The New Mexico Stars were a professional indoor football team based in

Rio Rancho, New Mexico Rio Rancho ( es, Río Rancho) is the most populous and only city in Sandoval County, New Mexico, Sandoval County, part of the expansive Albuquerque metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of New Mexico. A small portion of the city extends into north ...

. The Stars played their home games at the

Santa Ana Star Center Rio Rancho Events Center is a 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, a city located near Albuquerque. The arena is located near the intersection of Unser Boulevard and Paseo del Volcan. It is part of a larger "City Center" pro ...

. They began play in the

Indoor Football League 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 amon ...

(IFL) during the 2012 season as an

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

. The Stars left the IFL after one season and joined the Texas-based

Lone Star Football League The Lone Star Football League (LSFL) was a regional professional indoor football minor league that played three seasons from 2012 to 2014. All of the LSFL's charter teams were based in the state of Texas, with five teams coming from the Southern ...

(LSFL) where they would play for two seasons. Prior to the 2015 season, the Stars were purchased by Tracy and Crystal Duran and the team announced it was going to play in

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 ...

for 2015. However, the team would instead go on hiatus for the season. The Stars then attempted to join other indoor football leagues until playing the 2016 season as a member of

American Indoor Football American Indoor Football (AIF) was a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...

(AIF) as part of a West Division. Most of the West Division collapsed leaving the Stars regionally isolated and forced to schedule games against many local semi-professional teams. The AIF ceased operations following the 2016 season, leaving the Stars without a league. The Durans would move to

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

later in 2016 and the Stars would officially fold. The Stars were the second indoor team to play in Rio Rancho, following the

American Indoor Football Association American Indoor Football (AIF) was a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...

New Mexico Wildcats The New Mexico Wildcats were a professional indoor football team that played in American Indoor Football (AIF) in the 2008 and 2009 seasons. The team was based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, with home games played at the Rio Rancho Events Center, Sant ...

, which played the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

seasons before folding.

Franchise history

2012

In October 2011, team owner and general manager Dart Clark made an announcement that indoor football would be returning to New Mexico. During the announcement, Clark stated that the team would be nicknamed the Stars, the head coach would be Chris Williams and that the team would play at the

. The team tried to make a large splash early on to help boost interest in the team when they offered NFL veteran wide receiver,

Terrell Owens Terrell Eldorado Owens (; born December 7, 1973), nicknamed T.O., is an American football wide receiver for the Knights of Degen of Fan Controlled Football (FCF). He previously played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. Regar ...

, former

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

star, DonTrell Moore and former

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

All-American,

Erasmus James Erasmus James (born November 4, 1982) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football at University of Wisconsin, and earned consensus All-American honors. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings 18th overall in the 2 ...

. Owens would eventually sign with the

Allen Wranglers Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Univ ...

(also of the IFL). The Stars played their first game on February 25, 2012 against the

Colorado Ice Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

. The Stars won the game 46-39 in front of a home crowd of around 3,600. The team was run by Clark until March 2012, when the Stars made a change, naming Jerry Dunn majority owner and interim general manager. After the teams April 20 game at the

Wyoming Cavalry The Wyoming Cavalry were an American professional indoor football team based in Casper, Wyoming. They were most recently members of the Intense Conference in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Cavalry began play in 2000 as an expansion member ...

, two Stars players, (one of which was Darius Marshall) were arrested and charged with

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

on a member of the Cavalry. The following week, the four players involved in the altercation were released. The Stars ended the 2012 season with a 2-12 record, a last place finish in the Intense Conference.

2013

In 2013, the Stars would play in the

. In October 2012, Dunn sold the ownership of his team to head coach, Chris Williams. Williams purchased 51% of the team's ownership, while the LSFL owned the remaining 49%. Along with the

Abilene Bombers The Abilene Bombers were a professional indoor football team. The Bombers played their home games at the Taylor County Expo Center, in Abilene, Texas. Team history The Bombers began play as the Katy Ruff Riders, a 2007 expansion team of the In ...

, the Stars finished the season with a 6–7 record.

2014

Williams left the Stars after the 2013 season to take the head coaching job with the Texas Revolution. On August 16, 2013, the Stars ownership moved into an LLC. known as "Texas 3", which consists of Paul Parsons, Samuel Rodriguez & Ernie Guill. The Stars finished the regular season 7-5, good enough to earn the 3rd seed in the league and advance to a semi-final match up against the

Rio Grande Valley Sol The Rio Valley Grande Sol were a professional indoor football team based in Hidalgo, Texas. They were members of the X-League Indoor Football (XLIF) in their final season. The Sol played their home games at the State Farm Arena. They were found ...

, with a berth in the 2014 LSFL Championship Game on the line. However, due to the Sol failing to meet league obligations and deadlines, they were suspended from the league and the Stars advanced into the Championship Game against the San Angelo Bandits. The Stars fell 64-34 to the Bandits.

2015

The New Mexico Stars were purchased by Tracy Duran, operating under TNC Duran LLC, Tracy Duran and Crystal Duran are the members. The team joined

(CIF) for the 2015 season, but before ever playing a game in the CIF. The team plans to regroup and resume play in 2016. Financial difficulties with the new league and other issues have complicated the team's plans for 2015.

2016

On June 16, 2015, the Stars announced that they would be returning to football in 2016, playing the

X-League Indoor Football X-League Indoor Football (X-League) was a professional indoor football minor league that began play in 2014. The league was co-chaired by Michael Mink and Kacee Smith. On September 19, 2015, the league announced a merger with the future "North ...

. The team also announced that Carlos Cavanaugh was named the teams' new head coach. However, on October 1, 2015, the X-League folded, and the Stars joined

. The Stars first game was a victory over the Steel City Menace. It was the first game for both teams in the Western Division of the American Indoor Football league (AIF). The Stars then lost to the third West Division team, the

Corpus Christi Fury The Corpus Christi Fury was a professional indoor football team based in Corpus Christi, Texas, United States. The Fury played its home games at the American Bank Center. History The Fury began life as the Corpus Christi Hammerheads, a charter ...

, 59–53 with the game decided on the final play. In April 2016, former

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

quarterback

John Fourcade John Charles Fourcade, Jr. (born October 11, 1960) 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. Fourc ...

became the interim head coach and will lead the team through the 2016 season. However, after the initial announcement of the formerly six-team West Division schedule, three teams either folded or switched leagues prior to the start of the season. This led the team to scheduling whichever teams they could, often playing local independent semi-professional teams scheduled just days before home games in order to still have games. The AIF ceased operations following the 2016 season, leaving the Stars without a league. Their website was taken down a few months later. In September 2016, team owners, Tracey and Crystal Duran, confirmed the team's demise and moved to

Roster

Head coaches

Season-by-season results

References

External links

New Mexico Stars official website
{{AIF 2012 establishments in New Mexico 2014 disestablishments in New Mexico 2016 establishments in New Mexico 2016 disestablishments in New Mexico