Fishers Freight | |
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Current season | |
Established 2023 Play in Fishers, Indiana at the Fishers Event Center | |
League/conference affiliations | |
Indoor Football League (2025–future) | |
Current uniform | |
Team colors | High Visibility Yellow, Steel Blue, and Black |
Personnel | |
Owner(s) | Indiana Football Club LLC Jim Hallett |
Chairman | Jim Hallett |
General manager | Larry McQueary |
Head coach | Dixie Wooten |
Team history | |
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Championships | |
League championships (0) | |
Conference championships (0) | |
Division championships (0) | |
Home arena(s) | |
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The Fishers Freight are a professional indoor football team based in Fishers, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis. A member of the Indoor Football League (IFL), the Freight will began play in 2025 at the Fishers Event Center. They are owned by Jim Hallett, owner of the ECHL's Indy Fuel.
The Freight are the third arena/indoor football team to play in the Indianapolis area, following the Indiana Firebirds of the original Arena Football League (2001–2004) and the Indianapolis Enforcers of various leagues (2010–2012, 2018–2022).
In October 2023, the Indoor Football League officially announced a new expansion team for Indianapolis, Indiana to play in 2025. The team was awarded to owner Jim Hallett, owner of the East Coast Hockey League's Indy Fuel. On December 15, 2023, the team was officially named the Fishers Freight. [1] [2]
The Freight will join the Fuel and the Pro Volleyball Federation's new Indy Ignite in playing at the brand new state-of-the-art Fishers Event Center, owned by the city of Fishers. [3] [4] [5]
Fishers is a city in Fall Creek and Delaware townships, Hamilton County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 76,794, and by 2019 the estimated population was 95,310. A suburb of Indianapolis, Fishers has grown rapidly in recent decades: about 350 people lived there in 1963, 2,000 in 1980, and only 7,500 as recently as 1990.
Arena football is a variety of gridiron football designed to be played indoors. The game is played on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, and features between six and eight players for each team playing at any given time depending on the league, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game that can be played on the floors of indoor arenas. The sport was invented in 1981, and patented in 1987, by Jim Foster, a former executive of the National Football League and the United States Football League. The name is trademarked by Gridiron Enterprises and had a proprietary format until its patent expired in 2007.
The Indiana Farmers Coliseum is a 6,500-seat indoor multi-use arena, located on the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis. The Indiana Farmers Coliseum is home to both the Indy Fuel of the ECHL and the IUPUI Jaguars of the NCAA.
The Amarillo Dusters are a professional indoor football team based in Amarillo, Texas, currently a member of the National Arena League. They play their home games at the Amarillo Civic Center. The Venom began play in 2004 as a charter member of the Intense Football League, a small indoor football league based in Texas. They won the championship in their first and only season with the Intense Football League.
The Coralville Chaos are a professional indoor football team based in Coralville, Iowa. They will play their home games at the Xtream Arena in Coralville starting in 2025.
The Spokane Shock were a professional indoor American football team based in Spokane, Washington, that played their home games at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. The team was initially a member of arenafootball2 (af2), the Shock won division titles in all four seasons and ArenaCups in 2006 and 2009 before they joined the Arena Football League (AFL) in its 2010 relaunch. The team advanced to the playoffs three times after joining the AFL, winning ArenaBowl XXIII in their first season, making them the only arena football franchise to win both the ArenaCup and the ArenaBowl.
The Bloomington Edge was a professional indoor football team based in Bloomington, Illinois. While it was in operation, the team hosted home games at Grossinger Motors Arena. Originally named the Bloomington Extreme, the team was a member of United Indoor Football (UIF), and joined the Indoor Football League (IFL) in 2009 during the UIF and Intense Football League merger. They left the IFL for the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) in 2013, and in 2015 the CPIFL merged with the Lone Star Football League (LSFL) to create Champions Indoor Football (CIF), where Bloomington did not follow and joined X-League Indoor Football (X-League). Following the 2015 season the Edge joined the CIF. The Edge then announced it had rejoined the IFL for the 2018 season, but a court ruling prevented the team from joining the league until 2019, however, they were not included in that season's schedule.
The Peoria Pirates were a professional arena football team that last played in AF2, the minor league to the Arena Football League (AFL). They played their home games at Carver Arena, part of the Peoria Civic Center in Illinois, and were coached by Mike Hohensee and Bruce Cowdrey. The Pirates originally began play as a charter member of the original Indoor Football League in 1999.
Sports in Indianapolis include major league franchises, collegiate athletics, and a variety of other club and individual sporting events that have taken place in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Indianapolis is the home to 11 professional sports teams. The city is also home to three National Collegiate Athletic Association collegiate teams. Two teams from the four major American leagues, the Indianapolis Colts and Indiana Pacers, are located in Indianapolis. The Indiana Fever Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) started play in 2000, and are under the same ownership as the Pacers NBA team.
The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams among indoor football leagues. As of the 2024 season, the league consists of 16 teams in two conferences with each team playing 16 games over 19 weeks.
The Louisville Xtreme were an indoor football team based in Louisville, Kentucky, with home games at the KFC Yum! Center. They began play as the Kentucky Xtreme in the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) in 2013 and 2014. Midway through the 2014 CIFL season, the league removed the team's membership and the Xtreme temporarily suspended operations. After playing the 2015 season in the semi-professional Minor League Football Alliance (MLFA), the team rebranded as the Louisville Xtreme in 2017. In 2020, the Xtreme were added to the American Arena League (AAL) but cancelled its season citing the COVID-19 pandemic. For the 2021 season, the Xtreme were announced to be joining the National Arena League, but instead joined the Indoor Football League three months later.
The Indy Fuel are a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL that began play in the 2014–15 season. Based in Fishers, Indiana, the Fuel play their home games at the Fishers Event Center, after having started play at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum on the Indiana State Fairgrounds. They are affiliated with the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks and the AHL's Rockford IceHogs.
Champions Indoor Football (CIF) was a professional indoor American football minor league created in 2014 out of the merger between the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) and Lone Star Football League (LSFL), plus one team from the Indoor Football League and two expansion teams.
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The Bay Area Panthers are a professional indoor football team based in San Jose, California. They are a member of the Indoor Football League (IFL) and were to begin play in 2020 at Oakland Arena as the Oakland Panthers. Due the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Panthers' inaugural season was cancelled and then the team withdrew from the following 2021 season. Prior to the 2022 season, the Panthers announced they would instead play their home games at the SAP Center in San Jose and were renamed after the Bay Area.
Lee's Family Forum is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Henderson, Nevada. Built on the site of the former Henderson Pavilion, it is the home of the Henderson Silver Knights of the American Hockey League, the Vegas Knight Hawks of the Indoor Football League, the Vegas Thrill of the Pro Volleyball Federation, the home of the Las Vegas Desert Dogs of the National Lacrosse League, and the former home of the NBA G League Ignite of the NBA G League. The City of Henderson is the building owner with the National Hockey League's Vegas Golden Knights as its operator.
The Vegas Knight Hawks are a professional indoor football team based in Henderson, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas. A member of the Indoor Football League (IFL), the Knight Hawks began play in 2022 at Lee's Family Forum. The Knight Hawks are owned by Bill Foley, owner of the Vegas Golden Knights.
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The Fishers Event Center is an upcoming arena under construction in Fishers, Indiana. The arena will be owned by the Indy Fuel of the ECHL.