American Indoor Football Alliance

Last updated

American Indoor Football Alliance
AIFA Logo.png
Sport Indoor football
Founded2021;3 years ago (2021)
First season2022
Ceased2023;1 year ago (2023)
No. of teams7
CountryUnited States
Last
champion(s)		Columbus Lions (2023)
Official website www.goaifa.com

The American Indoor Football Alliance (AIFA) was a minor-professional American indoor football league based in the United States. [1]

Contents

Teams' typical operating budget was $500,000 with a $90,000 payroll budget per season. Players were paid up to $200 per game, with a $25 bonus for participating in charity events within their local communities. Most teams offered players housing during the season. [2]

History

After the 2021 American Arena League season concluded, four members of the East Division (Carolina Predators, Tampa Bay Tornadoes, Pennsylvania Union and Mississippi Raiders) announced that they would leave the AAL to form a new league, after league president and commissioner Tony Zefiretto had sold the league to the ownership. [3]

The league played its first season in 2022, while the Mississippi Raiders defeat the Las Vegas Kings 55–12 to claim the Inaugural AIFA Championship. [4] [5] [6]

For the 2023 season, AIFA had a inter-league scheduling agreement with the American West Football Conference. [7] [8] The Columbus Lions won the league championship after completing an undefeated season and beating Mississippi Raiders 55 to 10 in AIFA Championship. [9] [10] [11]

In late 2023 most of the teams left to join different leagues and the AIFA website was shutdown.

Teams

Teams that participated or were listed as members in the 2023 season.

TeamHome cityHome venueCapacityFoundedJoinedHead coachFate
Carolina Predators [12] Fayetteville, North Carolina TBDTBD20182021 AAL2
Columbus Lions [13] Columbus, Georgia Columbus Civic Center 7,57320072022Chris McKinney AIF
Capital City Cyclones Tallahassee, Florida Traveling teamTBD20192021 Stevie Thomas IFA
Las Vegas Kings Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas Sports Park20212021 Chris Wallace IFA
Mississippi Raiders [14] Jackson, Mississippi Mississippi Coliseum 6,50020192021 Montra Edwards AIF
South Florida Thunder Palm Beach, Florida TBDTBD2019 [15] 2022TBD
Dallas Falcons Dallas, Texas Traveling team [16] 20222023Bryan Kensky AAL2

Former teams

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References

  1. ↑ "Home – American Indoor Football Alliance". www.goaifa.com. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  2. ↑ "AIFA Expansion Packet" (PDF).
  3. ↑ "Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report". oursportscentral.com. July 12, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Mississippi Raiders are now AIFA National Champions". Vicksburg Daily News. July 10, 2022.
  5. ↑ Bowker, Ernest (July 8, 2022). "Vicksburg coach Muhammad chasing a championship with Mississippi Raiders". Vicksburg Post.
  6. ↑ "AIFA Championship". YouTube .
  7. ↑ "Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report". December 26, 2022.
  8. ↑ "AWFC/AIFA Partnership".
  9. ↑ "Lions defeat Raiders 55 to 10 in AIFA Championship". American Indoor Football Alliance.
  10. ↑ "AIFA Champioinship Part1". youtube.com.
  11. ↑ "AIFA Champioinship Part 2". youtube.com.
  12. ↑ "Fayetteville set to welcome arena football back to the Crown with the Carolina Predators".
  13. ↑ "LIONS JOIN REGIONAL ARENA LEAGUE". National Arena League. December 23, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Mississippi Raiders bringing arena football back to Jackson". November 4, 2021.
  15. ↑ "South Florida has a new arena football league coming soon — and you could be a part of it". November 29, 2019.
  16. ↑ "Dallas Falcons set to join the AIFA for the 2023 Season".
  17. ↑ "Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report". October 3, 2022.
  18. ↑ "AWFC Schedule & AIFA Partnership".
  19. ↑ "Lions Join Regional Arena League - Columbus Lions". Columbus Lions. December 23, 2022.
  20. ↑ "COLUMBUS LIONS JOIN AMERICAN INDOOR FOOTBALL (AIF) FOR THE 2024 INDOOR SEASON". aif-proindoorfootball.com. American Indoor Football. August 4, 2023. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Fayetteville set to welcome arena football back to the Crown with the Carolina Predators".
  22. ↑ "Carolina Predators Arena Football Team". Facebook .
  23. ↑ "Mississippi Raiders bringing arena football back to Jackson". November 4, 2021.
  24. ↑ "Dallas Falcons set to join the AIFA for the 2023 Season".
  25. ↑ "Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report". OurSports Central. September 4, 2023.
  26. ↑ "Las Vegas Kings Football Team Joins the International Football Alliance". PRLog.
  27. ↑ "TAMPA BAY TORNADOES JOINS THE AIFA!". goaifa.com. July 5, 2021. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021.
  28. ↑ "TAMPA BAY CYCLONES JOINS THE AIFA!". AIFA. July 5, 2021. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  29. ↑ "AIFA teams". AIFA. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  30. ↑ "Meet The Teams". International Football Alliance.
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