). "Storm Announce Dormancy For 2025 Season". Sioux Falls Storm. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
6. Van Beek, Eric (17 January 2025). "INDOOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE CONCLUDES ANNUAL MEETINGS, ANNOUNCES 2025 RULE CHANGES". Indoor Football League. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
7. "Fishers Freight Announce Dixie Wooten as Franchise's First Head Coach". Fishers Freight. 22 August 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
8. "STRIKE FORCE ADD ROD MILLER TO COACHING STAFF". San Diego Strike Force. 11 October 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
9. Moninghoff, Mick (25 November 2024). "Pirates Name Ameer Ismail Head Coach for 2025 Presented by Gulf". Massachusetts Pirates. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
10. "Les Moss Steps Down as NAZ Wranglers Head Coach". KYCA. 11 September 2024. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
11. "NORTHERN ARIZONA WRANGLERS APPOINT TWO-TIME AFL COACH OF THE YEAR RON JAMES AS NEW HEAD COACH". Northern Arizona Wranglers. 16 September 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
12. "YOUR NEW PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM: FISHERS FREIGHT". Indy Fuel Hockey. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
13. "STRIKE FORCE AND FRONTWAVE ARENA ANNOUNCE THREE YEAR PARTNERSHIP". San Diego Strike Force. 1 October 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
14. Jorgenson, Dan (31 October 2024). "Former Sioux Falls Storm owner weighs in on the search for a new venue". KELOLAND. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
15. "Wells Fargo Arena to be renamed Casey's Center July 1". Iowa Events Center. 21 October 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
16. Van Beek, Eric (7 November 2024). "IFL CHAMPIONSHIP HEADED TO TUCSON, AZ". Indoor Football League. Retrieved 6 February 2025.