The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) 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 markets such as Atlanta, Denver, and Los Angeles, and AF2 markets such as Fort Myers and Houston. Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson, New Orleans Saints quarterback John Fourcade and Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl running back Bam Morris, all played in the NIFL. The league folded in 2008.
The Western Professional Hockey League is a defunct minor professional ice hockey league.
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 Beaumont Drillers were a professional indoor football team. They played their home games at Ford Arena in Beaumont, Texas. They originally began playing as the Louisiana Rangers in the Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) in 2000 when they replaced the Louisiana Bayou Beast. As the Rangers, they played their home games at the Rapides Parish Coliseum in Alexandria, Louisiana. After the league collapsed, the Rangers moved into the National Indoor Football League (NIFL). After two seasons, the franchise moved to Beaumont, Texas, and became the Drillers. The team left the NIFL in 2008 and played in the American Professional Football League in 2008 with new ownership. The team played most of their schedule, cancelling two home games. The team played in APFL Bowl VI, because of the Conroe Storm withdrawing, but lost.
The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs were a professional ice hockey team which played in the Bossier City-Shreveport metropolitan area of Louisiana. From 1997 to 2001, the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs were members of the Western Professional Hockey League, until a 2001 merger between the WPHL with the Central Hockey League. From 2001 to 2011, the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs played in the Central Hockey League. From 1997 until 2000, they were known as the Shreveport Mudbugs, changing the name to the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs after the team relocated from the Hirsch Coliseum in Shreveport to the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City.
This team is not to be confused with the softball team in Texas.
The 1996 CFL season is considered to be the 43rd season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 39th Canadian Football League season.
Hirsch Memorial Coliseum is 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Shreveport, Louisiana, designed by the late local architect Edward F. Neild Jr. (1908–1958) who, with his father in 1937, had designed the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum in Shreveport. The coliseum is named after William Rex Hirsch, a former fair president, manager and treasurer. The building completed construction in 1954, the year of Hirsch's death, and initially was planned to have the name The Youth Building. The coliseum has been used for a variety of events through the years, with dirt being brought in and placed on the floor for rodeos and tractor pulls. It is located adjacent to the Independence Stadium and across from Fair Park High School in Shreveport. Hirsch coliseum is very similar in design, though smaller in size to the John M. Parker Agricultural Coliseum, owned and operated by the Louisiana State University Campus in Baton Rouge. However, the Parker coliseum has a dirt floor arena and is mainly used for livestock-type events, with portable hard floors laid on top of the dirt for other types of events such as basketball games or concerts.
The Louisiana Bayou Beast were a team in the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) in 1998, in the Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) in 1999, and reincarnated in 2001 in the National Indoor Football League (NIFL). The Bayou Beast franchise was owned by James (Sr.) and Carolyn Shiver, who currently own and operate the NIFL which is based in Lafayette, Louisiana. The Bayou Beast competed in the PIFL in 1998, playing their home games at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge. The team colors were red, black, and white. In 1999, the PIFL changed its name to the IPFL, and the Beast changed arenas, moving to the Riverside Centroplex in downtown Baton Rouge for that season.
The Shreveport Mudbugs are a Tier II junior ice hockey team based in Shreveport, Louisiana, as a member of the North American Hockey League. The new Mudbugs replaced a former professional team that played in the area from 1997 to 2011 known as the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs.
The Trenton Lightning were an indoor professional football team founded in 2000 by owner/general manager, Phillip J. Subhan and local businessman, Kenneth Samu. The team started the 2001 season in the Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) and were led by head coach Vaughn Hebron and the team played its home games at the Sovereign Bank Arena, capacity 7,605 in Trenton, New Jersey. The team was originally scheduled for a 16-game season, But, the team was to fold after only 6 games. The team's Director of Football operations was Marty Yukichak and the team had a front office staff of seven others in addition to a coaching staff of eight, including Hebron. The team's defensive coordinator was Chuck Murphy and offensive coordinator was Tom Cocuzza.
John Charles Fourcade, Jr. is a former professional American football quarterback in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints and recent head coach of the New Mexico Stars of American Indoor Football. Fourcade was the most valuable player of the 1982 Senior Bowl after passing for 115 yards and running for 33 yards and two touchdowns. He had gained 6,713 yards at Ole Miss from 1978–1981, breaking the career record of Archie Manning.
The Mobile Seagulls were a professional indoor football team. They were initially a member of the Indoor Professional Football League for the 2000 season before joining the National Indoor Football League for the 2001 season, their final. They played their home games at Mobile Civic Center Arena for the 2000 season and at the Mitchell Center for the 2001 season. The majority owner of the team was Mobile businessman, James Childers.
The Boise Stallions are a defunct indoor football team from Boise, Idaho. They were a charter member of the Indoor Professional Football League. They originally began as the Idaho Stallions. Throughout their three seasons, 20 year old Larry Stovall-Moody was signed by Dick Suess as a Kicker and Emergency QB he was the youngest player on the team that signed, at tryouts he was making 61-65 yard field goals the Stallions had very little success. When the league folded, the franchise went with it. During the 2001 season, the Boise Stallions became the only team in the history of professional football to play their home games indoors on grass. Ed Raiford, a former Boise State star, scored the first three touchdowns in Stallion history. They were preceded a couple of years later by the Boise Burn of af2.
The Hawaii Hammerheads was an indoor American football team in the Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) during the 1999 season. The team was owned by George Hetherington and played home games at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. The team's official colors were aqua, silver and black. The head coach for the Hammerheads was Guy Benjamin.
The Portland Prowlers were a professional indoor football team based in Portland, Oregon. Playing as a member of the Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) for the 2000 season, they played their home games at the Memorial Coliseum. This was the second indoor football team based in Portland following the Portland Forest Dragons. The team name was decided in a 'Name the team' contest. The winning name was submitted by several entrants, including Danny Bradach of Portland, Oregon and David Harwood of Concord, California. Contest winners were awarded season tickets for the lifetime of the team.
The Mississippi Fire Dogs were a professional indoor American football team based in Biloxi, Mississippi. They played their home games at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. They were a charter member of the Indoor Professional Football League. They played from in the 1999-2000 IPFL seasons before joining the National Indoor Football League in 2001. Their final season was in 2002.
Shreveport–Bossier is and has been home to a wide variety of sporting events.
The 2000 Omaha Beef season was the team's inaugural season as a football franchise and first in the Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL). One of seven teams competing in the IPFL for the 2000 season. The team played their home games at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska.
