NATIONAL INDOOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE

'National Indoor Football League' is a minor league indoor football league that is based in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, af2, however, that changed briefly with their expansion into AFL markets such as Atlanta, Denver, and Los Angeles, and af2 markets such as Fort Myers and Houston.

Contents

History

2008

Current Teams

Atlantic Conference

Pacific Conference

Former Teams

Teams that left the NIFL to join (or plan to join) another league

Defunct teams/failed expansion

Indoor Bowl games

See also

Notes

External links

History

The NIFL, based in Lafayette, Louisiana, was founded by Carolyn Shiver. The league started operations in 2001, with many teams coming from Indoor Football League being bought the previous year and folding operations. In 2002, the league added in the teams from the Indoor Professional Football League. 2003 was the most successful year for the league as 24 teams played a complete schedule, with no cancellations.
While there have been problems, mainly with expansion teams, the well-run teams success easily outweighed the league's problems. Unfortunately, the league's problems started to show after this point. Before the 2005 season, nine teams left the league to form United Indoor Football. That same year though, the Intense Football League ceased operations and four teams from there joined the league. Those teams however, left the league before the 2006 season started.
The 2006 season, was the most chaotic for the league to that point. Ten expansion teams were added to the league, but nine of them had problems that reflected badly on the league. The most notable situation was the owner of the Montgomery Maulers firing the entire team over pay issues, which got covered in Sports Illustrated and ESPN. None of the ten expansion teams returned to the league for the next season.
After the 2006 season, more than half the league's franchises left for other indoor leagues. In addition to the WIFL, teams left for UIF, the af2, and the AIFA. The NIFL started play in 2007 with 5 franchises from the 2006 and 19 expansion teams.

2008

For 2008, the league plans on reviving the 16 league-owned expansion teams, this time with a new management group to operate the teams. Some of the teams have been sold to outside owners. The league also plans on playing games outdoors.^[1]

Current Teams

Atlantic Conference

★ Columbia Stingers

★ Greensboro Revolution

Pacific Conference

★ Beaumont Drillers

★ San Antonio Steers

★ San Bernardino Bucking Bulls

Former Teams

Teams that left the NIFL to join (or plan to join) another league

★ Arkansas Stars - planned to join Ultimate Indoor Football League, currently inactive

★ Atlanta Thoroughbreds - future unknown

★ Billings Outlaws - now in United Indoor Football

★ Charleston Sandsharks - announced intentions to join World Indoor Football League and American Indoor Football Association, currently inactive

★ Cincinnati Marshals - future unknown

★ Corpus Christi Hammerheads - returned to Intense Football League

★ Evansville BlueCats - now in United Indoor Football

★ Everett Hawks - now in af2

★ Fayetteville Guard - now in American Indoor Football Association [2]

★ Fort Wayne Freedom - joined United Indoor Football, then had assets bought out by Fort Wayne Fusion of af2

★ Greenville Riverhawks - now in American Indoor Football Association as Johnstown Riverhawks

★ Katy Copperheads - now in af2 as Texas Copperheads

★ Lakeland Thunderbolts - now in American Indoor Football Association

★ Lexington Horsemen - now in United Indoor Football

★ Montgomery Maulers - now in American Indoor Football Association as Montgomery Bears

★ Odessa Roughnecks - returned to Intense Football League

★ Ohio Valley Greyhounds - now in United Indoor Football

★ Omaha Beef - now in United Indoor Football

★ Osceola Football - now in World Indoor Football League as Osceola Ghostriders

★ River City Rage - now in United Indoor Football

★ Rome Renegades - joined American Indoor Football League, then left for World Indoor Football League, but folded before playing a single game there.

★ San Angelo Stampede - returned to Intense Football League

★ San Diego Shockwave - future unknown

★ Sioux City Bandits - now in United Indoor Football

★ Sioux Falls Storm - now in United Indoor Football

★ Southwest Louisiana Swashbucklers - joined Intense Football League and shortened their name to Louisiana Swashbucklers

★ Tri-Cities Fever - now in af2

★ Tri-Valley Ranchers - future fnknown

★ Tupelo FireAnts - joined United Indoor Football, then folded after one season there

★ Wyoming Cavalry (Casper, WY) - now in American Indoor Football Association [3]

Defunct teams/failed expansion

★ Alameda Action

★ Atlantic City CardSharks

★ Austin Knights

★ Austin Rockers

★ Bay Bandits

★ Big Sky Thunder

★ Billings Mavericks

★ Bismarck Roughriders

★ Colorado Castle Rocks

★ Colorado Venom

★ Colorado Wild Riders

★ Dallas

★ Dayton Bulldogs

★ Daytona Beach Hawgs

★ Denver Aviators

★ Eugene Mercury

★ Florida Frenzy

★ Fort Myers Tarpons

★ Fort Worth Sixers

★ Fresno Fury

★ Green Cove Lions

★ Hattiesburg Playmakers

★ Hammond Heroes

★ Houma Bayou Bucks

★ Houston Wild Riders

★ Johnstown J Dogs

★ Kissimmee Kreatures

★ La Crosse Night Train

★ Lake Charles Land Sharks

★ Lincoln Capitols

★ Long Beach Muscle Heads

★ Los Angeles Diamonds

★ Los Angeles Lynx

★ Louisiana Bayou Beast

★ Louisiana Rangers

★ Lubbock Gunslingers

★ Lubbock Lone Stars

★ Miami Vice Squad

★ Mississippi Fire Dogs

★ Mobile Muskateers

★ Mobile Seagulls

★ Myrtle Beach Stingrays

★ New Jersey XTreme

★ Oklahoma Crude

★ Palm Beach Phantoms

★ Palm Beach Waves

★ Pomona Cool Riders

★ Port St. Lucie Mustangs

★ Pueblo Pistols

★ Rapid City Flying Aces

★ River Cities LocoMotives

★ River City Renegades

★ Sacramento Wildfire

★ San Francisco Quakes

★ Sarasota Knights

★ Show Me Believers

★ St. Joseph Cyclones

★ Southern Oregon Heat

★ Staten Island Xtreme

★ Tampa Tide

★ Tennessee Riverhawks

★ Tennessee River Sharks

★ Tennessee ThunderCats

★ Topeka Top Guns

★ Tri-City Diesel

★ Twin City Gators

★ Utah Express

★ Utah Rattlers

★ Utah Warriors

★ Waco Marshals

★ Washington Shockwave

★ Watatch Wolverines

★ Wichita Falls Thunder

★ Winston-Salem Energy

★ Winston-Salem Wildcats

★ Yakima Shockwave

Indoor Bowl games

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2001	Mississippi Fire Dogs	Wyoming Cavalry	55-21
2002	Ohio Valley Greyhounds	Billings Outlaws	55-52
2003	Ohio Valley Greyhounds	Utah Warriors	45-37
2004	Lexington Horsemen	Sioux Falls Storm	59-38
2005	Tri-Cities Fever	Rome Renegades	47-31
2006	Billings Outlaws	Fayetteville Guard	59-44
2007	Fayetteville Guard	Wyoming Cavalry	48-34

See also

★ List of leagues of American football

★ List of National Indoor Football League mascots

★ Indoor Bowl

Notes

1. [1]

External links

★ NIFL homepage

★ Massey's Computer Rankings