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74-802: The AFL franchise was folded in October 2015 and the ownership group obtained a franchise in the Indoor Football League (IFL), known as the Spokane Empire , as the rights to the Shock name still belonged to the AFL. They played in the IFL as the Empire for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. On July 12, 2017, owner Nader Naini announced that the Empire would cease operations, citing financial issues. About

148-624: A California-based businessman, with the intentions of keeping the team Cedar Rapids but would rebrand the team. In August 2018, the IFL announced that the expansion Tucson Sugar Skulls , owned by Rattlers' coach Kevin Guy, were joining the league after being rumored to have joined the CIF. On September 7, the IFL announced that the Quad City Steamwheelers would join the league from the CIF. The Cedar Rapids team announced their rebrand as

222-587: A candidate must have contributed in some significant fashion to be enshrined in the Hall. There is no official criteria that must be met other than the self-explained significant contributions to the league. Unlike other football Hall of Fames, the IFL Hall of Fame is far more new and laxed. To qualify, a member would need to significantly contribute to a franchise that played in the IFL, United Indoor Football, or Intense Football League during their tenure. Starting with

296-476: A continuation of the Arena Football League. The Shock promoted defensive backs' coach Rob Keefe to the head coaching position. The team continued their success in the relaunched league, finishing the regular season with a 16–3 record claiming the first seed in the playoffs. The Shock advanced to ArenaBowl XXIII against the 13–6 Tampa Bay Storm . In front of a franchise record crowd of 11,017,

370-608: A league otherwise centered in the upper Midwest. On August 20, 2019, the Duke City Gladiators joined the IFL after winning back-to-back CIF championships. On September 10, the Oakland Panthers , co-owned by former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch , joined the IFL for the 2020 season. On November 1, the league added the Spokane Shock after it was resurrected by former NFL player Sam Adams , with

444-527: A lease agreement in 2022. For many years, there were proposals to bring an arena football team to Spokane . In summer 2005, owner Brady Nelson teamed up with two additional partners to bring a team to Spokane. On August 26, 2005, during af2 league meetings in Bossier City, Louisiana, league commissioner Jerry Kurz accepted Nelson's proposal for a Spokane af2 team. The Shock was one of three expansion teams to begin playing in 2006. The other two were

518-432: A new broadcasting agreement with CBS Sports Network ensuring that the next three IFL National Championship games will air on the network. The deal also allows for additional games to be aired on CBS Sports Network throughout the agreement. All other games will still be streamed through YouTube. Some teams also have individual contracts with local or regional TV and radio channels. The Indoor Football League Hall of Fame

592-406: A year after the Empire folded, Naini claims to have traded the Empire branding to the AFL for the original Shock trademarks. In 2019, former Seattle Seahawks player Sam Adams announced he was relaunching the team for the 2020 season. Adams had obtained the trademarks of the Shock name from Naini and re-joined the Indoor Football League . The Shock were removed from the IFL after failing to reach

666-484: Is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football . It has one of the largest number of currently active teams among indoor football leagues. As of the 2024 season, the league consists of 16 teams in two conferences with each team playing 16 games over 19 weeks. The league has operated continuously under

740-627: Is currently no physical location for the Indoor Football League Hall of Fame. Unlike the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Canadian Football Hall of Fame , there is no museum to view the inductees. Instead, it is more similar to the Arena Football Hall of Fame in that the inductees are enshrined online and without a physical location. In order to be nominated for the Indoor Football League Hall of Fame,

814-439: Is the official Hall of Fame of the IFL. The creation and inaugural class for this Hall was formed in 2014 and consisted of three inductees. All classes between 2014 and 2019 have consisted of three inductees which have contributed to the league in a significant way. There were no inductees for 2020; however, the 2021 class included four inductees. The Hall of Fame is the highest honor for players, coaches, and contributors involved in

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888-679: The AIFA . The IFL also lost nine teams during the offseason, bringing the total number to 22 for 2011. In the United Bowl , the Sioux Falls Storm (United Conference) took the league championship by defeating the Tri-Cities Fever (Intense Conference) by a score of 37–10. The league had 16 teams that played the 2012 season. For the 2012 season, the IFL switched to a two-conference format with no divisions, due in large part to

962-763: The ArenaCup , defeating the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers 74–27 in Las Vegas, Nevada . On September 27, 2009, the Spokane Shock became part of the Arena Football 1 , an entity founded by multiple af2 organizations along with several of the recently defunct Arena Football League (AFL) teams, that was created to replace AFL. In November 2009, Arena Football 1 purchased the assets from the AFL's bankruptcy auction and rebranded as

1036-761: The Cedar Rapids River Kings on September 22. On October 5, the Bismarck Bucks of the CIF announced their move to the IFL. On November 19, the IFL announced another expansion team, the San Diego Strike Force , owned by the new Cedar Rapids owner Roy Choi to bring the league back up to ten teams. The addition of the Sugar Skulls and Strike Force gave the Rattlers geographic rivals, reducing that team's travel expenses in

1110-621: The Colorado Crush in October and began operating the team in the same manner. During the 2016 season, the Billings Wolves' website was hacked, was never completely fixed, and was non-operational for months. Several former staff members claimed that the team had folded after the completion of the season. On October 24, 2016, the Wolves announced they had left the IFL because of state regulations and failing to find new ownership for

1184-538: The Everett Hawks , and the Stockton Lightning . On October 12, 2005, the Shock announced that Chris Siegfried would be the franchise's inaugural coach. By the end of 2005, 13 players had been signed. On February 28, 2006, the Spokane Shock sold their 2,000th season ticket. On March 22, 2006, 3,000 season tickets had been sold. On March 30, 2006, the Spokane Shock played their inaugural game against

1258-802: The IFL Game of the Week beginning May 15, 2021. On June 14, the IFL terminated the Xtreme's membership after five games played due to failing to maintain the league's minimum obligations and did not finish the season. On May 11, 2021, the IFL announced that Bill Foley and the Vegas Golden Knights had purchased a 2022 expansion franchise to be based in the Las Vegas Valley called the Vegas Knight Hawks . In October 2021,

1332-807: The Jacksonville Sharks and San Antonio Gunslingers from the National Arena League . The Sharks were added to the Eastern Conference and the Gunslingers were added to the Western Conference. While the Bismarck Bucks will stay idle for another season, the Scheels Arena will host the "Fargo-IFL Gridiron Classic" between Sioux Falls Storm and Massachusetts Pirates . On October 24, 2023,

1406-662: The Nebraska Danger 55–44, but fell to the Sioux Falls Storm 55–34 in the final. They came close to an achievement that had not been done before; winning three different league championships in their first season in the league with the af2 's ArenaCup , the AFL 's ArenaBowl and the IFL's United Bowl . The following 2017 season , the team went 8–8 and missed the playoffs for only the second time in franchise history. On July 12, 2017, owner Nader Naini announced that

1480-582: The Sioux Falls Storm . Although the name "National Indoor Bowl Championship" was used for the 2008 contest between the UIF and the Intense Football League, the "United Bowl" name was used for the combined league's championship instead up through 2021. Starting in the 2022 season the league started a three-year deal to play the now named IFL National Championship Game in the Lee's Family Forum (formerly

1554-529: The 2010 season the Alaska Wild suspended operations, leaving only 24 teams to finish the year. In the United Bowl , the Billings Outlaws (Intense Conference) took the league championship by defeating the Sioux Falls Storm (United Conference) by a score of 43–34. Seven new teams were added to the IFL for the 2011 season. Some of these were new expansion teams, and others moved to the IFL from

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1628-678: The 2013 season. On January 21, 2013, the league announced that the owner of the Cheyenne Warriors had died and that the team would not be entering the league this season as planned. The league added the Minnesota-based Bemidji Axemen to expand to 10 teams but the Chicago Slaughter were sold and changed leagues, returning the IFL to nine teams for the 2014 season. In February 2014, the league announced that it would return to Montana in 2015 with

1702-642: The 2016 season was to kick off, the Havok were terminated by the league for failing to meet operational standards. On November 25, the Minnesota Axemen folded due to the team "Not fulfilling their commitments to the league." Commissioner Mike Allshouse called the move a proactive one to prevent the team having to fold mid-season. On June 30, 2016, the IFL announced that the Tri-Cities Fever franchise would be dormant, but in good standing with

1776-595: The 2021 season, the league added a new tradition of a Hall of Fame game. Similar to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game , the first game of the season will now commemorate and recognize the hall of fame class for that year. Before this, the inductees were celebrated during the United Bowl championship game. ArenaCup IX The 2008 AF2 season was the ninth season of the AF2 . It was preceded by 2007 and succeeded by 2009 . The regular season began on Friday, March 28 and ended on Saturday, July 26. The league champions were

1850-455: The 2023 Championship defeating the Sioux Falls Storm 51–41 after going 1–15 in the previous year. On October 7, the Bismarck Bucks announced they will suspend operations for the 2023 season. For the 2023 season, the league signed a player personnel partnership with the XFL , to function as their de facto minor league. For the 2024 season, the league expanded to 16 teams with the addition of

1924-684: The Arena Development League but actually beginning play under the name National Arena League . After the 2017 season came to a close, the website for the Colorado Crush was shut down with no formal announcement on the franchise's future. Project FANchise, which also ran the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles, had announced they would start their own league and left the IFL, with both teams going up for sale. No buyers for either team were subsequently found and

1998-471: The CIF after the two teams had already signed league affiliation agreements with the CIF for 2018. The IFL then threatened to sue the CIF, Storm, and Nighthawks in return despite neither former IFL team signing an affiliation agreement with the IFL for 2018. The CIF then retracted their lawsuit with the IFL but also removed the Storm and Nighthawks from their 2018 schedule. After the IFL meetings in October 2017,

2072-773: The Columbus Wild Dogs announced it would not begin play until 2022. On August 19, 2020, the Massachusetts Pirates , formerly of the National Arena League , were added to the IFL for the 2021 season as the league's first East Coast-based team. On August 25, the league added the Northern Arizona Wranglers in Prescott Valley, Arizona , for the 2021 season, joining the Arizona Rattlers and Tucson Sugar Skulls as

2146-611: The Dollar Loan Center) in Henderson, Nevada. Teams in italics are no longer active in the IFL. On May 11, 2021, the IFL announced a national television partnership with Stadium , in which Stadium will air the IFL Game of The Week nationally each week for the rest of the season. The deal was negotiated by The Team Management, LLC, and each game will be produced exclusively by BEK Communications. In 2023, IFL announced

2220-493: The Empire had ceased operations, citing financial issues. About a year after the Empire folded, Naini claims to have traded the Empire branding to the AFL, which became the Albany Empire , for the original Shock trademarks. In 2019, Naini sold the Shock trademark and remaining assets to former Seattle Seahawks ' player Sam Adams with the intention of relaunching the Shock in the IFL for the 2020 season. The IFL announced

2294-551: The IFL announced that its first expansion team for 2025 would be based in Indianapolis and would play at the new Fishers Event Center in nearby Fishers . On December 15, the team announced they would be known as the Fishers Freight . Starting in 2024, the league has a theme song for all games – "The Indoor War" by Sioux Falls-based musician Denham. The song was released on March 10, 2024. On October 16, 2024,

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2368-460: The IFL announced that the Duke City Gladiators and Frisco Fighters would sit out the 2025 season, both looking to return to play in 2026. The season schedule is set to be announced on October 31, 2024. On October 30, 2024, the Sioux Falls Storm announced they would sit out the 2025 season after their home arena did not renew the team's lease. For the 2024 season, the league is split into two conferences. The IFL Championship Game (formerly

2442-730: The IFL since the Texas Revolution (formerly the Arkansas Twisters), the Tri-Cities Fever and the Green Bay Blizzard . (The Revolution left the IFL for Champions Indoor Football before ceasing operations in May 2019.) This was the first season the IFL utilized roster restrictions which call for all teams to carry no more than seven players with three or more years' experience in Indoor/Arena football. For

2516-643: The IFL under a new identity as the Arena League announced on October 12 that they would retain the rights to the Shock logos and name, possibly for future use by another franchise in the state of Washington. The team subsequently held a name-the-team contest, which resulted in their new identity as the Spokane Empire . On September 9, the Minnesota Havok (based in Mankato ) were announced as an IFL team. However, on January 29, just four weeks before

2590-551: The IFL, for the 2017 season. Project FANchise, a group aiming to create a professional sports team where fans help run the day-to-day operations, announced they would operate a new team, the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles in Salt Lake City. A fan vote determined the team's name and logo, and select fans will have access to player personnel decisions and in-game play calling. Project FANchise also bought

2664-482: The IFL. The league was formed out of the merger of two indoor football leagues United Indoor Football and Intense Football League , which qualifies players who have also contributed at a high level to these former leagues prior to the merger. This Hall of Fame only incorporates contributors to the IFL, and its former leagues, so no other indoor or arena football leagues factor into the inductions. The Arena Football League has its own corresponding Hall of Fame . There

2738-654: The Shock beat the Utah Blaze 76–49. Joe Albi Stadium holds between 20,000 and 24,000 for football. The shaded side of the stadium was filled to capacity, while the sunny side was about half full. Daytime temperatures reached over 90 °F (50 °C) that day, and game time was pushed back to 6:00 PM PDT as a result. The following Shock players were named to All-Arena Teams: The following Shock players were named to All-Ironman Teams: Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League ( IFL )

2812-856: The Shock defeated the Blizzard by a score of 57–34 to win ArenaCup VII . The Spokane Shock became the first expansion team in af2 history to advance to, and win, the ArenaCup . The Shock led the league in attendance with an average of 10,313 fans per home game. As a result of the team's excellent play, head coach Chris Siegfried was named the af2 Head Coach of the Year for the 2006 season. Four Shock players also earned All-af2 National Conference honors as well. WR/LB Charles Frederick , OLS Ed Ta'amu and DS Rob Keefe earned first-team honors while OL/DL Jerome Stevens earned second-team accolades. On September 4, 2006, Spokane head coach Chris Siegfried accepted

2886-427: The Shock defeated the Storm 69–57 behind nine touchdown passes from Kyle Rowley . On July 9, 2011, the Shock hosted an outdoor game at Spokane's Joe Albi Stadium . The Shock went 9–9 for the season, lost in the first round of the playoffs, and fired head coach Rob Keefe following the season. The Shock promoted offensive coordinator , Andy Olson to head coach for 2012 and improved to 10–8, but failed to qualify for

2960-608: The Shock fielded another talented team, opening the season with eleven straight wins before losing to the South Georgia Wildcats on a last second field goal. It was the only Shock loss during the regular season, qualifying for the playoffs and clinching home field advantage until the ArenaCup . The Shock faced the Tennessee Valley Vipers on August 25, 2008, in ArenaCup IX . Tennessee Valley

3034-448: The Shock lost their lease for the 2022 season. The Shock were subsequently removed from the IFL later that evening. On February 24, 2022, Adams was ordered to pay two former employees of his Shock franchise $ 9,342.18 in unpaid wages as well as former assistant general manager (and former AFL Shock player) Patrick Afif in two separate Washington State Department of Labor and Industries legal cases against him. The next day, Adams stated he

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3108-465: The Shock name and identity despite various lawsuits against him that are still in litigation. Spokane Shock arena football attendance records show the largest crowds: 10,662 vs. Tennessee Valley (Arena Cup 9 - August 25, 2008); 10,659 twice during 2008 regular season, and smallest crowds: 7,267 vs. Stockton 2009 playoffs (August 1, 2009); 9,387 vs. Stockton on March 30, 2006 (inaugural game). Total all-time attendance, including playoff games while part of

3182-431: The Shock re-hired Adam Shackleford away from the Tri-Cities Fever . Beginning on August 10, 2015, talk began surfacing about a possible move to the Indoor Football League by Shock owner Nader Naini, who was heavily involved with bringing Scott Butera to the AFL as its new commissioner. He accused the AFL and some of its teams of cheating, favoring the more established franchises and not fulfilling obligations to improve

3256-416: The Shock to Arena Football Partners, LLC., an ownership group led by Nader Naini. In 2015, after losing former MVP and Offensive Player of the Year, Erik Meyer , and former Wide Receiver of the Year Adron Tennell to division rival, San Jose. The Shock made the playoffs, but lost to the Arizona Rattlers 72–41. Following the season, Olson announced that he would not be returning to coach the Shock in 2016 and

3330-401: The Sioux Falls Storm announced that they had joined Champions Indoor Football for 2018 after winning six consecutive championships from 2011 to 2016. The Storm was shortly followed by the Wichita Falls Nighthawks . The IFL then added the Bloomington Edge and West Michigan Ironmen from the CIF on September 12. The CIF apparently then attempted to sue the IFL, Edge, and Ironmen for leaving

3404-400: The Spokane team reacquiring the Shock brand following the Empire's folding in 2017. The Bosselman family were looking to sell the Nebraska Danger , but no owner was found before the deadline for participating in the 2020 season. On November 24, 2019, the IFL added a thirteenth team in Frisco, Texas , owned by the Germain family called the Frisco Fighters . The Germain family also purchased

3478-463: The Stockton Lightning and won 41–40. The Shock put together a significant inaugural season, posting a 14–2 regular-season record and a first-place finish in the National Conference Western Division. During the af2 playoffs, the Shock defeated the Bakersfield Blitz and the Arkansas Twisters en route to winning the af2 National Conference championship and a berth in ArenaCup VII against the Green Bay Blizzard in San Juan, Puerto Rico . On August 26,

3552-452: The Storm returned to the IFL but the Nighthawks had to suspend operations. While the CIF did drop the lawsuit against the IFL, it filed for an injunction against the Edge and Ironmen teams from participating in the IFL for breaking the terms of their signed affiliation agreements. A temporary injunction from participation in the league was granted on January 31, 2018, with the court ruling determining that both teams had been offered bribes from

3626-485: The United Bowl) has been played every season since 2009. The current IFL champions are the Arizona Rattlers , who won the championship game in 2024 defeating Massachusetts in Las Vegas. The IFL continued to use the "United Bowl" name originally used by United Indoor Football . The UIF used this name before they merged with Intense Football League to form the Indoor Football League. The UIF held United Bowl I, II, III, and IV in 2005 through 2008, with all four being won by

3700-489: The af2 (2006–2009): 422,584 Total all-time sellouts including playoff games: 27 The Spokane Shock sold out the Spokane Arena for 19 consecutive regular season games starting with the regular season finale in 2006, and continuing to the second game in 2009. The last non-sellout regular season game was on June 26, 2009. The Spokane Shock played the first outdoor arena football game on July 9, 2011, at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane. A Spokane Shock record crowd of 16,233 watched

3774-409: The arena for the 2022 season set to start in March. Adams was required to pay the arena by December 31, 2021, but the wired payment did not clear the bank. He signed the lease later that day, but the arena had yet to be issued the $ 128,000 security bond and Adams had until February 23 or the lease would be terminated. It was extended to February 24, but Adams still did not make the payment in time and

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3848-430: The champions of the two leagues against each other. The Sioux Falls Storm (United) defeated the Louisiana Swashbucklers (Intense) 54–42. Of the 17 teams involved in the two previous leagues, 14 moved over to the new organization's 2009 season. An additional three teams came over from the CIFL and two expansion teams began their life in the new IFL. In the United Bowl , the Billings Outlaws (Intense Conference) took

3922-422: The government allowed venues to re-open, which did not come to fruition. The Shock played their first game since relaunching on May 15, 2021, in a 36–33 loss to the Frisco Fighters to start their 2021 season . Spokane advanced to the 2021 IFL playoffs, but were eliminated on August 28 in a quarterfinal game against Frisco. On February 15, 2022, it was reported that Adams and the Shock had not signed lease with

3996-469: The league championship by defeating the RiverCity Rage (United Conference) by a score of 71–62. After losing two teams to attrition after the end of the 2009 season, and a third in January 2010, the IFL then added another nine franchises to boost its membership to 25 for the 2010 season. Three of the new teams were expansion franchises. Two moved over from the Southern Indoor Football League and Continental Indoor Football League . After playing nine games of

4070-433: The league updated its website, removing the Cedar Rapids River Kings and Columbus Wild Dogs. On February 24, 2022, the Spokane Shock were removed from the league after the team lost its lease for their home arena. On July 26, 2022, the IFL announced that Andy Scurto and the Tulsa Oilers had purchased a 2023 expansion franchise to be based in Tulsa, which would also be called the Tulsa Oilers . The Bay Area Panthers won

4144-402: The league would retain the rights to the Shock name and logos. However, the team retained the Shock's history and went by a new name for the 2016 season, and a name-the-team contest had the franchise become known as the Spokane Empire. The 2016 Spokane Empire went 12–4 in their inaugural IFL campaign. They advanced to the championship game by winning the Intense Conference championship beating

4218-410: The loss of all the Texas-based teams (except the Allen Wranglers ) to the newly formed Lone Star Football League . The Wranglers brought attention to the league for offering a $ 500,000 contract to unemployed wide receiver Terrell Owens to become the team's part-owner and wide receiver. Owens accepted the contract. ESPN3 carried Owens's debut game against the Wichita Wild , but his association with

4292-426: The new Billings Wolves franchise. On July 27, 2014, Iowa Barnstormers president Jeff Lamberti hinted at joining the league by telling a local TV station that the franchise will explore "all options" in the off-season of their continuance to play, including leaving the Arena Football League and going to the IFL for 2015. They joined the IFL in August 2014, becoming the fourth active AFL/af2 franchise to leave for

4366-405: The offensive coordinator position for the AFL 's Kansas City Brigade . On September 20, 2006, the Spokane Shock announced that former Louisville Fire offensive coordinator Adam Shackleford would become their new head coach. The 2007 Shock won their second consecutive division title with a 12–4 record. The Shock then fell in the first round of the af2 playoffs to the Louisville Fire. In 2008,

4440-404: The owner of the Arizona Rattlers to break their contract with the CIF. The schedule was revised in February for the six participating teams stating the Edge and Ironmen were to return in 2019. During the season, the Cedar Rapids Titans' ownership announced the team was for sale with hopes of selling to new local ownership. In June 2018, it was announced that the Titans had been sold to Roy Choi,

4514-431: The playoffs for the first time in the team's existence. Prior to the 2013 season, the Shock lost quarterback Kyle Rowley in free agency but quarterback Erik Meyer put together an MVP 2013 season, also winning Offensive Player of the Year . Wide receiver Adron Tennell won Receiver of the Year. The Shock went 14–4 and lost in the conference championship. In January 2014, it was announced that Brady Nelson had sold

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4588-414: The product, forcing him to weigh options for the team's future which includes dropping to the IFL, a move that some players expressed unhappiness and disappointment about. However, IFL commissioner Mike Allshouse was quick to point out, "At this point, it would be improper to comment about any team that is associated with another league." The move was officially confirmed on September 1, 2015. This made 2016

4662-438: The return of the Shock on November 1, 2019. Adams brought in the head coach of the Carolina Cobras as the new head coach of the Shock. However, before the Shock could play a game, the 2020 season was postponed and eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down most venues due to social distancing measures. Adams stated the Shock would still play games in 2020 against any other team regardless of schedule once

4736-409: The same name and corporate structure longer than any other current indoor football league. With the closure of the original Arena Football League in 2019, the IFL is the oldest active professional indoor football league in North America, and can trace its history to 2003 (as the Intense Football League). IFL players earn US$ 250–500 (before taxes) per game played, with a $ 25 bonus given to players on

4810-423: The second consecutive season, an AFL team was strongly rumored to join the IFL, as Spokane Shock owner Nader Naini said on August 10, 2015, that he was considering all options for the team. On September 1, the Shock officially joined the IFL, becoming the fifth active AFL/af2 franchise to leave for the IFL since the aforementioned Barnstormers, Fever, Blizzard and Revolution. The Shock, however, would have to enter

4884-399: The second straight year that an established AFL franchise moved to the IFL following the Iowa Barnstormers . However, the Spokane franchise had to operate under a different identity, as the Arena Football League announced on October 12 that the team and league could not reach an agreement for the team's trademark and logos, which are owned by the AFL. A press release from the AFL indicated that

4958-402: The sponsorship rights for the IFL, the management rights of the league's communications and marketing department, as well as a second expansion for the 2021 season in Columbus, Ohio , known as the Columbus Wild Dogs. Two games into the 2020 season, the league postponed the rest of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic . On April 13, 2020, the season was fully cancelled. On June 26, 2020,

5032-454: The team and the league proved to be short-lived. The front office of the league saw changes as well, as Commissioner Tommy Benizio resigned. The league appointed assistant commissioner Robert Loving as the interim Commissioner. On October 12, 2012, the Bloomington Edge announced that the team had been sold to the owners of the Bloomington Blaze hockey franchise and would relocate to the new Champions Professional Indoor Football League for

5106-499: The team. On October 17, 2016, the IFL announced it had added the Arizona Rattlers , previously of the Arena Football League , for the 2017 season. The Rattlers were the third team in three consecutive seasons to leave the AFL for the IFL. The league rejected the bid of another former AFL franchise, the Jacksonville Sharks , who are located outside the IFL's regional territory. They subsequently announced their charter membership in an entirely new league, originally to have been called

5180-430: The teams folded. On July 12, 2017, the Spokane Empire announced that they would be suspending operations effective immediately. On July 25, 2017, the IFL announced that only the Arizona Rattlers, Cedar Rapids Titans, Green Bay Blizzard, Iowa Barnstormers, and Nebraska Danger had committed to play for 2018. However, expansion clubs and current member clubs had until September 1 to commit to the 2018 season. On August 30,

5254-416: The third IFL team to be based in Arizona for 2021. On November 6, the Louisville Xtreme of Louisville, Kentucky , was added. The 2020 expansion Oakland Panthers , as well as the Cedar Rapids River Kings , Quad City Steamwheelers, and the San Diego Strike Force withdrew from the season due to the effects of the pandemic. On May 11, 2021, the IFL announced as broadcast partnership with Stadium to air

5328-457: The winning team each week. Additionally some teams provide housing for their players during the season. The IFL has a player personnel partnership with the UFL , to function as their de facto minor league. The league was formed as a merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football , announced the day before the 2008 National Indoor Bowl Championship, a game which pitted

5402-486: Was applying to join the National Arena League (NAL), which is mostly based on the east coast, but the NAL quickly dismissed the idea. On July 22, 2022, all assets of the Shock and Empire past were auctioned off in a liquidation sale where fans took home merchandise, trophies (including af2 and IFL trophies) and other assets left behind by Adams leaving town without warning. Adams has also stated that he has no plans to sell

5476-593: Was forced to play with its backup quarterback for most of the game after their starter was injured during the first drive. The game was close throughout and regulation ended with a tie to send the ArenaCup into its first ever overtime. After the Shock scored a touchdown and a successful extra point, Tennessee Valley matched them with a touchdown, but went for a two-point conversion and succeeded, to capture their first ArenaCup championship. The Shock put together another 15–1 regular season in 2009. The Shock again advanced to

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