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42-458: The Independent Indoor Football Alliance (IIFA) was a professional indoor football league based in the state of Texas. The league played an abbreviated 2009 season punctuated by a number of forfeits. The league grew and had tighter restrictions for 2010 in hopes of better football action. For the 2011 season, the IIFA joined forces with several independent teams. [1] These teams were announced by

84-504: A consultant and a member of the board of directors for Assured Equities. For 2012, there will be at least eleven new expansion teams, based in Rome, Georgia ; Estero, Florida ; Tupelo, Mississippi ; Marion, Ohio ; Cincinnati, Ohio ; Erie, Pennsylvania , and Lakeland, Florida . Of these markets, five (Rome, Tupelo, and Lakeland) previously had teams in the AIFL, while Estero previously had

126-726: 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 beginning in 2011 and revived two defunct former AIFL teams.) The league took on

168-697: 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

210-606: A regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United States 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 league legally divided into two entities to allow for

252-699: A team in arenafootball2 ; The Cincinnati Commandos and Marion Blue Racers have come previously from the Continental Indoor Football League ; and the Erie Explosion moves from the Southern Indoor Football League . (Incidentally, the acquisition of the Explosion brings the league full-circle; the Explosion was the last surviving remnant of the AIFL, tracing its history to the Erie Freeze in 2005.) On July 22, 2011,

294-655: 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. In 2023, it was announced that the league was relaunched by president and commissioner John Morris with four new teams: the Cedar Rapids River Kings , Corpus Christi Tritons , RiverCity Rage and West Virginia Miners. The Columbus Lions rejoined

336-750: The Casper Events Center , saw the Reading Express 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 ; Yakima, Washington ; Wasilla, Alaska (believed to be the smallest city in America to host a national professional football franchise) and Wenatchee, Washington . The moves gave

378-709: The Miami Inferno and Missouri Voodoo joined the league. Another team called the Austin Nitro had been listed on the UIFL's website, however, no further information was ever announced about that team. In addition, a new team based out of Columbia, South Carolina known as the Capital City Revolt was set to join in time for the 2015 season. However, the Voodoo and Inferno both folded mid-season, leaving

420-904: The Mid-Atlantic Hockey League . The UIFL has a logo nearly identical to the one used by the AIFL in the 2006 season (though it favors blue instead of red), and will apparently also use the AIFL red, white, and blue football also in use in the American Indoor Football Association . The league is based in Canton, Ohio . The league's first five teams were located in the Appalachia region, with teams based in Canton, Ohio ; Johnstown, Pennsylvania ; Pikeville, Kentucky ; Highland Heights, Kentucky ; and Huntington, West Virginia . Of those five markets, three (Canton, Johnstown, and Huntington) had teams in Haines' previous league,

462-644: The National Arena League . Cedar Rapids' former coach stated an intent to form a new indoor team for Cedar Rapids, while Montero confirmed any action the former coach is illegitimate and "will not affect the Cedar Rapids River Kings". On November 5, 2024, the AIF named Mike McCoy as commissioner. McCoy had previously spent the 2024 season as deputy commissioner of the Arena Football League and previously had been

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504-596: The Yakima Valley Warriors 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 . On October 27, 2011, the AIFA announced it was relaunching as American Indoor Football (AIF). The move came in light of

546-807: The 2013 season. After the 2014 season, the league merged with X-League Indoor Football . On February 18, 2011, the first-ever UIFL game was played between the Saginaw Sting and the Eastern Kentucky Drillers . The inaugural game was held at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw, Michigan . The league co-founders are Michael Taylor and Andrew Haines; Haines was also the owner and founder of the Atlantic/American Indoor Football League and

588-473: 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 before its inaugural season) and hoped the new league would take on many of the former AIF teams. The Buffalo Blitz (formerly the Buffalo Lightning) used

630-516: The AIFA a much more significant presence on the West Coast of the United States . 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

672-681: The AIFL. The two markets in Kentucky have never had a professional indoor football team in any league (though Highland Heights is usually considered part of the Cincinnati, Ohio metropolitan area, and the city of Cincinnati has had several indoor teams). The sixth team, the Saginaw Sting , came from the Indoor Football League . The complete 2011 season concluded without any teams folding, nor any games being missed or rescheduled. The Northern Kentucky River Monsters finished with

714-624: 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 . In addition, the league held its first All-Star Game

756-722: 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

798-511: The IIFA at the start of the 2008 season, but never took the field. Non-League Teams which played against IIFA teams (Both the Wolves and the Barons played under the banner of the "Western Indoor Football Association," the remains of the American Indoor Football Association 's West Division.) Announced 2011 Team that never played American Indoor Football Association The AIFL began as

840-553: The UIFL came to terms allowing the River Monsters to leave the UIFL. Draft On June 15, 2011, Michael Taylor and Andrew Haines sold their controlling slate in the UIFL to Assured Equities IV, a Florida corporation, for the sum of 1.45 million dollars. As part of the acquisition, UIFL Co-founder Andrew Haines will remain as League President and a member of the Board of Directors, and UIFL Co-founder Michael Taylor will continue as

882-467: The UIFL named Jared Lorenzen the league's Commissioner . On January 19, 2012, the league was sold by Cecil Van Dyke and Assured Equities IV, back to Andrew Haines and Michael Taylor. The league took on the name United Indoor Football League for the 2012 season (at the time, the United (outdoor) Football League had suspended operations; the league reverted to the Ultimate Indoor Football League when

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924-463: The best regular season record, 11–3. However, due to league sanctions they were not able to host any playoff games and were dropped to a four seed. Saginaw finished 9–5, followed by Eastern Kentucky at 8–6, Huntington at 7-7, Johnstown at 6–8, and Canton at 1–13. Saginaw defeated Northern Kentucky, 48–47, in the first semifinals of the Ultimate Bowl I Playoffs, sponsored by Trophy Awards. In

966-697: 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 announced it would be suspending operations until 2012. As of January 2011, no schedule had been released, and

1008-727: 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 ), 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,

1050-672: The eastern United States . 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 ) joined from the National Indoor Football League . The 2006 season

1092-552: The final commissioner of Champions Indoor Football . Two rule changes appeared to be inspired by Canadian football rules: 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, then switched back to "Ultimate" for

1134-556: The four teams that had been eliminated had announced their intentions to jump leagues and join the Xtreme Indoor Football League. The UIFL has stated it is exploring all options regarding the future of the league. The Florida Tarpons won Ultimate Bowl III, with a victory over the Corpus Christi Fury . The UIFL fielded four teams for the 2014 season; in addition to the returning Tarpons and Fury,

1176-579: The league absorbed the remains of the Continental Indoor Football League , picking up the Saginaw Sting and Chicago Blitz 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

1218-565: The league after winning the most recent AIF Championship in 2016. Several of the AIF's teams were not listed on the league site after the 2024 season. 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 league began with six teams, all of them based in

1260-678: The league announced that the Columbus Lions , the last team to win the AIF Championship in 2016, were returning to the league. On August 24, 2023, the league announced that the Amarillo Venom would return and join the AIF for the 2024 season. On September 11, 2023, the league announced that an expansion team to be based in Albany, Georgia , would also join the AIF for 2024 as its eighth franchise. On September 29, 2023,

1302-656: The league announced the Beaumont Renegades as their ninth team for the 2024 season, but on October 30, the league announced that the Renegades will play an exhibition schedule only in 2024, and will join the league full time in 2025, while the AIF granted West Virginia Miners release from the league after change in the team ownership group. After season's end in 2024, the remaining teams of AIF were listed in other leagues, with Corpus Christi joining Arena Football One and Harrisburg, Amarillo, and Columbus joining

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1344-708: The league created a Western Conference. In 2007, the team farthest west was based in Mississippi ; in 2008, the team farthest west was based in Arizona . 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

1386-486: 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

1428-590: The league informed the remaining three teams that there would not be a fourth team representing Eugene, Oregon as the league had earlier promised. The league attempted to work out a schedule with the remaining three teams, but the Reno Barons and Stockton Wolves 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

1470-409: 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 agreed to pick up the remaining games; Erie, Pennsylvania -based Image Sports Network was also involved with the league. Eight teams participating in

1512-561: 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 Can-Am also used the AIF footballs in games during their only season. On July 3, 2023, John Morris announced that the league would indeed relaunch in 2024 with four new teams: Cedar Rapids River Kings , Corpus Christi Tritons , RiverCity Rage and West Virginia Miners . On August 4, 2023,

1554-660: The other semifinal game, Eastern Kentucky advanced to the championship game with a 20–4 victory over Huntington. Ultimate Bowl I, also sponsored by Trophy Awards, was played Friday, June 9, 2011, at the Dow Center in Saginaw, MI, with the Sting claiming an 86–69 victory over the visiting Drillers. Following the Northern Kentucky River Monsters' elimination from the playoffs, owner Jill Chitwood and

1596-526: The outdoor UFL ended its suspension). Six teams folded in the process, including charter members Canton and Huntington, plus four teams ( Carolina Aviators , Danville Dragons , Tennessee Rail Runners , and Kentucky Monsters ) that never took the field, reducing the number of teams in the league from 16 to 10. Haines resigned his post as league president in June 2012. The 2013 season saw a reduction to six teams. Furthermore, prior to championship weekend, three of

1638-596: 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

1680-723: 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

1722-449: 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 , 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,

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1764-424: Was to syndicate a "Game of the Week" package to regional sports networks and its network of low-powered broadcast stations. In 2010, the Baltimore Mariners completed the league's first-ever perfect season by winning all fourteen regular season games and winning AIFA Championship Bowl IV. The AIFA arranged a split and partial merger with the Southern Indoor Football League after the 2010 season. As part of

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