National Indoor Football League
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 National Indoor Football League logo |
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| Sport | Indoor football |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2001 |
| Country(ies) |  United States |
| Ceased | 2008 |
| Last champion(s) | San Diego Shockwave |
| Official website | www.niflfootball.com |
National Indoor Football League was 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.
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[edit] History
The NIFL, based in Lafayette, Louisiana, was founded by Carolyn Shiver. Shiver ran the league out of a back room in her ex-husbands trucking company. 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 mostly complete schedule, with few cancellations. Things started to unravel fast though as teams were announced, folded, re-born, simply vanished, bounced checks and collapsed into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Some replacement teams were scrambled to replace the missing and then as the teams in the league started to have trouble finding opponents were forced to travel further and further. Teams would often also be simply thrown out of the league if a disagreement with Shiver.
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 existing franchises and 19 expansion teams. The 2007 season was chaotic with several teams folding and being suspended by the league.
After the 2007 season, the league disbanded.
[edit] Former Teams
[edit] Teams that left the NIFL to join (or plan to join) another league
- Beaumont Drillers - Moved to APFL
- Billings Outlaws - now in Indoor Football League
- Corpus Christi Hammerheads - now in Indoor Football League
- Evansville BlueCats - now in Indoor Football League
- Everett Hawks - joined the af2 in 2007 and has since folded
- Fayetteville Guard - now in American Indoor Football Association
- 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
- Lexington Horsemen - now in af2
- Montgomery Maulers - now in American Indoor Football Association as Montgomery Bears
- Odessa Roughnecks - now in Indoor Football League
- Ohio Valley Greyhounds - now in Indoor Football League
- Omaha Beef - now in Indoor Football League
- Osceola Football - now in World Indoor Football League as Osceola Ghostriders
- River City Rage - now in Indoor Football League
- 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 - now in Indoor Football League
- San Diego Shockwave - Has announced going on hiatus for 2008 but plans on joining another league for 2009
- Sarasota Knights - Moved to APFL as Florida Knights
- Sioux City Bandits - now in Indoor Football League
- Sioux Falls Storm - now in Indoor Football League
- Southwest Louisiana Swashbucklers - Joined the Indoor Football League and shortened their name until joining newly created Southern Indoor Football League in 2009
- Tri-Cities Fever - now in af2
- Tupelo FireAnts - joined United Indoor Football, then folded after one season there
- Wyoming Cavalry (Casper, WY) - now in American Indoor Football Association
[edit] Defunct teams/failed expansion
- Arkansas Stars
- Atlanta Thoroughbreds
- Atlantic City CardSharks
- Austin Knights
- Austin Rockers
- Bay Bandits
- Big Sky Thunder
- Billings Mavericks
- Bismarck Roughriders
- Charleston Sandsharks
- Cincinnati Marshals
- Colorado Castle Rocks
- Colorado Venom
- Colorado Wild Riders
- Columbia Stingers
- Dayton Bulldogs
- Dayton Warbirds
- Daytona Beach Hawgs
- Denver Aviators
- Eugene Mercury
- Florida Frenzy
- Fort Myers Tarpons
- Fort Worth Sixers
- Green Cove Lions
- Greensboro Revolution
- Hammond Heroes
- Houma Bayou Bucks
- Johnstown J Dogs
- Kissimmee Kreatures
- La Crosse Night Train
- Lake Charles Land Sharks
- Lakeland Thunderbolts - won American Indoor Football Association 2007
- Lincoln Capitols
- Los Angeles Lynx
- Louisiana Bayou Beast
- Louisiana Rangers
- Lubbock Gunslingers
- Lubbock Lone Stars
- Miami Vice Squad
- Mississippi Fire Dogs
- Mobile Seagulls
- Myrtle Beach Stingrays
- New Jersey XTreme
- Oklahoma Crude
- Pomona Cool Riders
- Port St. Lucie Mustangs
- Pueblo Pistols
- Rapid City Flying Aces
- River Cities LocoMotives
- River City Renegades
- San Bernardino Bucking Bulls
- St. Joseph Cyclones
- San Antonio Steers
- Southern Oregon Heat
- Staten Island Xtreme
- Tennessee Riverhawks
- Tennessee River Sharks
- Tennessee ThunderCats
- Tri-City Diesel
- Tri-Valley Ranchers
- Twin City Gators
- Utah Express
- Utah Rattlers
- Utah Warriors
- Waco Marshals
- Wichita Falls Thunder
- Winston-Salem Energy
- Winston-Salem Wildcats
- Yakima Shockwave
[edit] 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 | San Diego Shockwave | No Playoff |
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
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