The American West Football Conference (AWFC) is a professional indoor American football

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

created in 2018 by Platinum Events & Security, LLC, the owners of the

Idaho Horsemen The Idaho Horsemen are a professional indoor football team based out of Nampa, Idaho, with home games at the Ford Idaho Center. They are owned by Chris Reynolds from Platinum Events & Security LLC. In 2019, the team owners founded the American We ...

. The league's inaugural season was in 2019. Players are paid $150 per game before taxes with no other benefits, although the teams help the players find host families during the season. Teams' operating budget is $200,000 per season.

History

After being unable to join the Indoor Football League or Champions Indoor Football citing league instability, as well as financial and travel issues due to the distance from the rest of the leagues' teams, Chris Reynolds, owner of the

announced that his ownership group Platinum Events & Security, LLC, created a new indoor league, the American West Football Conference (AWFC). The league was created to fill the void of a lack of west coast teams and leagues and to decrease travel costs of operating the regional teams. The league was announced with four teams: the Horsemen,

Reno Express The Reno Express were a professional indoor football team in Reno, Nevada. They play their home games at the Reno Events Center during the 2019 American West Football Conference (AFC) season. They were the first professional football team to play ...

Tri-Cities Fire The Tri-Cities Fire were a professional indoor football team based out of Kennewick, Washington, with home games at the Toyota Center during the 2019 season. They were owned by Kinshasa Martin of Rampage Sports Entertainment, LLC. They folded in ...

, and the

Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks The Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks are a professional indoor football team based in Wenatchee, Washington, that began playing football in 2019 with home games at the Town Toyota Center. It is the first team to play in the Wenatchee Valley since the ...

. The AWFC later added the Sacramento Spartans, but the team's facilities did not meet league standards and was removed a month before the start of the season. The first game in league history was the Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks at the Idaho Horsemen on March 23, where the Horsemen won 33–22. The season's first forfeit came on May 4 when the Skyhawks did not travel to play the Reno Express, who instead played a local semiprofessional team in order to fulfill its lease agreement. The following week, the only scheduled game was also postponed citing travel issues with the Tri-Cities Fire visiting Idaho, but was made-up on June 19. Idaho went undefeated and won the championship game 40–20 over Reno. For the 2020 season, the league announced expansion teams in Yakima, Washington, and the San Francisco Bay Area, although the Bay Area team never launched. In February 2020, the Reno Express was removed from the schedule and the Tri-Cities Fire folded, which led to the Idaho Horsemen and Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks both announce they would play independent schedules. The league then announced it would be playing the 2020 season with three teams — Idaho, Wenatchee, and Yakima — while looking for non-league teams to fill in the lost games including the minor outdoor team, Tri-City Rage, filling in for the Fire's six scheduled away games. On March 13, 2020, the AWFC announced on its website that the 2020 season would be postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, citing the high number of cases reported from Washington, one of two states that had a team in the league. On July 31, 2020, the AWFC announced the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the unavailability of arenas during the pandemic. On September 28, 2020, the league announced a new expansion team in the state of Oregon for the 2021 season called the Oregon High Desert Storm. On November 13, 2020, the Tri-Cities were announced as the league's new franchise, which was named the

Tri-City Rush Tri-Cities most often refers to: * Tri-Cities, Tennessee, United States * Tri-Cities, Washington, United States Tri-City, Tricity or Tri-Cities may also refer to: Populated places Americas Canada * Tri-Cities (British Columbia), consisting of ...

a day later.

Teams

Current

Former teams

( Reno, Nevada) – played the 2019 season but withdrew from the 2020 season. *

( Kennewick, Washington) – played the 2019 season and folded before the 2020 season. *Yakima Canines ( Yakima, Washington) – joined for the 2020 season before it was cancelled due to the pandemic, played the 2021 season, and the franchise was revoked prior to the 2022 season due to not meeting league minimum operating requirements. The Canines were replaced by the Washington Elite travel team to fill the rest of the league's home schedule. *SoCal Retails ( City of Industry, California) - Joined for 2022, but never played.

Seasons

2019 season

Standings

Final standings. y – clinched regular season title x – clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

2021 season

Standings

Final standings. y – clinched regular season title x – clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

2022 season

Standings

Final standings. y – clinched regular season title x – clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

References

External links

Official Website
{{Professional gridiron football leagues in North America Sports leagues established in 2018 Indoor American football leagues in the United States 2018 establishments in Idaho Professional sports leagues in the United States