History
The NIFL, based in Lafayette, Louisiana, was founded by Carolyn Shiver. The league started operations in 2001, with many teams coming from Indoor Football League being bought the previous year and folding operations. In 2002, the league added in the teams from the Indoor Professional Football League. 2003 was the most successful year for the league as 24 teams played a mostly complete schedule, with few cancellations.
Before the 2005 season, nine teams left the league to form United Indoor Football. That same year, the Intense Football League ceased operations and four teams from there joined the league. Those teams however, left the league before the 2006 season started.
For the 2005 season, the NIFL had an agreement with NFL to handle referee assignment and training. [1]
The 2006 season, was the most chaotic for the league to that point. Ten expansion teams were added to the league, but nine of them had problems that reflected badly on the league. The most notable situation was the owner of the Montgomery Maulers firing the entire team. [2] None of the ten expansion teams returned to the league for the next season.
The 2007 season started with the addition of several league-owned expansion teams, primarily to supplement games with the returning teams. However, the teams were all poorly funded and had problems fielding competitive squads. The San Diego Shockwave were declared the official league champion. The league then officially folded prior to the 2008 season.
In 2016, a new website announced that the league operations were relaunched by Carolyn Shiver with announced goal of bringing 34 teams into the former AFL markets starting in the 2017 season. As of June 2016, the league was looking for local team ownership under the league's business model. [3]
The AF2 was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its 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 championship in August. The AF2 continued to operate while the AFL suspended operations for its 2009 season. The league was effectively disbanded in September 2009 when no team committed to playing in 2010, but several of the stronger franchises transferred into the reconstituted AFL.
The Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) was the new incarnation of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL), which started in 1998. Two of its teams left the league and their owner, Kerry Ecklund, founded the Indoor Football League in 1999. The IPFL led a troubled three-year existence, and died after its 2001 season, with its most successful teams joining up with the National Indoor Football League.
The Intense Football League (IFL) was a professional indoor football minor league that began operations in 2004. Its focus was in Texas, but it was notable for being the first professional football league to place a franchise in Alaska.
The Lubbock Gunslingers were a professional indoor football team. They played their home games in Lubbock, Texas, at Lubbock Municipal Coliseum.
The Lincoln Capitols were a professional indoor football team that played their home games at Pershing Auditorium in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. They originally planned on becoming the Nebraska Knockout, but the name was scrapped. From 1999 to 2000, they were the Lincoln Lightning of the original Indoor Football League before the IFL was bought out. The Lightning then played in the Arena Football's farm league during the 2001 season, before leaving the league and joining the National Indoor Football League as the Capitols.
The Fort Wayne Freedom was a professional indoor football team based in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
American Indoor Football (AIF) was a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America.
The Daytona Beach ThunderBirds were an arena football team based in Daytona Beach, Florida. They were founded in 2005 as the Daytona Beach Hawgs playing in the National Indoor Football League. In 2006, they changed their name to the Daytona Thunder and played in three different indoor football leagues over three seasons: the American Indoor Football League in 2006, the World Indoor Football League in 2007, and the AF2, the Arena Football League's developmental league, in 2008. They folded after the 2008 season. The Marquee player for the Thurnderbirds was 6'3" 230 pound Left handed Quarterback Matt Bohnet, an Eastern Michigan Graduate, who completed 160 out of 307 passes for 1,890 Yards 28 Touchdowns and 17 interceptions.
The Jacksonville Tomcats were an arena football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They were an inaugural franchise in af2, the developmental league of the Arena Football League (AFL), and played for three seasons, from 2000 to 2002. They played their home games at Jacksonville Coliseum.
The Texas Copperheads were a professional arena football that played in AF2, the minor league for the Arena Football League. The team was founded in 2006 as member of the National Indoor Football League (NIFL). They played their home games at the Richard E. Berry Educational Support Center in Cypress, Texas. They were coached by Ollie Guidry.
The Johnstown Riverhawks was a professional indoor American football team based out of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. A charter member of the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA), it played its home games at Cambria County War Memorial Arena.
The World Indoor Football League (WIFL) was an indoor football league founded by Harry Pierce, owner of the Rome Renegades and Raleigh Rebels of the American Indoor Football League. The league was a splinter league that formed after disgruntled ownership in the AIFL, caused significant turmoil and resulted in several teams leaving the league.
The San Diego Shockwave was a 2007 expansion team from the National Indoor Football League. They played their home games at the Viejas Arena, which is also home to the San Diego State Aztecs basketball teams.
The Fort Worth Sixers were a professional indoor football team founded as 2007 expansion franchise of the National Indoor Football League. The team struggled on the field during its single season in existence. The franchise folded with the league at the end of the shortened 2007 season. The Sixers/Regulators were merged after a meeting with the NIFL league president, the Sixers had a name but no players nor staff Will Williams became the head coach and general manager/president of the Sixers Williams owned the Regulators who played under both names and in two leagues the APFL and NIFL. The NIFL was struggling to stay afloat entering the season, and was simply spread too thin after changing ownership and reorganization attempt before the start of the season. Obtaining home dates was one of the team's biggest problems, as most dates were taken for other events leaving the team to book dates on mostly Sundays with a couple of options Sunday dates were considered bad dates for teams traveling from out of state. Teams proposed by the league (NIFL) in Houston San Antonio and Dallas never materialized also causing travel issues as teams were spread out nationwide, and all mostly having issues preparing for the season, Beaumont was the only other Texas team and the Sixers and Drillers played twice. Both teams also played the Conroe Storm members of the APFL and affiliate NIFL member.
The American Professional Football League (APFL) was an indoor football league that was founded in 2003. After the 2012 season, most of the teams left to start the Champions Professional Indoor Football League. The league consisted of professional and semi-professional teams, with a few core teams that played a full 10 game schedule and other teams that played partial schedules. At the end of each season, the playoffs were contested between the league's core teams. The first few years of league play were dominated by the Kansas Koyotes, but in later years the league had more parity and more stable members, resulting in the first championship won by another team, the Iowa Blackhawks, and the first championship game not involving the Koyotes, when the Iowa Blackhawks defended their championship against the Mid-Missouri Outlaws in the 2010 APFL season. Former Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl champion Clayton Holmes played for the Kansas Koyotes and former Kansas State star QB Jonathan Beasley played for the Wichita Aviators.
The Texas Thunder were a professional indoor football team that played in the American Professional Football League in 2004. The Thunder tied the Missouri Minutemen 42-42 in their inaugural APFL game.
The Florida Scorpions were an indoor football team. They were a 2008 expansion member of the American Professional Football League. They played their home games at the Manatee Civic Center. They played their first season in the National Indoor Football League as the Sarasota Knights. The NIFL suspended operation on May 14, 2007, and have advised teams to attempt to re-establish themselves financially for an attempt at a 2008 season. The Knights decided to move to the APFL, where they played in the newly formed South Division. The APFL, and the Scorpions, would folded after the 2008 season.
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 American Arena League (AAL) is a professional indoor football minor league that began playing in 2018. The league was initiated by a merger between Arena Pro Football (APF) and the Can-Am Indoor Football League (Can-Am), although the AAL only claimed the APF history after the former Can-Am founder left the league. Teams from both leagues, new teams, and later teams from Supreme Indoor Football and National Arena League constituted the new league for its inaugural season. Since 2023, the league has operated as American Arena League 2 (AAL2), which was originally conceived as the AAL's minor league but has since effectively taken its parent league's place.
