American Indoor Football Association

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American Indoor Football Association

Sport	Indoor football
Founded	2005
No. of teams	15
Country	United States
Current champions	Canton Legends
Official website	www.aifaprofootball.com

The American Indoor Football Association (originally the Atlantic Indoor Football League, later American Indoor Football League) is an indoor football league which began play in 2005 with six teams based in the eastern United States. Before the start of the inaugural season, the Carolina Sharks franchise was dissolved and an all-road team called the Ghostriders assumed their schedule. The Raleigh Rebels also played an all-road game schedule as a favor to the league.

In the 2005-06 offseason, the AIFL made perhaps its biggest blunder to date: it made moves to expand its market to 9 new cities, acquire the Rome Renegades from the NIFL, and establish a home for the Ghostriders, nearly tripling the size of the league in one season. While there were notable successes, such as the Reading Express, the Ghostriders once again folded and yet another road team (the Ghostchasers) had to be formed. When a proposed team in Binghamton could not secure an arena, AIFL President Andrew Haines hastily moved the team to Syracuse, declared himself the owner, and tried to establish an entire team two weeks before the season. The result was a 1-10 season and the team being folded before the end of 2006. Because of the hole caused by Syracuse's departure, amateur teams from other leagues, such as the Cumberland Cardinals, had to be brought in to fill the gaps in the schedule.

For 2006, the league's two conferences was operating on separate schedules, each playing a double round-robin over 16 weeks. Each team had 14 games and 2 Byes.

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. (During GRWW's brief ownership, the league borrowed three teams from the NAFL to play against AIFL teams when an AIFL team could not fulfill their obligations. None of the NAFL teams won.)

On July 27, 2006, seven teams left the AIFL. Four teams (Augusta, Daytona Beach, Raleigh, and Rome) left to form the new World Indoor Football League with the Osceola Ghostriders of the NIFL. Miami Valley and Steubenville also left to join the Great Lakes Indoor Football League (GLIFL).

On October 2, the league announced that a new league was formed called the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) that all of the teams joined.[1] The most notable change was the apparent ouster of Haines from the organization.

1 Basic rule differences
2 2007 AIFA teams
- 2.1 North Division
- 2.2 South Division
3 Rejected for 2007 expansion, could join in 2008
4 Defunct franchises
5 Teams no longer in the AIFL/AIFA
6 Championship games
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Basic rule differences

The AIFA's red, white, and blue football

Like other indoor football leagues, the use of a rebound net is not allowed because of a patent by the Arena Football League. The AIFA will be able to use rebound nets starting with its 2008 season, as the patent will expire in September 2007.
Platooning and free substitution is allowed, meaning players do not have to play both offense and defense. The free substitution rule has since been adopted by the AFL.
Franchises must have at least 9 players that originate from within a 120-mile radius of the team's home town.
The AIFA is one of the few leagues in America to recognize the single, but only when a kickoff is placed between the uprights.
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 leather color of most leagues.

[edit] 2007 AIFA teams

(in applicable 2006 divisions)

[edit] North Division

[edit] South Division

Baltimore Blackbirds - (formerly of Eastern Indoor Football League)
Carolina Speed - will play in Concord, North Carolina
Florence Phantoms
Gulf Coast Raiders - traveling team, will have home in Florida for 2008 season
Lakeland Thunderbolts (formerly of National Indoor Football League)
Mississippi Mudcats - will play in Tupelo, Mississippi
Montgomery Bears (formerly the Montgomery Maulers of the National Indoor Football League)
Tallahassee Titans

[edit] Rejected for 2007 expansion, could join in 2008

Bay Shore Brawlers - (formerly of Eastern Indoor Football League)
Carolina Sandsharks - (formerly of National Indoor Football League)

[edit] Defunct franchises

AIFL Ghostchasers - traveling team, replaced Ghostriders midway through 2006 season
Binghamton Brigade/Brigadiers - team never played, replaced preseason by Syracuse
Carolina Ghostriders (charter member) - played in Asheville, North Carolina, ceased operations four games into 2006 season
Carolina Sharks - team never played, replaced before inaugural season by the Ghostriders
Chattahoochee Valley Vipers - got terminated from their arena lease [2]
Richmond Bandits (charter member) - were suspended from the 2006 playoffs for flagrant rule violations, after which they voluntarily left the league.
Syracuse Soldiers - suspended operations 10 games into 2006 season, Haines said they had not folded, but officially folded when Haines was ousted from league
Raleigh Rebels (charter member) - left to form WIFL, changed name to Carolina Bombers, but have since folded
Rome Renegades - left to form WIFL but have since folded