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 States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...

in 2005. After a rapid, and largely failed, expansion effort in 2006, most of the league's remaining teams jumped to the new AIFA (the rest joined the short-lived WIFL). The AIFA expanded throughout existing territory and, in 2008, expanded into the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...

. The league legally divided into two entities to allow for a partial merger with the Southern Indoor Football League, which resulted in all of its Eastern teams merging into the SIFL and the AIFA only maintaining its western teams. The league's western component, which remained separate of the merger, had indicated it would play as the AIFA West for the 2011 season but ceased operations January 2011. The league announced it would be relaunching as American Indoor Football in time for spring 2012. After the 2016 season, the AIF ceased operations with the former AIF owner stating his support for the recently created Arena Developmental League. In 2021, league owner John Morris announced he planned to relaunch the AIF for the 2022 season, though no games would be played.

History

The league has its roots in the Atlantic Indoor Football League, which began play in 2005 under the leadership of Andrew Haines. The first team to join the AIFL was the

Johnstown RiverHawks The Johnstown Riverhawks was a professional indoor American football team based out of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. They were a charter member of the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA). They played their home games at Cambria County War M ...

. The league began with six teams, all of them based in the eastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Two teams played all of their games on the road, and the regular season was cut short two weeks because of teams being unable to secure venues for playoff games. In the 2005–06 offseason, the league changed its name to the American Indoor Football League, while nine expansion teams entered the league and a tenth (the

Rome Renegades The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, A ...

) joined from the National Indoor Football League. The 2006 season was marred by the folding of two teams, and the league used semi-pro teams to fill scheduling vacancies. The league was briefly acquired by

Greens Worldwide Greens may refer to: *Leaf vegetables such as collard greens, mustard greens, spring greens, winter greens, spinach, etc. Politics Supranational * Green politics * Green party, political parties adhering to Green politics * Global Greens * Europ ...

, Inc., the owners of the amateur North American Football League, during the 2006 season, but they terminated the contract soon afterwards. Nine teams left the league after the season, including four who split off to create the short-lived World Indoor Football League. On October 2, 2006, a massive reorganization took place as Morris and Michael Mink set up a new league, which absorbed all of the remaining AIFL franchises, and Haines was ousted. (Haines would go on to create the Mid-Atlantic Hockey League in 2007, before similar stability problems led to the forced divestiture of that league as well. Haines would, in April 2010, announce he was relaunching his league as the

Ultimate Indoor Football League The Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL) was a regional professional indoor football league that began its inaugural season on February 18, 2011 as the Ultimate Indoor Football League before playing as the United Indoor Football League in 2012 ...

beginning in 2011 and revived two defunct former AIFL teams.) The league took on the American Indoor Football Association name at the same time. The 2007 season was relatively successful for the league, as all 112 scheduled games were played and no teams folded mid-season, a major improvement over the past two seasons (when the AIFA was known as the AIFL). The AIFA Championship Bowl I was a neutral site game held in

Florence, South Carolina Florence is a city in and the county seat of Florence County, South Carolina, United States. It lies at the intersection of Interstates 20 and 95 and is the eastern terminus of the former. It is the primary city within the Florence metropol ...

. In addition, the league held its first All-Star Game the same weekend, also in Florence. League owners stated that the neutral site was chosen so that both games could be televised to obtain nationwide exposure for the league. The league then expanded nationwide; some individual teams were able to acquire several players with NFL experience, a sign that the league had achieved a level on par with leagues such as af2. The league earned a major television contract as well: On September 17, 2007, The American Indoor Football Association owners John Morris and Michael Min announced that the league signed a three-year national television broadcast, mobile phone broadcast, and webcast licensing agreement with Simply 4Me Incorporated (d.b.a. SimplyMe TV). However, that deal was subsequently cancelled. Later in the season,

FSN Pittsburgh AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh is an American regional sports network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit as part of the AT&T SportsNet brand of networks and is an affiliate of Bally Sports. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, the cha ...

agreed to pick up the remaining games;

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

-based Image Sports Network was also involved with the league. Eight teams participating in the league in 2007 did not return for the 2008 season, including the 2007 champion Lakeland Thunderbolts. The AIFA became the third league since 2004 (excluding the folded WIFL and NIFL before its folding) to lose its standing champion (the 2004 NIFL champion Lexington Horsemen left to join the newly created UIF and later were in af2, and the 2006 champion Billings Outlaws also left to join two years later). However, nine teams signed on to begin play in 2008, and the league created a Western Conference. In 2007, the team farthest west was based in

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 ...

; in 2008, the team farthest west was based in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. Three of the four teams who had won the league championship to that point were no longer active league members. The 2009 season culminated in AIFA Championship Bowl III, hosted by the Western Conference champion Wyoming Cavalry on July 25, 2009. The game, played before 6,500 fans at the Casper Events Center, saw the

Reading Express The Reading Express were a professional indoor football team based in Reading, Pennsylvania. They were most recently a member of the United Conference of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Express began play in 2006, as an expansion team of th ...

defeat the Wyoming Cavalry for their first title, 65–42. As the 2010 season approached, AIFA continued to expand its nationwide footprint. Expansion franchises had been added in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

;

Yakima, Washington Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, and the state's 11th-largest city by population. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The uninc ...

; Wasilla, Alaska (believed to be the smallest city in America to host a national professional football franchise) and

Wenatchee, Washington Wenatchee ( ) is the county seat and largest city of Chelan County, Washington, United States. The population within the city limits in 2010 was 31,925, and was estimated to have increased to 34,360 as of 2019. Located in the north-central part ...

. The moves gave the AIFA a much more significant presence on the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

. To accommodate this, and to keep travel expenses down, for the 2010 season the AIFA adopted a scheduling system that effectively treated the Eastern and Western conferences as separate leagues, with no regular-season crossover between the two conferences. The league also secured a television contract with AMGTV, which was to

syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndicat ...

a "Game of the Week" package to

regional sports network In the United States and Canada, a regional sports network (RSN) is a cable television channel (many of which are also distributed on direct broadcast satellite services) that presents sports programming to a local market or geographical region ...

s and its network of low-powered broadcast stations. In 2010, the

Baltimore Mariners The Baltimore Mariners were an indoor football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The team was a member of American Indoor Football. The team was founded when the American Indoor Football Association expelled the Baltimore Blackbirds for negotia ...

completed the league's first-ever

perfect season A perfect season is a sports season, including any requisite playoff portion, in which a team remains and finishes undefeated and untied. The feat is extremely rare at the professional level of any team sport, and has occurred more commonly at the ...

by winning all fourteen regular season games and winning AIFA Championship Bowl IV.

Split, partial merger with the SIFL and first cessation of operations

The AIFA arranged a split and partial merger with the Southern Indoor Football League after the 2010 season. As part of the deal, Morris would acquire the rights to the Eastern Conference teams and merge them into the SIFL, while Mink would retain the western conference teams, rights to the AIFA name, and television contract, the last of which was extended through 2013. The AIFA West originally announced that it would begin its season with four teams, beginning in March 2011, after the

Tucson Thunder Kats , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

announced it would be suspending operations until 2012. As of January 2011, no schedule had been released, and the league informed the remaining three teams that there would not be a fourth team representing

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, ...

as the league had earlier promised. The league attempted to work out a schedule with the remaining three teams, but the

Reno Barons Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

and

Stockton Wolves The Stockton Wolves were a professional indoor football team, initially based in San Jose, California and subsequently moving to be based in Stockton, California. As the San Jose Wolves, the team played its home games at the Cow Palace, located i ...

were unwilling to go forward with such a schedule and broke from the league. Both teams operated as the two-team "Western Indoor Football Association" in 2011, each playing whatever semi-pro teams were willing to face them in addition to each other. With only the

Yakima Valley Warriors The Yakima Valley Warriors were a professional indoor football team that will played in the American Indoor Football Association in the 2010 season. The Warriors were based in Yakima, Washington. Their home games were played at the Yakima SunDo ...

left, the AIFA ceased operations; it said that it would attempt to relaunch in 2012 with eight to 12 teams in at least two regions of the United States. As of June 2011, Morris had released a statement indicating he still represented the AIFA when he purchased the assets of the

Fayetteville Force The Fayetteville Force was a professional ice hockey team. based in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The franchise was a member of the Central Hockey League (1997–2001). They played their home games at the Crown Coliseum. Background In 1996, the Ce ...

Relaunch and folding

Triangle Torch vs Lehigh Valley Steelhawks 3

On October 27, 2011, the AIFA announced it was relaunching as American Indoor Football (AIF). The move came in light of the dissolution of the SIFL and its breakup into the Professional Indoor Football League and the Lone Star Football League. AIF announced its intentions to absorb the three remaining SIFL teams not in either the PIFL or LSFL (the Harrisburg Stampede, Trenton Steel and

Carolina Speed The Carolina Speed were a professional indoor football team that operated from 2007 to 2011 in Concord and Charlotte, North Carolina, at Bojangles' Coliseum in 2009 and 2011. From 2007 to 2009, the Speed were members of the American Indoor Footb ...

), as well as the remaining teams that would have participated in the AIFA West. AIF intended to launch an amateur division as well. In 2015, the league absorbed the remains of the Continental Indoor Football League, picking up the

Saginaw Sting The Saginaw Sting was a professional Indoor Football team based in Saginaw, Michigan. The team was most recently a member of American Indoor Football (AIF). They began play in 2008 as an expansion team in the Continental Indoor Football League a ...

and

Chicago Blitz The Chicago Blitz was a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s. They played at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. Team history The Blitz were one of the twelve charter franchis ...

from that league; the CIFL Web site became a redirect to AIF's. (The two other surviving teams from that league chose to play in other leagues: Erie decided to join the PIFL, while the Marion Blue Racers fulfilled an earlier promise to join the X-League). In homage to the CIFL, AIF split into two conferences, one bearing the American name and the other (which includes both CIFL refugees) named the Continental Conference. The conference names were changed to Northern and Southern for the 2016 season. The 2016 season saw the league grow from nine teams to a total of 28 announced teams. However, only 21 teams ever played a league game that season, including four teams that folded midseason and several other teams cancelling scheduled games. The Columbus Lions, which joined for 2016, would finish the season undefeated and win the championship. The Lions then announced that they were leaving the league due to the league's instability, especially in the Southern Division where the Lions were the only team that did not have a cancelled or rescheduled game. On July 7, 2016, the Lions' owners announced the formation of a new league, the Arena Developmental League. On July 13, the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks also announced they were leaving the AIF. In response, AIF owner Jim Morris announced on July 18, 2016, that the AIF was ceasing operations immediately. He also announced his support of the new Arena Developmental League (which later changed its name to

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 $ ...

before its inaugural season) and hoped the new league would take on many of the former AIF teams. The

Buffalo Blitz The Buffalo Blitz was a professional indoor football team based in Buffalo, New York. The club was established in 2014 as the Buffalo Lightning, an expansion team in American Indoor Football for the 2015 season. Playing as an independent in 201 ...

(formerly the Buffalo Lightning) used the official AIF football in their press announcement upon joining the Can-Am Indoor Football League, which was created by announced AIF 2017 expansion team

Vermont Bucks The Vermont Bucks were an indoor football team based in Vermont. They started as a charter member of the professional Can-Am Indoor Football League (Can-Am), playing home games at Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington in the 2017 season. The Can- ...

. The Can-Am also used the AIF footballs in games during their only season.

Basic rule differences

*AIF did not use rebound nets found in 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 ...

. *One linebacker could move flat to flat but was required to stay in drop zone. *Platooning and free substitution were allowed, meaning players did not have to play both offense and defense. *Franchises were required to have at least nine players that originated from within a 120-mile radius of the team's home town. *The AIF ball pattern was similar to that of the basketball in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading to four A ...

, with red, white, and blue panels as opposed to the brown colored football of most leagues. This pattern originated in the AIFL and is also used in the

UIFL The Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL) was a regional professional indoor football league that began its inaugural season on February 18, 2011 as the Ultimate Indoor Football League before playing as the United Indoor Football League in 2012 ...

. Two rule changes appeared to be inspired by

Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...

rules: *Two offensive players could be in motion at one time. The AFL allows only one in motion. *The AIF recognized the single (also known as an uno or rouge). If a kickoff goes through the uprights, or if the receiving team does not advance the ball out of the end zone on a kickoff, the kicking team is awarded one point and the ball is spotted at the opponent's five yard line.

Teams

Teams when league folded

''Italics indicate travel only team (including the Maryland Eagles who also have home games with another league)''

Map of teams

Former teams

Defunct franchises

*Abilene Warriors – Announced for 2016 but never played. * AIFL Ghostchasers *

Arctic Predators The Arctic Predators were a professional indoor football (a variation of American football) team that played in 2010 as a member of the American Indoor Football Association. IFL Bid In May 2009, the Arctic Predators announced that they were seek ...

( Wasilla, Alaska). *

Arizona Adrenaline The Arizona Adrenaline were a professional indoor American football team based in Prescott Valley, Arizona. They were members of the Mountain West division of the Intense Conference of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Adrenaline were found ...

* Arizona Outlaws *

Atlanta Sharks The Atlanta Sharks were a professional indoor American football, indoor football team based in Loganville, Georgia. They were members of American Indoor Football (AIF) during the 2014 and 2015 seasons. The Sharks joined the AIF in 2013 as an expan ...

– At one point, listed on the 2016 schedule of the Indoor Football Alliance. *

Atlanta Vultures The Atlanta Vultures were a professional indoor football team and a member of American Indoor Football (AIF) that played part of the 2016 season. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the Vultures were to play their home games at the Georgia International ...

– Folded during the 2016 season. * Augusta Colts – Originally played as the Augusta Spartans. *Austin Colts – Added midseason in 2016 but folded prior to playing any games. *

Baltimore Blackbirds The Baltimore Blackbirds were an indoor football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. They played the 2007 season as an expansion member of the American Indoor Football Association, at the 1st Mariner Arena CFG Bank Arena (originally the Balti ...

Canton Legends The Canton Legends was a professional indoor football team based out of Canton, Ohio. They were a charter member of the American Indoor Football Association, which played their first season under the name Atlantic Indoor Football League, and the ...

* Carolina Ghostriders – Also known as the Carolina Sharks, AIFL Ghostriders, and indirectly the Greensboro Ghostriders. *

Chattahoochee Valley Vipers There are two teams that go by the Chattahoochee Valley Vipers. The current team is an expansion semi-professional football team based in Phenix City, Alabama and are a member of the United South Football League. The "new" Vipers were created in ...

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 charte ...

– Added for 2016, folded midseason. * Cleveland Patriots *

Danville Demolition The Danville Demolition were an American Indoor Football Association team that played in 2007. The team played their home games at the David S. Palmer Arena. History On June 19, 2006, the AIFA announced that Danville would get a team to play ...

* Daytona Beach Thunder * D.C. Armor *

Erie Freeze The Erie Freeze was an American indoor football team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They were an original member of the American Indoor Football League in 2005, and advanced to the first AIFL Championship Game. When the league was reorganized into ...

* Fayetteville Guard *

Florence Phantoms The Florence Phantoms were a professional indoor football team based out of Florence, South Carolina, in the United States. They were an expansion member of the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) in 2006, and were the AIFA Champions of ...

Florida Stingrays The Florida Stingrays were an amateur football team in the American Indoor Football Association and United Football Federation of America. They were once a 2008 expansion team of the American Indoor Football Association, where they played their ho ...

Gulf Coast Raiders A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodies ...

* Huntington Heroes *

Johnstown Riverhawks The Johnstown Riverhawks was a professional indoor American football team based out of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. They were a charter member of the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA). They played their home games at Cambria County War M ...

*Louisiana Cottonmouths – Announced for 2016 but never played. * Marion Blue Racers – Announced as a member for the 2016 season joining from the X-League but suspended operations prior to the season. *

Maryland Reapers The Maryland Reapers were an American Indoor Football team that played in 2012. Based in Laurel, Maryland, the Reapers played their home games at The Gardens Ice House. Season-by-season , - , 2012 , , 1 , , 5 , , 0 , , -- , , , - 2012 ...

* Mississippi MudCats *

Montgomery Bears The Montgomery Bears were a professional indoor football team that played their home games at the Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery, Alabama. They are a member of the American Indoor Football Association. The team began play as the Montgomery Mau ...

* Myrtle Beach Freedom * Nevada Lynx *

New Jersey Revolution The New Jersey Revolution were members of the American Indoor Football Association based in Morristown, New Jersey, with home games at the George Mennen arena. The Revolution name referred to New Jersey's nickname, The Crossroads of the Revolution ...

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 Santa Ana Star Center (which w ...

New Mexico Stars The New Mexico Stars were a professional indoor football team based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The Stars played their home games at the Santa Ana Star Center. They began play in the Indoor Football League (IFL) during the 2012 season as an expa ...

Northern Kentucky Nightmare The Northern Kentucky Nightmare was a professional indoor football team based in Highland Heights, Kentucky and were members of American Indoor Football that began play in the 2016 season. The Nightmare, who were nominally a replacement for the N ...

– Traveling 2016 expansion team; ownership attempted to join the Arena Developmental League after the AIF ceased operations. *Northshore Gators – Announced for 2016 but never played. *

Ogden Knights The Ogden Knights were a professional indoor football team that began play in the American Indoor Football Association in the 2009 season. The Knights were based in Ogden, Utah, with home games to be played at the Golden Spike Arena. While it i ...

* Ontario Warriors *

Philadelphia Yellow Jackets The Philadelphia Yellow Jackets were a professional indoor football team and a member of the American Indoor Football league that played half a season in 2016 before folding due to financial issues. In addition to being Philadelphia's second are ...

– Joined in 2016, folded midseason. *Pineywoods Bucks – Announced for 2016 season but never played. * Raleigh Rebels *

* Richmond Bandits * Richmond Raiders * Roc City Thunder – Played as an independent; announced as member of, but never actually played, in the league. * Rochester Raiders *

* Springfield Stallions *

South Carolina Force The Greenville Force was a professional indoor football team in the Southern Indoor Football League. The team was based in Greenville, South Carolina, with home games played at the BI-LO Center. The Force was the first arena/indoor football team ...

Steel City Menace The Steel City Menace were a professional indoor football team and a member of American Indoor Football that played part of the 2016 season. Originally based in Pueblo, Colorado, the Menace were to play their home games at the Southwest Motors Ev ...

– Joined in 2016, folded midseason *

Steubenville Stampede The Steubenville Stampede was an indoor football franchise, most recently a member of the Continental Indoor Football League. They played their home games at the St. John Arena in Steubenville, Ohio, United States. 2006 season The team began ...

Syracuse Soldiers The Syracuse Soldiers was a 2006 expansion member of the American Indoor Football League. They played their home games at the War Memorial at Oncenter in Syracuse, New York until the AIFL ended their season on Friday, May 19, 2006. The team wa ...

– Also known as the Binghamton Brigade * Tallahassee Titans *

– Announced but never played *

Utah Saints Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its w ...

* Virginia Badgers * Wenatchee Valley Venom * Wyoming Cavalry *

* York/Central Penn Capitals

Former AIFL/AIFA/AIF teams that left and were still active

ASI Panthers The AllStarInc Panthers were a professional indoor American football, indoor football team based in Reading, Pennsylvania. They were members of American Indoor Football (AIF) for the 2015 season. The Panthers played their home games at Santander A ...

– Announced to be an independent team for 2016 but was also listed by Indoor Football Alliance as a member. The team instead went to the semi-professional Minor League Football and were renamed to Penn Panthers. *

Buffalo Lightning The Buffalo Jr. Sabres are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Buffalo, New York. They are a part of the Ontario Junior A Hockey League. Its current head coach and general manager is Nick Tuzzolino, who played in the organization during its Buffalo ...

– Played a short 2016 season as an independent before playing 2017 as the

as members of the Can-Am Indoor Football League. *

Cape Fear Heroes The Cape Fear Heroes were a professional indoor football team based in Fayetteville, North Carolina. They last played in the American Arena League in 2019. The Heroes were owned by Barbara Spigner. They began play in 2012 as an expansion membe ...

– Created their own league in 2015 as the charter member of

Supreme Indoor Football Supreme Indoor Football (SIF) is an inactive professional indoor football league based in the Southeastern United States. The SIF was originally the creation of the Cape Fear Heroes ownership. During the league's initial launch in 2015, it was ...

(SIF) which then became part of the Indoor Football Alliance (IFA). The IFA was unable to organize a season in time and went on hiatus for 2016. The Heroes ownership restarted the SIF for 2017. *

Central Florida Jaguars The Central Florida Jaguars, commonly known as the Jags, were a professional Indoor American football, indoor football team based in Lakeland, Florida. The Jags were the third indoor football team to call Lakeland home; the first team was the Lak ...

– Joined the AIF as an expansion team in 2016. Became the charter member of the semi-professional Elite Indoor Football Conference for 2017 and briefly an affiliate member of the new

Arena Pro Football 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 ...

. In 2017, the EIFC played all league games outdoors in

Bartow, Florida Bartow ( ) is the county seat of Polk County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1851 as Fort Blount, the city was renamed in honor of Francis S. Bartow, the first brigade commander of the Confederate Army to die in combat during the America ...

. *

– After the team went for sale near the end of the 2016 season, the team ceased operations for 2017. Joined the semiprofessional regional Midwest Professional Indoor Football for 2018 but left the league after three games. * Columbus Lions – Joined for the 2016 season and won the AIF championship. One week later the team announced they would not return to the AIF for the 2017 season and the owners formed a new league called the Arena Developmental League, which then changed its name to

. * Erie RiverRats/Storm – Later called the Erie Explosion. Played in Professional Indoor Football League before league folded in 2015. Initially part of the Indoor Football Alliance as a member of the reorganized Continental Indoor Football League but went on hiatus for 2016, never to return. *

Florida Tarpons The Florida Tarpons were a professional indoor football team based in Lakeland, Florida, out of the RP Funding Center. Originally established in Estero, Florida, and playing out of Germain Arena, they began play in 2012 as an expansion team of th ...

– Joined for the 2016 season from the recently defunct

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 ...

. Joined the new

for 2017 after the AIF ceased operations. *

Georgia Firebirds The Georgia Firebirds were a professional indoor football team based in Albany, Georgia, and played their home games at the Albany Civic Center. Previously, the Firebirds played as an outdoor football team in various semi-pro leagues before goin ...

– Joined for the 2016 season. Joined the new National Arena League for 2017 after the AIF ceased operations. * Harrisburg Stampede – Moved to the Professional Indoor Football League after their 2013 championship, then folded following the 2014 season. * High Country Grizzlies – Announced as 2017 expansion team prior to the AIF folding. Joined the new National Arena League for 2017 after the AIF ceased operations. * Lehigh Valley Steelhawks – Joined for the 2016 season but left after one season. Joined National Arena League for 2017 prior to the AIF ceasing operations. *Maryland Eagles – Full AIF member in 2013, and then a part-time traveling team from 2014 to 2016 while also playing full-time in a regional semi-professional league. After the AIF ceased operations, went semi-pro only. *

Miami Valley Silverbacks The Dayton Silverbacks were a professional indoor football team based in Dayton, Ohio. The team was a member of the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL). The franchise started as the Miami Valley Silverbacks and joined the CIFL in 2007 aft ...

– Joined AIFL for 2006 season but left after one season. Joined Continental Indoor Football League in 2007 until the 2012 season. Played as Dayton Silverbacks from 2010 to 2012. *

River City Raiders The River City Raiders (formerly known as the Missouri Monsters and the St. Louis Attack) were a professional indoor football team based in St. Charles, Missouri. They play their home games at Family Arena. As of February 2018 the River City Rai ...

– Joined for the 2016 season from the

where it was known as the St. Louis Attack. Briefly joined Champions Indoor Football before joining Arena Pro Football for the 2017 season after the AIF ceased operations. *

Savannah Steam A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

– Joined for the 2015 season and played two seasons until the AIF folded and they themselves were evicted from their home arena. While working to establish its own Elite Indoor Football league for 2017, they rebranded as the Southern Steam and played home games outdoors and later in a converted warehouse in nearby

Statesboro Statesboro is the largest city and county seat of Bulloch County, Georgia, United States, located in the southeastern part of the state. Statesboro is home to the flagship campus of Georgia Southern University and is part of the Savannah–Hin ...

. *Texas Stealth – Announced as an expansion team for the 2016 season but joined North American Indoor Football (a semi-professional league) prior to their first season. *

Triangle Torch The Triangle Torch (also known as the East Carolina Torch) was a professional indoor football team playing in North Carolina. The team first played as the Triangle Torch in Raleigh, North Carolina, and was named after the larger Research Triangle ...

– Joined as an expansion team for the 2016 season. Joined the reorganized Supreme Indoor Football for the 2017 season. * Utah Valley Thunder – Assumed the identity of the

Utah Blaze The Utah Blaze was a professional arena football team based in Salt Lake City, Utah and competed in the West Division of the Arena Football League. Home games were played at the EnergySolutions Arena. In 2013, the team did not submit proper do ...

in the

in 2010 until 2013. *

– Announced as 2017 expansion team two days prior to the AIF folding. Created the new Can-Am Indoor Football League for 2017. * West Michigan Ironmen – Joined for the 2016 season until the AIF folded. Announced they had joined Champions Indoor Football for 2017.

Substitute

Chambersburg Cardinals The Chambersburg Cardinals are an American football team based in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. The team plays in the Gridiron Developmental Football League (GDFL). Founding The team was founded in 1946 by local players returning from World War II. ...

– semi-professional outdoor team that played two games as a substitute in 2006, from the North American Football League. *Columbus Blackhawks – semi-professional team that filled in for one game in 2006. *Philadelphia Scorpions – semi-professional team that filled in for one game in 2006.

Championship games

References

External links

* {{Profootball Defunct indoor American football leagues in the United States