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First played | August 15, 2009 |
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Trophy | United Bowl Trophy |
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2021 season | |
2021 United Bowl (September 12, 2021) Massachusetts Pirates 37, Arizona Rattlers 34 (OT) | |
2022 season | |
2022 United Bowl |
The IFL National Championship Game ( formerly the United Bowl) is the Indoor Football League's championship game. It has been played every year since 2009, except for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The current champions are the Massachusetts Pirates, who won their first United Bowl in 2021 in their first season in the league. The Storm won six straight United Bowls from 2011 to 2016. [1]
The IFL continued to use the "United Bowl" name originally used by United Indoor Football (UIF). The UIF used this name before they merged with Intense Football League to form the Indoor Football League. The UIF held United Bowl I, II, III, and IV in 2005 through 2008, with all four being won by the Sioux Falls Storm. Although the name "National Indoor Bowl Championship" was used for the 2008 contest between the UIF and the Intense Football League, the "United Bowl" name continued to be used for the combined league's championship until 2021 when it was rebrended.
The 2009 United Bowl featured the Intense Conference champs, the Billings Outlaws, against the upset-minded United Conference champs River City Rage. The game became a scoring onslaught at the start of the first quarter with each team scoring touchdowns. The Outlaws defense snagged a pick in the second quarter which led to another offensive touchdown and a commanding two score lead by halftime. The Rage fought back though, recovering an onside kick at the beginning of the third quarter and driving the ball the length of the field for a touchdown. That would be the closest the game would get for the Rage. The Outlaws would put up just enough points to keep a comfortable lead throughout the fourth and after recovering an onside kick in the last minute of the game, the Outlaws kneeled the ball and took home the crown with a score of 71–62 in a loud, sold-out Rimrock Auto Arena.
In the 2010 United Bowl, the Billings Outlaws of the Intense Conference took the league championship by defeating the Sioux Falls Storm of the United Conference by a score of 43–34 in front of a sold-out crowd in the Billings Sportsplex (a training facility, used by the Outlaws after their arena suffered storm damage during the Billings tornado).
The 2011 United Bowl was won by the United Conference champion Sioux Falls Storm when they beat the Intense Conference Champion Tri-Cities Fever 37–10 on July 16, 2011.
The 2012 United Bowl was a re-match from 2011 and was once again won by the United Conference champion Sioux Falls Storm when they beat the Intense Conference Champion Tri-Cities Fever 59–32 on July 14, 2012.
The 2013 United Bowl was once again won by the United Conference champion Sioux Falls Storm when they beat the Intense Conference Champion Nebraska Danger 43–40 on June 29, 2013.
The 2014 United Bowl was a rematch from 2013 and was once again won by the United Conference champion Sioux Falls Storm when they beat the Intense Conference Champion Nebraska Danger 63–46 on June 28, 2014.
The 2015 United Bowl was a rematch from 2013 and 2014. For the fifth consecutive year the United Conference champion Storm won the league title with at 62–27 victory over the Intense Conference champion (Nebraska Danger). It was Sioux Falls' ninth title in franchise history.
For the sixth consecutive year the United Conference Champion Storm won the league title with a 55–34 victory over the first year Intense Conference Champion Spokane Empire on July 23, 2016. It is Sioux Falls' tenth title in franchise history.
The Sioux Falls Storm advanced to their eighth consecutive United Bowl but lost to the Arizona Rattlers by a score of 50–41. It was the Rattlers first season in the IFL after 25 years in the Arena Football League.
The Sioux Falls Storm once again advanced to the United Bowl, their ninth straight. They were defeated by the Iowa Barnstormers 42–38, marking the Barnstormers' first title in the IFL.
The Sioux Falls Storm reached the United Bowl once again, this time their tenth straight. They beat their United Bowl losing streak that started in 2017, and beat the Arizona Rattlers (a rematch from 2017's United Bowl) 56–53. This was their 11th Franchise Title.
For the first time since 2009, the Sioux Falls Storm did not qualify for the United Bowl. On September 12, the Massachusetts Pirates defeated the Arizona Rattlers 37–34 in overtime, earning the Pirates their first title in their first season as a member of the IFL.
The Indoor Football League struck a deal to rebrand the United Bowl to the IFL National Championship Game for three years. Said games are to all be held at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada, home of the Vegas Knight Hawks.
Game | Date | Winning team | Losing team | MVP | Site | Attendance | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | August 15, 2009 | Billings Outlaws | 71 | RiverCity Rage | 62 | Chris Dixon | Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark | 8,351 | ||
2010 | July 17, 2010 | Billings Outlaws | 43 | Sioux Falls Storm | 34 | Chris Dixon (2) | Billings Sports Plex | 2,500 | ||
2011 | July 16, 2011 | Sioux Falls Storm | 37 | Tri-Cities Fever | 10 | Chris Dixon (3) | Sioux Falls Arena | 4,696 | ||
2012 | July 14, 2012 | Sioux Falls Storm | 59 | Tri-Cities Fever | 32 | Jeremiah Price | Sioux Falls Arena | 4,901 | ||
2013 | June 29, 2013 | Sioux Falls Storm | 43 | Nebraska Danger | 40 | Terrance Bryant | Sioux Falls Arena | 5,202 | ||
2014 | June 28, 2014 | Sioux Falls Storm | 63 | Nebraska Danger | 46 | Chris Dixon (4) James Terry | Sioux Falls Arena | 4,500 | ||
2015 | July 11, 2015 | Sioux Falls Storm | 62 | Nebraska Danger | 27 | Brandon Johnson-Farrell | Denny Sanford Premier Center | 9,245 | ||
2016 | July 23, 2016 | Sioux Falls Storm | 55 | Spokane Empire | 34 | Lorenzo Brown | Denny Sanford Premier Center | 9,000 | ||
2017 | July 8, 2017 | Arizona Rattlers | 50 | Sioux Falls Storm | 41 | Justin Shirk | Denny Sanford Premier Center | |||
2018 | July 7, 2018 | Iowa Barnstormers | 42 | Sioux Falls Storm | 38 | Ryan Balentine | Wells Fargo Arena | |||
2019 | July 13, 2019 | Sioux Falls Storm | 56 | Arizona Rattlers | 53 | Lorenzo Brown (2) | Gila River Arena | 14,635 | ||
2020 | Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||||||||
2021 | September 12, 2021 | Massachusetts Pirates | 37 | Arizona Rattlers | 34 | Alejandro Bennifield (1) | Footprint Center |
The Arizona Rattlers are a professional indoor American football team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team in the Arena Football League and were the third oldest active franchise in the AFL until their departure in 2016. They play their home games at Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix, but have occasionally played at Gila River Arena in neighboring Glendale when their primary home has been unavailable. The Rattlers are led by head coach Kevin Guy. Since the team's establishment in 1992, the Rattlers have won ten division titles and have played in nine ArenaBowl Championship games, winning championships in 1994, 1997, 2012, 2013, 2014. The Rattlers also won the 2017 United Bowl in their first season in the IFL.
United Indoor Football (UIF) was an indoor football league in the United States that operated from 2005 to 2008. Ten owners from the National Indoor Football League, including one expansion and two from arenafootball2 (af2) took their franchises and formed their own league. The league was based in Omaha, Nebraska.
The RiverCity Rage were a professional indoor football team. They played home games at the Family Arena in Saint Charles, Missouri, part of the metropolitan area of St. Louis, Missouri, in past seasons, played in the Scottrade Center in downtown St. Louis in the 2006 season, and returned to the Family Arena for the 2007 UIF season.
The Sioux Falls Storm are a professional indoor football team based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Storm joined the original Indoor Football League as an expansion team in 1999 as the Sioux Falls Cobras, and first took the field for the 2000 season. They currently participate in another iteration of the Indoor Football League; prior to that, the Storm were in United Indoor Football (UIF), where they won all four of the league's championship games. In the newer IFL, the Storm have won seven of the eleven championships in the league as of 2019.
The Kentucky Horsemen was an indoor football team based in Lexington, Kentucky. The team played its home games at Rupp Arena. The organization began as a 2003 expansion member of the National Indoor Football League, where they were successful. Following the 2004 season, where they defeated the Sioux Falls Storm to win Indoor Bowl IV, the Horsemen and other NIFL teams joined the new United Indoor Football (UIF) as a charter member, where they made the playoffs. They lost to the Sioux Falls Storm. They made the playoffs again in 2006 and advanced to United Bowl II where they lost to the Sioux Falls Storm. From 2008 to 2009, the Horsemen played in the AF2. The team announced intentions to compete in the new Arena Football League following the dissolution of the AF2, but instead ceased operations in October 2009.
The Billings Outlaws were a professional league indoor football team based in Billings, Montana. They were a member of the Indoor Football League (IFL), of which they were the 2-time defending champions. They played their home games at Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark. Their games were broadcast live locally on News Talk 910 KBLG AM and online through Teamline.
The Wichita Wild were a professional indoor football team based in Wichita, Kansas. They were members of the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL). The team was founded in 2006 as an independent indoor football franchise. In 2008, the team joined United Indoor Football (UIF). They joined the Indoor Football League (IFL) during the UIF and Intense Football League merger of 2009. In 2012, the team left the IFL to become charter members of the CPIFL. The Wild's home games were played at Hartman Arena in nearby Park City. When they lost their lease with the Hartman Arena, they folded..
The 2008 United Indoor Football season was preceded by 2007. It was the fourth and final season of the UIF. For this year, there were 8 teams playing a 15-game season schedule with all teams playing 14 regular season games from Saturday, March 8 to Saturday, June 14. The winning team was decided in United Bowl IV on Saturday, July 12. For the fourth-straight year, the Sioux Falls Storm became the UIF champion as they beat the Bloomington Extreme.
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. The league has operated continuously under the same name and corporate structure longer than any other current indoor football league. With the closure of the Arena Football League in 2019, the IFL is the oldest active professional indoor football league in North America.
The 2009 Indoor Football League season is the inaugural season of the Indoor Football League, a league formed as a merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. The regular season began on Friday, March 13 and ended on Saturday, July 11. The league champions were the Billings Outlaws, who defeated the RiverCity Rage in the 2009 United Bowl.
Chris Dixon II is a former professional indoor football player. He is also a former head coach. He ended his long playing career with a stint as quarterback for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League (AFL) before returning to the Sioux Falls Storm (IFL) near the end of their 2019 season. Dixon attended Contra Costa College for two years before attending Humboldt State University, where he was an All-conference player.
The 2013 Sioux Falls Storm season was the team's fourteenth season as a professional indoor football franchise and fifth in the Indoor Football League (IFL). One of just nine teams competing in the IFL for the 2013 season, the Sioux Falls Storm were members of the United Conference.
Tyler Knight is a professional indoor football linebacker. He played college football at Mississippi Valley State, and currently plays for the Sioux City Bandits.
Champions Indoor Football (CIF) is 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. Players are paid $75 – $300 per game before taxes with no other benefits.
The 2015 Indoor Football League season was the seventh season of the Indoor Football League. Playing with ten teams in two conferences located in mid-sized cities predominantly in the central United States, the league's regular season kicked off on February 28, 2015, when the reigning league champion Sioux Falls Storm travelled to the Bemidji Axemen. The regular season ended 16 weeks later on June 20, 2015, with the Green Bay Blizzard visiting the Iowa Barnstormers. The playoffs were held in two rounds with the top two teams in each conference facing off in a conference championship game followed by the winners of those games meeting in the United Bowl.
The 2009 United Bowl was the inaugural title game of the Indoor Football League (IFL). It was played on August 15, 2009, at the Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark in Billings, Montana. The top seed in the Intense Conference defeated the six-seed RiverCity Rage of the United Conference by a score of 71–62.
The 2010 United Bowl was the second title game of the Indoor Football League (IFL). It was played on July 17, 2010, at the Billings Sports Plex in Billings, Montana. The top seed in the Intense Conference defeated the United Conference's two-seed team, Sioux Falls Storm, by a score of 43–34.
The 2011 Sioux Falls Storm season was the team's twelfth season as a professional indoor football franchise and third in the Indoor Football League (IFL). One of twenty-two teams competing in the IFL for the 2011 season, the Storm were members of the Great Plains Division of the United Conference.
The 2016 United Bowl was the championship game of the 2016 Indoor Football League season. It was played between the Intense Conference Champion Spokane Empire and the United Conference Champion Sioux Falls Storm. The game was played at Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The 2017 United Bowl was the championship game of the 2017 Indoor Football League season. It was played between the Intense Conference Champion Arizona Rattlers and the United Conference Champion Sioux Falls Storm. The game was played at Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Rattlers won the game by a score of 50–41.