National Indoor Football League (2001–2004, 2006) United Indoor Football (2005)
108-1097: The Rapid City Flying Aces were a professional indoor American football team in Rapid City, South Dakota . Like their predecessors, the Black Hills Red Dogs , they played their home games at the Don Barnett Arena in Rapid City. As of April 2007, the Flying Aces did not belong to any football league. The team was affiliated with the original Indoor Football League in 2000; with the National Indoor Football League from 2001 to 2004 and in 2006; and with United Indoor Football in 2005. The team considered rejoining United Indoor Football in 2008. The Flying Aces won at least 10 out of 14 games three times in their seven seasons; however, organizational turmoil threatened
216-418: A touchdown , but stops after an extra point or two-point conversion attempt. If a quarter ends as a touchdown is scored, an untimed conversion attempt takes place. The play clock is 30 seconds, starting at the end of the previous play. In all arenas, the final minute of the period is measured in tenths of a second. Prior to the 2018 season, during the final minute of the fourth quarter, the clock stopped if
324-515: A "dead" player may participate on kickoffs, or as long snapper or holder. In 2006, the AFL changed its substitution rules such that free substitutions were allowed on all kickoffs. The most significant change was the introduction of free substitution , the so-called " Elway Rule". Previously, AFL coaches were limited to one substitution per position per quarter. From 2007 to 2019 and come 2024 , coaches can substitute players at will. The rationale
432-435: A 15-minute halftime ( ArenaBowl has a 30-minute interval). Teams are allowed three timeouts per half, and two per overtime period if regulation ends tied. Teams must use a timeout if there's an injury inside a half-minute left in regulation or overtime; exception applies to when team has no timeouts, and this occurs, they're granted an extra timeout. The clock stops for out-of-bounds plays, incomplete passes, or sacks only in
540-660: A certain level of stability, however. The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) began in 2001 and was the most successful league in the early 2000s. The Indoor Football League (IFL) began in the autumn of 2008 when two already-established leagues (the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football ) chose to merge into a single organization. The IFL's expansion model has been based less on establishing new teams and more on acquiring existing teams from other leagues. The IFL has 16 teams as of 2024. Other, regional leagues include Champions Indoor Football (CIF),
648-745: A converted ice rink at the American Dream Meadowlands shopping center in East Rutherford, New Jersey , with the Outlaws defeating the Firebirds 46–41. On September 4, 2024, each of the eight surviving AFL teams from the end of the 2024 season released a one-sentence statement: "A new era begins today." Concurrently, the Arizona Bandits, a planned 2025 AFL expansion team, released their own statement: "Something big
756-508: A few team names and logos owned by outside parties, in a December 2009 bankruptcy auction. Shortly after the purchase, AF1 adopted the Arena Football League name, and the AFL relaunched in 2010 . The "iron man" rule, requiring at least six of the eight players to play on both offense and defense, was dropped, but most other past AFL rules remained unchanged. The relaunched league saw franchises return and renewed interest, but by
864-507: A field that was identical in size to a standard North American ice hockey rink, 200 by 85 feet (61 m × 26 m). This resulted in the field being 50 yards long (half of the length of a standard American football field) with eight-yard end zones (which may, if necessary, be curved in the end zones as hockey rinks are), and the field being slightly over half as wide as a standard football field. Foster adopted short-pile artificial turfs (which were then standard) such as AstroTurf for
972-417: A hockey rink; this is much like some Canadian football fields where the end zones can be cut off by a track). Each sideline has a heavily padded barrier, with the padding placed over the hockey dasher boards. The goalpost uprights are 9 feet (2.7 m) wide, and the crossbar is 15 feet (4.6 m) above the playing surface. Taut rebound nets on either side of the posts bounce any missed field goals back into
1080-503: A letter from the USPTO rendering Hutton's and Gaines' claims to ownership of the AFL logo to be invalid. The trademark and all other trademarks from the AFL and af2 solely belong to G6 Sports Group. The league would announce the hiring of its new president and chief operating officer Jared Widman on May 28, 2024, along with the announcement that the league was contracting to nine teams, again removing Oregon (who had been briefly removed from
1188-466: A major network television broadcasting contract with NBC , and eventually launched an official minor league , af2 , beginning in 2000. This effort basically served two purposes: one as a developmental league for the AFL, and as a place where former collegiate players could develop while at the same time learning and becoming accustomed to the unique arena rules, and secondly as a pre-emptive way of shutting out potential new indoor football competitors (this
SECTION 10
#17327985440171296-472: A new ownership group that had acquired the league's trademarks and social media accounts announced another revival of the league, which began play in 2024. On May 12, 2024, kicker Melissa Strother made an extra point while playing for the Washington Wolfpack , making her the first female player to score a point in the league. Other indoor football leagues have been formed, without the use of
1404-536: A non-traditional (spring-summer) season, was in operation in 1983–1985. When the USFL ceased operations, Foster saw his opportunity. He staged a "test" game in Rockford, Illinois in 1986 and put together a four-team league for a "demonstration season" in the spring of 1987, with games televised on ESPN . Foster had to adopt a field that would fit within the smaller playing surfaces found in most arenas and thus created
1512-482: A pre-launch merger with the existing Champions Indoor Football . Three weeks into the season, after numerous controversies, unfulfilled commitments and teams suspending operations, the ownership group fired founding commissioner Lee Hutton and reorganized as a ten-team league (shortly thereafter restored to eleven, by the end of the season shrinking to eight), hiring former NFL coach Jeff Fisher as its interim commissioner and bringing back general counsel Jerry Kurz from
1620-402: A punt striking the ceiling. The end zones were slightly shorter—eight yards instead of the standard ten (coincidentally, the eight-yard endzone length is the standard in modern indoor football). While several attempts to create a true indoor football game have been made since shortly after American football was developed, the first version to meet with relatively widespread success and acceptance
1728-618: A small field was actually played outdoors at the original open-air Madison Square Garden . Using nine-man sides , Pennsylvania defeated Rutgers 10–0 at the annual meeting of the Amateur Athletic Union on January 16, 1889. The first documented indoor football game was an exhibition between the Springfield YMCA Training School and a Yale Senior Class team played on December 12, 1890, at Madison Square Garden II . James Naismith scored
1836-585: A three- or four-point stance at the start of the snap. Two defenders serve as linebackers , called the Mac and the Jack. The Mac may blitz from the side of the line opposite the offensive Tight End. The Jack's role has changed after new rules set in place by the league in 2008. The Jack cannot blitz, but under new, more defense-friendly rules, the Jack Linebacker may roam sideline to sideline within five yards of
1944-477: A time from a 21-man active roster. Before 2007, players played both offense and defense except for the Quarterback , Kicker , and Offensive Specialist (Wide Receiver/Running Back combination) and two Defensive Specialists (Defensive Backs). If a player enters and leaves, from the moment he leaves the player is considered "dead" and cannot return to play until the designated time is served. Exception:
2052-551: A touchdown for Springfield, though Yale won the exhibition 16–10. The following day a second exhibition game was played, with Pennsylvania defeating Rutgers 20–12. The field at Madison Square Garden measured 260 feet (79 m) long and 100 feet (30 m) wide. The first documented indoor regulation football games were those played at the Chicago Coliseum in the late 1890s. The first such game matched Michigan against Chicago on Thanksgiving Day 1896. The match
2160-556: A year during the 1930s; the stadium stopped hosting games in 1940 and did not resume hosting football games until 1961. In the 1960s, the Boardwalk Bowl , a post-season game involving small college teams, was contested at the convention center. The Bowl was an attempt to make Atlantic City more of a year-round resort in the pre-gambling era as opposed to a single-season one (the Miss America Pageant , also held at
2268-474: Is 17,000 square feet (1,600 m )). The scrimmage area is 50 yards (46 m) long (unlike the field in NFL which is 100 yards (91 m) long), and each end zone is approximately 8 yards deep, two yards less than the standard 10 yards. Depending on the venue in which a game is being played, the end zones may be rectangular (like a basketball court) or, where necessary because of the building design, rounded (like
SECTION 20
#17327985440172376-413: Is a variety of gridiron football designed to be played indoors. The game is played on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink , and features between six and eight players for each team playing at any given time depending on the league, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game that can be played on
2484-453: Is ahead after one possession wins. If the teams are tied after each has had a possession, true sudden death rules apply thereafter. Each overtime period is 15 minutes, and continues from the ending of the previous overtime period until the tie is broken. All overtimes thereafter are true sudden death; no games can be tied. This includes both games of all semifinal series. Arena Football League (2024) The Arena Football League ( AFL )
2592-414: Is coming." Later that day, hype videos featuring a revamped logo began to be released. Albany was the first team to confirm it had withdrawn from the AFL, but would not elaborate further, stating that further news would follow September 5. According to sources, including ArenaFan and Arena Insider , the teams were to unite under a new banner, Arena Football One , a name that was originally slated for
2700-403: Is kicked off from the goal line, to start the halves and odd overtimes, or after any score. The team with the ball is given four downs to gain ten yards or score. Punting is illegal because of the size of the playing field, however, a field goal that either misses wide (therefore bouncing off the nets surrounding the goalposts) or falls short, may be returned. Thus an impossibly long field goal
2808-449: Is most recently known as American Indoor Football (AIF) went through three names and two ownership changes in its first three seasons. Several other indoor leagues have been announced without ever actually commencing play, or operating only briefly with a handful of teams. Some were claimed attempts to form a second "major" league of indoor football while others were strictly efforts to form a new "minor" league. A few leagues have achieved
2916-434: Is played exclusively indoors, in arenas usually designed for either basketball or ice hockey teams. The field is the same width 85 feet (26 m) and length 200 feet (61 m) as a standard NHL hockey rink, making it approximately 30% of the dimensions of a regular American gridiron football field , and 19% of a Canadian gridiron football field (the total playing area, including the end zones of an Arena football field
3024-413: Is tantamount to a punt in other football variants. A receiver jumping to catch a pass needs to get only one foot down in bounds for the catch to be ruled a completed catch, just as in college football . Practically, this means that one foot must touch the ground before the receiver is pushed into the boards by an opposing player. Passes that bounce off the rebound nets remain "live." Balls that bounce off
3132-877: The American Arena League (AAL) and National Arena League (NAL). Both CIF and the AAL were formed by mergers of existing leagues. The CIF was formed from a merger of the Champions Professional Indoor Football League and the Lone Star Football League in 2015. The AAL was formed in late 2017 as the combination of three leagues that each played one season: the Can-Am Indoor Football League , Arena Pro Football , and Supreme Indoor Football . Champions Indoor Football merged with
3240-590: The Minnesota Myth . These problems have prompted calls for Hutton to resign, including from Billings Outlaws owner Steven Titus. Marshals owner Wes Johnson noted that the league structure centered all power in the commissioner, whom the owners had no leverage to fire. On May 9, 2024, it was announced that the Georgia Force had abruptly folded and the Soul had suspended operations for the remainder of
3348-613: The Rapid City Flying Aces . During the 2006 season, they began the season 8–0. It appeared the team was going to fold when owner Howard Neal left the franchise in a financial mess; However, several local investors helped pay the bills and save the team. The team went on to the Pacific Conference title game, where they lost to the Billings Outlaws . Unfortunately, there was not enough time to save
Rapid City Flying Aces - Misplaced Pages Continue
3456-485: The women's national team . On May 13, 2024, in an email from owner Diana Hutton, the Minnesota Myth became the fourth team to suspend operations, blaming it on an inability to raise necessary sponsorships because of "negative publicity" and accusing the owners of "sabotage" in order to force her husband Lee Hutton to resign as commissioner; Hutton confirmed the team's closure publicly a day later. Hours later,
3564-585: The " World Series of Pro Football ." The games were played on a 70-yard by 35-yard dirt field but otherwise adhered to outdoor rules. Poor attendance led to the tournament being discontinued after two years. The Chicago Bears of the National Football League hosted an experimental game against their crosstown rivals, the Cardinals , after the 1930 NFL season , at the indoor Chicago Stadium . Two years later, poor weather conditions led to
3672-554: The "deuce": if a kickoff goes through the uprights, the kicking team receives two points. This rule had previously been in effect in the IFL and the NAL . The league also instituted the rouge / single , as used in the CFL , whereby, on a kickoff, the kicking team receives one point if the receiving team fails to bring the ball out of its own end zone. After scoring a touchdown, the scoring team has
3780-429: The 10-yard line after any touchdown, if they want to. Any kickoff that goes through the uprights is scored as a "deuce", or two points. Four offensive players must be on the line of scrimmage at the snap ; one of the linemen must declare himself the tight end . One offensive player may be moving forward at the time of the snap as long as he has not yet crossed the line of scrimmage. Three defensive players must be in
3888-506: The 2024 season with hopes of returning in 2025. On May 12, 2024, kicker Melissa Strother made an extra point while playing for the Washington Wolfpack , making her the first female player to score a point in the Arena Football League. Strother, who had previously been on the Marshals roster prior to the CIF merger with the AFL, was a 13-year veteran of women's leagues and a former member of
3996-641: The 2024 season, while he mentioned the league might expand in the future to 24 teams, as the Chicago Rush and Arizona Bandits are expected to join in 2025 along with other possible teams in markets that were part of the league's original market announcement. Hutton also declared that the league game "will be broadcast , streamed and will also be available in VR ". He also referred to the original list of cities and revealed that other "leagues and individuals" (none specified) were trying to cancel teams contracts with
4104-440: The AFL had selected the following cities that would be receiving new teams: Austin, Texas ; Boise, Idaho ; Bakersfield, California ; Chicago, Illinois ; Denver, Colorado ; St. Paul, Minnesota ; Lake Charles, Louisiana ; Cincinnati, Ohio ; Orlando, Florida ; Salem, Oregon ; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; St. Louis, Missouri ; Tallahassee, Florida ; Nashville, Tennessee ; Everett, Washington and Odessa, Texas . Several of
4212-482: The AFL's erstwhile developmental league , which played 10 seasons from 2000 through 2009; and the China Arena Football League , which played two abbreviated seasons in 2016 and 2019 but was not directly affiliated with the now-defunct AFL. A 2024 reboot of the Arena Football League uses the original league's rulebook with minor variations. Through the late 1990s, the Arena Football League was
4320-512: The American arm of Toronto, Ontario -based hedge fund ForceOne Capital), a new ownership group that had acquired the league's trademarks and social media accounts, announced the league's launch, as a revival of the previous Arena Football League that operated in two incarnations from 1987 to 2008 and 2010 to 2019. The league launched in April 2024 with 16 teams, six of which were absorbed through
4428-636: The Bears hosting the 1932 NFL Playoff Game against the Portsmouth Spartans (now the Detroit Lions ) at the stadium. A dirt and tanbark field measuring 80 yards long (60 yards plus two ten-yard end zones ) and 45 yards wide was constructed on the arena's floor. The Chicago Stadium games were notable for introducing several rule changes, including the introduction of hash marks to keep play away from spectators who were seated next to
Rapid City Flying Aces - Misplaced Pages Continue
4536-775: The Firebirds) after the AFL's bankruptcy. Two other existing clubs revive the names of former AFL teams : the Orlando Predators (also coming from the NAL) and the Nashville Kats ; several other such revivals were included at the start of the season but were among those contracted in the reorganization. On February 1, 2023, over a year after Darren Arbet , who had acquired the league's trademarks out of bankruptcy, sold them to an investment group called G6 Sports Investment Group and sub-partner F1 Sports & Entertainment,
4644-480: The Outlaws defeating the Firebirds 46–41. (**) Arenas that had been announced as each home team's arena but never hosted any games before their teams folded. For the 2024 return , the AFL had initially signed a national television deal with the NFL Network to broadcast over 30 AFL regular season games (games were to have been streamed on NFL+); but this never materalized, as NFL Network dropped plans to carry
4752-518: The United States. January 16, 2024, the league announced a partnership with American 7s Football League (A7FL) for player development, as players can transfer between leagues, with the A7FL functioning as its de facto minor league. As part of the partnership, both leagues "will collectively align on marketing efforts that will elevate the visibility of leagues athletes". In November 2023,
4860-603: The X cup (formerly Legends Cup and Lingerie Bowl), the LFL played a variant of indoor rules with most of its games in indoor stadiums, although a few teams experimented with playing in outdoor stadiums. The league's brief foray into Australia was played in outdoor stadiums; these teams nevertheless played under indoor football rules. All other women's leagues play on outdoor fields with outdoor rules; there have been several other attempts to form indoor women's football leagues, but none have made it to play. As its name implies, arena football
4968-470: The arenas and participated in "anti-competitive practices" to try disturb the league progress, which caused a move to different locations. Hutton also mentioned he's in preliminary talks about conducting international exhibitions games, and with that in mind they changed the official website from "TheAFL.com" to "ArenaFootballUSA.com", as they plan to globalize the game. Following the inaugural week of competition in 2024, numerous problems began to emerge with
5076-438: The center, likewise began as an attempt to extend the season beyond Labor Day). The Atlantic Coast Football League played its inaugural championship game at the convention center in 1962, but the game only drew 2,000 fans and the game would thereafter move to the home stadium of the team with the best regular season record. The Philadelphia -based Liberty Bowl game, which had been played at Municipal Stadium from 1959 to 1963,
5184-463: The cities' arenas indicated they had never been contacted or had only limited conversations before being awarded teams, with Cincinnati's arenas indicating they had in fact rejected the league's advances. Hutton purposely avoided confirming any news reports, stating that he would only release information "on our time," and threatened any news outlets who reported critically on the league with "egg on their faces come April 2024." On August 29, 2023,
5292-402: The commissioner mentioned that the league would have a salary cap of $ 700,000, but the league will allows additional salary spending for "franchise players". Players were promised a $ 1,000 per-game salary, substantially higher than that of other indoor leagues and in line with the AFL's previous incarnations. On July 18, 2023, TMZ Sports initially reported, and the league soon confirmed, that
5400-603: The current AFL teams has direct ties to the former AFL: the Albany Firebirds ; the Firebirds had previously played as the Albany Empire the previous three seasons in the National Arena League after its ownership group acquired the intellectual properties of the Albany Empire of the AFL (the final champions of that league and itself a successor to two previous AFL and AF2 franchises known as
5508-466: The defensive team for two points. Coaches are given two challenges per game, as in the NFL; to challenge, they must throw their red flag before the next play. If the play stands as called after review, the challenging team loses a timeout. If a team wins both challenges used, a third is granted. Video review is automatic in the final half-minute of regulation, all overtime periods, and all scoring plays and turnovers. A game has four 15-minute quarters with
SECTION 50
#17327985440175616-559: The end of the 2017 season, almost all of the league's teams had either folded or moved to other leagues, with only the Philadelphia Soul having existed prior to 2016. Five expansion teams, all in the Mid-Atlantic United States , were established over the next two years, before the league announced after the 2019 season that it was dissolving in a second Chapter 7 bankruptcy. However, on February 1, 2023,
5724-777: The existence of the franchise. The team began play as the Black Hills Machine of the Indoor Football League in 2000. They lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Topeka Kings . When the IFL folded, the franchise moved to the newly formed National Indoor Football League as a charter member and became the Rapid City Red Dogs . The team played in the NIFL from 2001 to 2003. In 2004,
5832-685: The fewest schedule conflicts (only competing with touring stadium rock concerts). The spring schedule has since been adopted by virtually all other professional indoor leagues as of 2010. Within a year of the AFL kicking off, its first challenger, the World Indoor Football League formed. The WIFL planned to play a schedule with six teams beginning in summer of 1988 with its own set of indoor-inspired rules, including an unusual system that would have eight men on offense and seven men on defense. Despite having backing from former NFL players, veteran coaches, and singer John Mellencamp ,
5940-514: The field (much like modern indoor football), while goal posts were moved to the goal line. To compensate for the smaller field, teams were "penalized" 20 yards upon crossing midfield. (The Bears' official Web site goes further and claims that field goals were outlawed for the 1932 game.) In 1930, the Atlantic City Convention Center constructed a nearly full-size indoor football field, and used it for one to three games
6048-399: The field because of its ability to be easily rolled up when the arena is being used for other sports. Foster adopted a modified version of eight-man football . He also mandated a one-platoon system that required at least six players to play on both offensive and defensive downs. This had the added desirable effect of limiting team payrolls. There were numerous other rules designed to help
6156-420: The field of play and allow the ball to remain live; the rebound nets were the only part of the patent that was upheld until it expired. As a result, some non-AFL arena leagues that formed after the patent expired like the National Arena League have used rebound nets, while other leagues such as the Indoor Football League and American Indoor Football opt to not use them. The first demonstration of football on
6264-402: The field of play. The ball is "live" when rebounding off these nets or their support apparatus. The entire goalframe and goalside rebound net system is suspended on cables from the rafters. The bottom of the two goalside rebound nets are 8 feet (2.4 m) off the playing surface. Each netframe is 32 feet (9.8 m) high by 30 feet (9.1 m) wide. A player is not counted as out of bounds on
6372-662: The floors of indoor arenas . The sport was invented in 1981 , and patented in 1987 , by Jim Foster , a former executive of the National Football League and the United States Football League . The name is trademarked by Gridiron Enterprises and had a proprietary format until its patent expired in 2007. Three leagues have played under official arena football rules: the Arena Football League , which played 32 seasons in two separate runs from 1987 to 2008 and 2010 to 2019; arenafootball2 ,
6480-594: The franchise renamed itself the Black Hills Red Dogs . In 2005, the Red Dogs joined the United Indoor Football as a charter member and won a single game during their inaugural season in the UIF. Also in 2005, the team signed quarterback Chris Dixon . Dixon would later become the first indoor football player to throw for 500 touchdowns in his career. In 2006, the franchise moved back to the NIFL and became
6588-566: The games before they were played. The league announced on March 29 that much of the league's schedule will be carried on Gray Television owned-and-operated stations in each team's home market and in regional syndication. Select AFL games were livestreamed through the Vyre streaming app before the league moved its remaining games to a league-managed YouTube account midway through the regular season. The 2024 playoffs were carried via CBS Sports Network , with DAZN holding simulcast rights outside
SECTION 60
#17327985440176696-529: The last half-minute of regulation or overtime (there is only a half-minute warning , as opposed to the two-minute warning in the XFL /NFL and the three-minute warning in the CFL) or because of penalties, injuries or timeouts . The clock also stops for any change in possession, until the ball is marked ready for play; for example, aside from the final half-minute of regulation or overtime, time continues to run down after
6804-490: The league administrators and team owners had allowed player salaries and other costs to rise to the point where the league and many of the teams were losing a substantial amount of money. Late in the summer of 2009, with the team owners unable to agree on a plan for making the league viable again the AFL announced that it was folding, eventually putting its assets up in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation. The developmental af2, however, played its 2009 season as scheduled. Most of
6912-453: The league canceled its 1988 season, folded half of its franchises (including Mellencamp's), and made an unsuccessful bid for the remaining three teams to join the AFL; the WIFL never played a single game. In 1990, Foster patented the rules of arena football, meaning that only persons authorized by him could use his rules and his name for the sport. While the AFL asserted throughout the 1990s that
7020-403: The league had actively promoted for 20 seasons, and that the change took away a key component of what made arena football a distinctive sport. The iteration of the league that began play in 2024 restored the "ironman" rules at the beginning of the season. After the league reorganized, the league abandoned ironman play and restored free substitution; unlike in 2007, the reason for the 2024 change
7128-481: The league kicked off, which provided the legal justification for revoking the license on the AFL trademarks. The change in commissioner did not completely restore stability; Oregon pulled out of a last-minute assignment "due to unforeseen circumstances" on May 24, forcing the temporarily independent Cedar Rapids River Kings to step in the Blackbears' stead; Rapid City, having faced continued labor strife tied to
7236-768: The league officially announced that the Billings Outlaws , formerly of Champions Indoor Football , would be the inaugural members of the new version of the league. On August 31, the West Texas Desert Hawks (formerly the Warbirds) were the second team confirmed. The Orlando Predators were the third team announced on September 25; with the announcement of the Predators, the league announced its intent to instead have 20 teams in its 2024 season, as it planned on absorbing three additional teams from Champions Indoor Football. On October 5, 2023, Hutton appeared with
7344-693: The league officially announced the return of original AFL co-founding partner and former commissioner Jerry Kurz , this time as general counsel and senior advisor of player operations. On June 5, 2024, the league announced the addition of former AFL player Gary Compton as director of football operations. On June 8, 2024, the front office staff added Tracey Leinin as President of Football Administration. On June 24, 2024, they then added Laurie Voke as Vice President of Sales. On June 25, 2024, one day later they added former professional player and coach Dr. Jennifer Welter as Chief Marketing Officer. The 2024 season finished July 19, 2024 with ArenaBowl XXXIII on
7452-439: The league web site, then restored, the previous day) for the remainder of the season. Oregon announced a return to play in 2025 on social media and have also retained its previous online broker for ticket sales for "any future home games." Oregon was ultimately unable to return due to entanglements with former league president Travelle Gaines, who had owned the majority stake in the Blackbears and never sold it. On June 4, 2024,
7560-494: The league's inaugural season, and Terrell Owens joining the following year ( Michael Vick was also announced as a player midseason but would not play). FCF suspended operations following the 2022 season. The best-known indoor women's football league is the X League (formerly known as the Legends Football League, and Lingerie Football League ). Known for its scantily-clad players and its signature event,
7668-674: The league's teams. The Philadelphia Soul coach and roster all departed abruptly before their contest (forcing an American Arena League team from Dallas to don the Soul's uniforms for the game) against the Louisiana VooDoo , who themselves were forced to move their home schedule from Lake Charles to Lafayette days before the game after the manager of Lake Charles's arena accused the VooDoo of failing to cover rent or insurance expenses. The Oregon Blackbears ' home arena in Salem, Oregon
7776-460: The line of scrimmage and drop into coverage once the Quarterback pump fakes . (Before this rule, the Jack could not drop back into coverage until the ball is thrown or the quarterback is no longer in the pocket , and the Jack had to stay within the box designated by the outside shoulders of the offensive line , the line of scrimmage, and five yards back from the line of scrimmage.) The ball
7884-433: The line of scrimmage, while defensive linemen were hindered by restrictions that prevented them from using certain techniques to penetrate the offensive line. Quarterbacks and placekickers were exempt from the one-platoon system, allowing two key scoring positions to be more specialized. The AFL also adopted the USFL's concept of playing in the late spring and summer, since this is when most hockey and basketball arenas have
7992-424: The new Arena Football League prior to 2024. Fan Controlled Football launched in 2021 following an interactive format inspired by video games, with "power-ups" and fans voting on plays. It generally targeted a higher caliber of player than the typical indoor league, with outdoor football veterans such as Johnny Manziel , Robert Turbin , Quinton Flowers , Quinn Porter , Shawn Oakman and Josh Gordon playing in
8100-524: The new owners confirmed plans to relaunch the Arena Football League. The relaunched league, led by chairman Chris Chetty, president Anthony Rossi, president of operations Shan Singh, and commissioner Lee A. Hutton III, will feature 16 teams playing a 10-game season over the course of the summer months, followed by a postseason format that has yet to be determined. In a later interview, Chetty indicated that G6 planned no involvement or spending, with its only role being to collect licensing royalties from Hutton, who
8208-410: The offense and ensure high-scoring games: To further an offensive passing advantage over the defense, Foster also imposed strict restrictions on the defensive formation, mandating that all defenses were required to play a 3-2-Monster formation with three defensive linemen, two linebackers, two cornerbacks, and one safety. Linebackers were not permitted to blitz and were required to stay in boxes behind
8316-425: The offensive team had the lead and did not advance the ball past the line of scrimmage. This prevented the "victory formation" (the offensive team merely kneeling down), or running other plays that are designed solely to exhaust the remaining time rather than to advance the ball downfield. This rule was eliminated in the interest of player safety. In the first overtime , each team gets one possession to score. Whoever
8424-460: The only league playing any variant of the sport designed for indoor play. A clarification limiting the scope of its patent allowed for competing indoor football leagues (sometimes known as arena leagues ) to use the same size field and most other aspects of the game. Arena football is distinguished from the other indoor leagues by its use of large rebound nets attached to the side of each goalpost, which keep any missed field goal or overthrown ball in
8532-468: The option of attempting a four-point conversion (akin to the three-point conversion seen in the UFL and its predecessors) from the opponent's ten-yard line, alongside the existing extra point and two-point conversion options. The rule was carried over as part of a pre-launch merger with Champions Indoor Football . Teams may go for two points from the 2.5-yard line, three from the 5-yard line, or four from
8640-464: The ouster was made with the full cooperation of G6 Sports Group (owners of the trademarks and connected to the original F1 group that had founded the revival), who had suggested Fisher for the position. Chairman Chris Chetty, who had initially expected to remain in Canada and not to have an active role in league operations, noted that Hutton had breached multiple clauses of his contract with G6 even before
8748-596: The owners of three remaining CIF teams—the ICT Regulators of the Wichita metropolitan area, Salina Liberty and Southwest Kansas Storm in Dodge City —and CIF commissioner Mike McCoy as they announced the remainder of that league was merging into the AFL, with McCoy being named AFL deputy commissioner three weeks later. On November 16, 2023, at the AFL relaunch event, Hutton revealed the 16 teams set play in
8856-498: The padded walls that surround the field are "live"; the end zone walls were not live until the 2006 season. Come 2025 gunners must line up on their own 20-yard line on kickoffs, with one receiving player fielding from the end zone. The scoring is the same as in the NFL with the addition of a drop kick field goal worth four points during normal play or two points as a post-touchdown conversion . Blocked extra points and turnovers on two-point conversion attempts may be returned by
8964-564: The patent covered virtually every aspect of the game (from the 50-yard field to the eight-man format), a 1998 lawsuit ( Arena Football League v. Professional Indoor Football League ) established that the patent specifically covered the rebound net feature, meaning that competitors could not use this aspect of the rules. However, under provisions of U.S. patent law , Foster's patent expired on March 27, 2007, enabling competitors to use rebound nets (at least as originally envisioned, without other innovations that he may have patented). The AFL signed
9072-466: The previous incarnation of the league. On September 6, 2024, all eight teams, along with Fisher and Kurz, announced their joint departure from the AFL to establish a new league, Arena Football One , separate from the legal entanglements that ensnared the AFL. The original Arena Football League , created in 1981 and founded in 1986 by Jim Foster , had previously existed in two interrelated incarnations between 1987 and 2008, and 2010 to 2019. Only one of
9180-597: The promises made by the Hutton regime, folded following their May 23 game. West Texas reportedly followed suit on June 18, with the River Kings again stepping in to fill in for the Desert Hawks' final game. In more twists of fate in the ongoing turmoil surrounding former ownership in the "new" AFL, Arena Insider reported that former commissioner Lee Hutton and former president Travelle Gaines tried to apply for
9288-626: The rebound nets at the ends of the field. Like the AFL, their playing seasons are entirely or primarily outside the traditional fall/early winter season of the outdoor sport so as not to be competing with it directly for fan support. Since the first such league, the Professional Indoor Football League, began play in the 1998, there has often been a pattern of instability. Each off-season has seen teams jumping from league to league. In addition, leagues have annually merged, changed names, and separated. The organization that
9396-449: The same Arena Insider reported that sources with the AFL stated that, in a unanimous vote among the remaining owners, Lee Hutton was ousted as league commissioner and that Nashville Kats president (and former NFL and USFL head coach) Jeff Fisher was appointed interim commissioner. The official announcement was made May 14. This is despite a league bylaw that was believed to have granted Hutton total immunity from ouster by league owners;
9504-581: The second incarnation of the AFL in 2010. The new league, whose intellectual properties will be owned by the Billings Outlaws, will be a full separation from G6, as all eight teams leave the AFL and join AF1. In a statement to Arena Insider, Chetty noted that after the league had narrowly completed the 2024 season, it had been left with numerous unpaid debts that he, though he would maintain responsibility, had been advised not to immediately pay off, but that
9612-402: The sidelines unless he is pushed into or falls over the sideline barrier. This rule was put in place before the 2006 season. Before that time, a sideline with only a small amount of space (typically 6" to 12") existed between the sideline stripe and the barrier which would provide the space for a ball carrier to step out of bounds before hitting the sideline barrier. Each team fields 8 players at
9720-663: The team and the franchise would fold in December 2006. Former owner Howard Weiner, who went by the alias "Howard Neal", was sentenced to four months in prison after admitting to committing bank fraud and was also sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay $ 116,000 in restitution. He had until July 18, 2011, to turn himself in at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Coleman, Florida. Indoor American football Arena football
9828-616: The team owners had stipulated the debts be paid as a condition for returning. On September 6, all eight teams announced their departure from the AFL to form Arena Football One. Arizona officially joined AF1 in mid-November. Much of the Oregon Blackbears staff accepted positions with AF1's Oregon Lightning , a new team (formed from the existing Oregon High Desert Storm of the American West Football Conference , which had been inactive since 2023) that
9936-430: The teams made a sustainable profit and the team owners were eager to see the league continue for another year. However, with the AFL owning 50.1% of the af2, it would fold if the AFL folded. At the end of the 2009 season, a gathering of af2 and remaining AFL team owners set out to form their own organization, originally known as Arena Football 1 (AF1). AF1 went on to purchase all assets of the original AFL and af2, except for
10044-474: The trademark of the AFL shield logo which was rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office citing "likelihood of confusion". "Trademark Act Section 2(d) bars registration of an applied-for mark that is so similar to a registered mark that it is likely consumers would be confused, mistaken, or deceived as to the commercial source of the goods and/or services of the parties," stated in
10152-469: Was "the first collegiate game of football played under a roof." Adding to the novelty, as daylight turned to darkness, the field inside the Coliseum was lit with electric lighting. With seven acres of floor space, the sprawling Coliseum is believed to have not needed any compromises to accommodate an American football field. According to a newspaper account, the field grew dark in the second half, and play
10260-411: Was a professional indoor American football league founded in 2023 with their first, and only, season beginning in 2024. The recent AFL took its identity, history, some of the rulebook and some team names from, but is not directly connected to, the previous iteration of the Arena Football League founded by Jim Foster in 1986. On February 1, 2023, G6 Sports Group (a Delaware corporation operating as
10368-515: Was deemed unsafe, forcing a slew of schedule changes. The Iowa Rampage folded after its inaugural contest, accusing Hutton of reneging on promises to cover increased expenses, while the Rapid City Marshals granted six players their release and renegotiated lower salaries for their remaining players after they also did not receive the promised compensation from the league, a tactic the Washington Wolfpack also used. Their final game
10476-497: Was devised by Jim Foster , a former executive of the United States Football League and the National Football League . He devised his game while watching indoor soccer , another game derived from a sport played outdoors. He worked on the game in the early 1980s, but put any plans for full development of it on hold while the United States Football League, an attempt to play traditional American football in
10584-405: Was especially important as the 2007 expiration of Foster's patent on the rebound nets approached). At times over forty teams participated in this league, almost uniformly in cities which also had minor league ice hockey teams and hence suitable arenas. Shortly before the end of 2008, the Arena Football League announced that it would not be playing a 2009 spring season. During the previous few years,
10692-474: Was established to be separate from the ownership entanglements that had ensnared the Blackbears. Attempts to reach G6 in late September 2024 regarding the AFL's 2025 plans went unanswered. AFL deputy commissioner Mike McCoy, who had joined with the AFL's merger with CIF prior to the 2024 season, departed for American Indoor Football . The ArenaBowl Championship Game has been a staple of the AFL since its inception in 1987. Upon relaunch, this year's first game
10800-506: Was expelled from his post as league commissioner. On June 27, 2024, the league announced that the championship game, ArenaBowl XXXIII, was played on July 19, 2024, at the American Dream Meadowlands , a large shopping center and entertainment complex at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey . The Billings Outlaws and the Albany Firebirds faced off in the first ArenaBowl in five years with
10908-426: Was given mostly free rein to build out the league: "everything down the line, turnkey . As an investor this sounds good to me. Hey, it doesn’t sound like I have to operate." The league returned its logo to the one used from 2003 to 2018. The new iteration of the league announced plans to feature "streaming, betting, technology, (and) virtual reality" elements, per Rossi. In a February 2023 interview with ArenaFan.com,
11016-424: Was halted for ten minutes to discuss whether play should continue. Play was resumed, and the lights were finally turned on after Michigan scored a touchdown. The press proclaimed the experiment in indoor football to be a success: One thing at least was settled by the game, and that is, that indoor football is literally and figuratively speaking a howling success. The men had no trouble in catching punts, and football
11124-434: Was in part to justify salary cuts that were required when a previous commissioner—Lee Hutton, who was ousted in the reorganization —made promises to cover higher salaries but had no revenue to fund such promises (since under ironman, a player would fill the roles of what would have otherwise been two roster spots, justifying their higher price compared to a one-way player in other indoor leagues). The league also instituted
11232-574: Was moved into the Convention Center in 1964 for the contest between Utah and West Virginia . The game drew just over 6,000 fans, though, and the Liberty Bowl moved to Memphis the next year, where it has remained. Unlike modern indoor football, the size of the playing surface and hence the rules were essentially the same as in the standard outdoor game, with rules updated to deal with contingencies for what could happen indoors, such as
11340-481: Was on May 4, 2024, on the road at Southwest Kansas, losing 34–18. Rossi disowned any connection to league operations in the wake of the controversy, instead stating that his company had licensed the Arena Football League trademarks to Hutton's company for a fee that Hutton did not pay. Documents related to the Louisiana VooDoo showed that Hutton had indeed operated the league through the business structure of
11448-518: Was planned to be played at a neutral site. ArenaBowl XXXIII was the first ArenaBowl hosted on a neutral site since ArenaBowl XXVI . Only a handful of ArenaBowls were held at neutral sites such as Las Vegas , New Orleans , and Orlando . This year's site was originally selected as the Target Center , home of the Minnesota Myth , but was dropped when the Myth folded and Myth co-owner Lee Hutton
11556-504: Was played on its merits, without the handicaps of a wet field or a strong wind. Toward the end of the second half it got very dark, and the spectators were treated to a novelty in the shape of football by electric light." Although both critically and commercially successful, the Coliseum was destroyed in a fire less than two years after its opening, and its replacement could not accommodate an American football field. Later, at Madison Square Garden in 1902 and 1903, there were games known as
11664-455: Was that free substitution would improve the overall quality of football in the league by giving coaches the freedom to put their best players on the field for every play of the game, and that teams would be able to select from a wider player talent pool when building their rosters. Traditionalists, however, believed the rule changes were the beginning of the removal of the " ironman " (two-way offense and defense) style of play of arena football that
#16983