American Indoor Football Alliance

The American Indoor Football Alliance (AIFA) is a minor-professional American indoor football league based in the United States.[1]

American Indoor Football Alliance
SportIndoor football
Founded2021
Inaugural season2022
No. of teams8
CountryUnited States
Most recent
champion(s)		Mississippi Raiders (2022)
Official websitewww.goaifa.com

Teams' typical operating budget is $500,000 with a $90,000 payroll budget per season. Players are paid up to $200 per game, with a $25 bonus for participating in charity events within their local communities. Most teams offer players housing during the season.[2]

AIFA has a inter-league scheduling agreement with the American West Football Conference.[3][4]

History

After the 2021 American Arena League season concluded, four members of the East Division (Carolina Predators, Tampa Bay Tornadoes, Pennsylvania Union and Mississippi Raiders) announced that they would leave the AAL to form new league, after league president and commissioner Tony Zefiretto had sold the league to the ownership.[5]

The league played its first season in 2022, while the Mississippi Raiders defeat the Las Vegas Kings 55–12 to claim Inaugural AIFA Championship.[6][7]

Teams
TeamHome cityHome venueCapacityFoundedJoinedHead coach
Carolina Predators[8]Fayetteville, North CarolinaTBDTBD20182021
Columbus Lions[9]Columbus, GeorgiaColumbus Civic Center7,57320072022Chris McKinney
Capital City CyclonesTallahassee, FloridaTBDTBD20192021Stevie Thomas
Las Vegas KingsLas Vegas, NevadaLas Vegas Sports Park*20212021Chris Wallace
Mississippi Raiders[10]Jackson, MississippiMississippi Coliseum6,50020192021Montra Edwards
South Florida ThunderPalm Beach, FloridaTBDTBD2019[11]2022
Texas Pride[12]Garland, TexasCurtis Culwell Center20222022Keith Russ
Dallas FalconsDallas, TexasTraveling team[13]20222023Bryan Kensky

Former teams
  • Pennsylvania Union (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) — Was part of the original teams joined from the AAL, but then was not included in 2022 alignment.
  • St. Charles Bandits (St. Charles, Missouri) — Joined from the AAL for the 2022 season, but never played a game.[14]

References
  1. "Home – American Indoor Football Alliance". www.goaifa.com. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  2. "AIFA Expansion Packet" (PDF).
  3. "Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report". December 26, 2022.
  4. "AWFC/AIFA Partnership".
  5. "Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report". oursportscentral.com. July 12, 2021.
  6. Bowker, Ernest (July 8, 2022). "Vicksburg coach Muhammad chasing a championship with Mississippi Raiders". Vicksburg Post.
  7. "AIFA Championship". YouTube.
  8. "Fayetteville set to welcome arena football back to the Crown with the Carolina Predators".
  9. "LIONS JOIN REGIONAL ARENA LEAGUE". National Arena League. December 23, 2022.
  10. "Mississippi Raiders bringing arena football back to Jackson".
  11. "South Florida has a new arena football league coming soon — and you could be a part of it".
  12. "AWFC Schedule & AIFA Partnership".
  13. "Dallas Falcons set to join the AIFA for the 2023 Season".
  14. "Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report". October 3, 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.