The Chicago Eagles were a professional indoor football team and a member of

Champions Indoor Football 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 ...

(CIF) that played during the 2016 season. Based in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, the Eagles played their home games at the

UIC Pavilion Credit Union 1 Arena (previously known as UIC Pavilion) is a multi-purpose arena located at 525 S. Racine Avenue on the Near West Side in Chicago, Illinois, which opened in 1982. Description and history Credit Union 1 Arena is located on the cam ...

. The team was considered on hiatus for the 2017 season, but did not return.

History

The team was founded in 2014 as the Gary Dawgs, an expansion franchise of the CIF for the 2015 season planned for

Gary, Indiana Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the ...

. On October 14, 2014, the team announced that it would delay its launch until the 2016 CIF season after co-owner Mike Dortch left the ownership group to pursue other opportunities. Rebranded the Illiana Eagles (" Illiana", a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsIllinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, is the geographical region around the eastern edge of Illinois and the western edge of Indiana) in November 2014, the franchise was accepted into the CIF on February 19, 2015. On August 19, 2015, the

Bloomington Edge The Bloomington Edge was a professional indoor football team based in Bloomington, Illinois. While it was in operation, the team hosted home games at Grossinger Motors Arena. Originally named the Bloomington Extreme, the team was a member of Unit ...

from

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city and the county seat of McLean County, Illinois, United States. It is adjacent to the town of Normal, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area. Bloomington ...

joined the CIF and are expected to form a strong inter-state rivalry with the Eagles. On December 16, the Eagles quietly changed their name to the Chicago Eagles. After only one season, the team suspended operations for the 2017 season with hopes to return for the 2018 season, but were never mentioned by the league afterward.

Season-by-season results

References

External links

Chicago Eagles official website
{{CIF 2014 establishments in Illinois 2016 disestablishments in Illinois