American Indoor Football Association

Infobox sports league
current_season =

pixels = 90px
caption = American Indoor Football Association logo
sport = Indoor football
founded = 2005
motto = Fast Paced Family Fun
teams = 16
country = USA
champion = Florence Phantoms
national director = Jack Bowman
website = [http://www.aifaprofootball.com www.aifaprofootball.com] The American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) is a professional indoor football league that was formed in 2006. The league's creation coincided with the demise of the Atlantic/American Indoor Football League (AIFL), and all AIFL teams subsequently joined the AIFA. Founders and owners of the AIFA are John Morris and Michael Mink.

Sixteen teams participate in the AIFA, which is concentrated mostly in mid-sized markets in the eastern United States and the Rocky Mountains. The talent level is comparable to a league such as af2, with several former NFL practice squad players scattered across the league. Its primary competitors are the Continental Indoor Football League and Indoor Football League.

History

The league has its roots in the Atlantic Indoor Football League, which began play in 2005 under the leadership of Andrew Haines. The league began with six teams, all of them based in 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 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, a massive reorganization took place as Morris and Mink set up a new league, which absorbed all of the remaining AIFL franchises, and Haines was ousted. (Haines would go on to found the Mid-Atlantic Hockey League in 2007, before similar stability problems led to the forced divestiture of that league as well.) The league took on its current 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, SC. In addition, the league held its 1st All-Star Game 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 has since expanded nationwide and individual teams have been able to acquire several players with NFL experience, a sign that the league has achieved a level on par with leagues such as af2. It had appeared that the league had earned a major television contract as well: On September 17, 2007, The American Indoor Football Association owners John Morris and Michael Mink announced that the league signed a three-year national television broadcast, mobile phone broadcast, and webcast licensing agreement with Simply 4Me Incorporated [http://www.simplyme.net] , who would produce a live broadcast and relay the games on the Internet and through the ION Television network in exchange for US$2,500,000 in rights fees for the AIFA. SimplyMe, however, reneged on their promises. ION dropped the league from their schedule and replaced it with Western movies, and SimplyMe failed to produce a live or even a tape-delayed broadcast through the first five weeks of the season. On April 15, 2008, SimplyMe reported in a letter to the league that they would be unable to meet the financial obligations, and the AIFA terminated the contract with the company shortly thereafter. Later in the season, the more established FSN Pittsburgh agreed to pick up the remaining games; Erie, Pennsylvania-based Image Sports Network also televises local games of the Erie RiverRats.

Eight teams participating in the league in 2007 will not return for the 2008 season, including the 2007 champion Lakeland Thunderbolts. The AIFA is 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 are now in af2, and the 2006 champion Billings Outlaws also left to join two years later.) Two of the three teams who have won the league championship are no longer in the league. However, nine teams have signed on to begin play in 2008, and the league has created a Western Conference. In 2007, the team farthest west was based in Mississippi; in 2008, the team farthest west will be based in Arizona.

Basic rule differences

*The AIFA does not use the rebound net found in the Arena Football League.
*One linebacker may move flat to flat but must stay in drop zone.
*Platooning and free substitution is allowed, meaning players do not have to play both offense and defense.
*Franchises must have at least 9 players that originate from within a 120-mile radius of the team's home town.
*The AIFA ball pattern is similar to that of the basketball in the American Basketball Association, with red, white, and blue panels as opposed to the brown colored football of most leagues.

Two rule changes appear to be inspired by Canadian football rules:

*Two offensive players may be in motion at one time. The AFL allows only one in motion.
*The AIFA recognizes the single (also known as an uno or rouge). If a kickoff goes through the uprights, or if the receiving team does not advance the ball out of the end zone on a kickoff, the kicking team is awarded one point and the ball is spotted at the opponent's five yard line. ( [http://youtube.com/watch?v=ch59NKsfT5o Demonstration] by AIFA kicker J.R. Cipra)

Teams in the AIFA

Eastern Conference

North Division

*Baltimore Mariners
*Canton Legends
*Erie RiverRats
*Reading Express

East Division

*Carolina Speed
*Fayetteville Guard
*Florence Phantoms
*Huntington Heroes

Western Conference

outh Division

*Columbus Lions
*Florida Stingrays
*Mississippi MudCats

West Division

*Arizona Adrenaline
*New Mexico Wildcats
*Wyoming Cavalry

Set to play in 2009

*D.C. Armor (will play at D.C. Armory [http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3726693] )
*Harrisburg Stampede

Set to play in 2010

*Richmond, Virginia
*Augusta Colts (on hiatus, to resume play in 2010)

Rumored for 2009 Expansion

According to the Wenatchee World [http://wenatcheeworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080926/SPORTS/709269938] , the following cities may be future AIFA locations:
*Lakeland, Florida (possible return of Lakeland Thunderbolts)
*Las Vegas, Nevada
*Orem, Utah
*Topeka, Kansas [http://blogs.cjonline.com/index.php?entry=7712]
*Wenatchee, Washington

Defunct franchises

*AIFL Ghostchasers
*AIFL/Carolina Ghostriders
*Chattahoochee Valley Vipers
*Danville Demolition
*Erie Freeze
*Gulf Coast Raiders
*Johnstown Riverhawks
*Montgomery Bears
*Richmond Bandits
*Syracuse Soldiers (a.k.a. Binghamton Brigade)
* Utah Saints

Teams no longer in the AIFA

*Baltimore Blackbirds
*Raleigh Rebels
*Daytona Beach Thunder
*Miami Valley Silverbacks
*Rochester Raiders
*Rome Renegades
*Springfield Stallions
*Steubenville Stampede
*Tallahassee Titans

=Championship games=

*2005: Richmond Bandits 56-30 Erie Freeze
*2006: Canton Legends 61-40 Rome Renegades
*2007: Lakeland Thunderbolts 54-49 Reading Express
*2008: Florence Phantoms 48-12 Wyoming Cavalry

See also

*List of leagues of American football

References

External links

* [http://www.aifaprofootball.com/ AIFA homepage]
* [http://www.thestatguys.com/AIFA/2007/CONFSTAT.HTM 2007 Season Stats]
* [http://www.thestatguys.com/AIFA/CONFSTAT.HTM 2008 Season Stats]