New Arena Football League To Merge With CIF


The re-launch of the Arena Football League (AFL) continues to come together with the latest merger with the Champions Indoor Football (CIF) league.  The CIF which has been in existence since 2015 was down to only three teams after the Omaha Beef, Billings Outlaws, Sioux City Bandits and Topeka Tropics left for the National Arena League (NAL).  The Gillette Mustangs suspended operations and the ICT Regulators (Wichita, Kansas), Salina Liberty and Southwest Kansas Storm (Dodge City, Kansas) were absorbed by the new AFL.

The CIF was created in 2014 from a merger between the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) and the Lone Star Football League (LSFL).  They played their first season in 2015 with eight teams.  The Duke City Gladiators and Omaha Beef each won two titles.  The league had 27 teams come and go over nine seasons.  The Salina Liberty has had the longest life in the league having played since 2016.

There are currently ten teams confirmed by the league.  The teams include Albany (NY) Firebirds, Billings (MT) Outlaws, Everett (WA), Iowa Rampage, Orlando (FL) Predators, Rapid City (SD) Marshals, Salina (KS) Liberty, Southwest Kansas Storm, West Texas Desert Hawks, Wichita (KS) Regulators.  Four other teams have also been announced but not yet finalized:  California Grizzlies, Captial City (Tallahassee, FL) Cyclones, Philadelphia (PA) Soul and Minnesota Myth.

The new AFL is projected to consist of four regions spanning the United States with approximately 20 teams joining the revived league in the first season.  Kickoff is scheduled for April 27, 2024.

Obscure Sports Dude Commentary:  

I don't think it is a good idea for the new AFL to gobble up the smaller indoor football leagues. A better idea would be to have the smaller leagues to function as feeder leagues to an AFL with teams in larger markets.  I really don't see this making the new AFL better than the past versions.  Dude thinks that the AFL should have put eight teams in the largest U.S. markets and build from there.  I don't think the new AFL will emerge as any better than the current state of indoor football leagues.






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