The Tampa Bay Tornadoes are a professional indoor football team based in

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal ci ...

, (and representing the larger region of

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater ...

) the Tornadoes play their home games at the

RP Funding Center The RP Funding Center (formerly the Lakeland Civic Center and the Lakeland Center) is a multipurpose entertainment complex in Lakeland, Florida, comprising a convention center, arena and theater. Currently, it is home to the Florida Tropics SC of ...

. The team joined

American Arena League The American Arena League (AAL) is a professional indoor football minor league that began playing in 2018. The league was initiated by a merger between Arena Pro Football (APF) and the Can-Am Indoor Football League (Can-Am), although the AAL on ...

(AAL) for the 2020 season, but did not play due to the onset of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The team was announced to have joined the

National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. It consists of teams based on the East Coast of the United States. Teams' typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, while players are paid $ ...

for the 2021 season; however, the team was terminated from the league after failing to provide letters of credit. Following the dismissal from the National Arena League, the team rejoined the AAL and began play in 2021 as a member of the East division, but did not finish the season. They then left the AAL for a newly formed league called the American Indoor Football Alliance for the 2022 season. The team succeeded the region's previous

arena football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...

team, the

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...

, that ceased operations in 2017.

History

Following the dissolvement of the

in 2017, after playing for thirty years and being the only remaining charter member from the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

's inaugural season, the Tampa Bay Tornado advertised themselves as the successor to the former team. In 2019, the Tornadoes were an expansion team in the South Division of the

(AAL) for the 2020 season with

Arena Football Hall of Fame The Arena Football Hall of Fame is the official Hall of Fame of the Arena Football League (AFL). The inaugural class was announced in 1998 and the Hall was not formally organized until 2011. Prior to 2011, there were four classes: 1998–200 ...

r and former Storm player Stevie Thomas serving as the team's first head coach and home games at

Expo Hall Expo Hall is an indoor arena located at the Florida State Fairgrounds in East Lake-Orient Park, Florida. It is used primarily as an exhibition hall during the Florida State Fair, but has also hosted concerts and sporting events. The South Flori ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

. The 2020 season was then cancelled due to the

. In July 2020, they were approved to join the

(NAL) for the 2021 season, where they were to play against former Tampa Bay Storm rivals,

Jacksonville Sharks The Jacksonville Sharks are a professional indoor football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, playing their home games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Beginning in 2017, the Sharks began play as charter members of the National Arena Leag ...

and a relaunched

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

. The team was terminated from the NAL after not providing letters of credit, although the Tornadoes had notified the league about their intentions to withdraw and rejoin the AAL. Shortly after, the team rejoined the AAL for the 2021 season, but were instead playing home games in

, at the

. The team did not finish the 2021 season and have since joined the American Indoor Football Alliance, along with other former AAL teams. The team appears to have been rebranded as the Tampa Bay Cyclones prior to the 2022 season.

Statistics and records

Season-by-season results

Head coach records

''Note: Statistics are correct through week six of the 2021 AAL season.''

2021 season

The 2021 Tampa Bay Tornadoes season was the team's inaugural season. Prior to the season, the Tornadoes were originally scheduled to play at the St. Louis Bandits (March 27), Georgia Cobras (April 3), at the

Spokane Shock The Spokane Shock were a professional indoor American football team based in Spokane, Washington, that played their home games at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. The team was initially a member of arenafootball2 (af2), the Shock won divisio ...

(May 8), and Northern Arizona Wranglers (August 8); however, these games were not played during the course of the season. The Tornadoes withdrew from the rest of the season near the end of May.

Schedule

References

External links

Tampa Bay Tornadoes official website
{{Florida Sports American football teams in Florida American football teams in Tampa, Florida American football teams established in 2019 Sports in Tampa, Florida Sports teams in Tampa, Florida