American Indoor Football Alliance Explained

American Indoor Football Alliance
Sport:	Indoor football
Inaugural:	2022
Teams:	7
Country:	United States
Champion:	Columbus Lions (2023)

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

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

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 a new league, after league president and commissioner Tony Zefiretto had sold the league to the ownership.^[3]

The league played its first season in 2022, while the Mississippi Raiders defeat the Las Vegas Kings 55–12 to claim the Inaugural AIFA Championship.^{[4] [5] [6]}

For the 2023 season, AIFA had a inter-league scheduling agreement with the American West Football Conference.^{[7] [8]} The Columbus Lions won the league championship after completing an undefeated season and beating Mississippi Raiders 55 to 10 in AIFA Championship.^{[9] [10] [11]}

In late 2023 most of the teams left to join different leagues and the AIFA website was shut down.

Teams

Teams that participated or were listed as members in the 2023 season.

Team	Home city	Home venue	Capacity	Founded	Joined	Head coach	Fate
Carolina Predators^[12]		TBD	TBD	2018	2021		AAL2
Columbus Lions^[13]			7,573	2007	2022	Chris McKinney	AIF
Capital City Cyclones		Traveling team	TBD	2019	2021		IFA
Las Vegas Kings		Las Vegas Sports Park		2021	2021		IFA
Mississippi Raiders^[14]			6,500	2019	2021		AIF
South Florida Thunder		TBD	TBD	2019^[15]	2022		TBD
Dallas Falcons		Traveling team^[16]		2022	2023	Bryan Kensky	AAL2

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.^[17]
• Texas Pride (Garland, Texas) - Was part of the announced teams of the crossover games with the American West Football Conference (AWFC) for the 2023 season, but then was not included in the league standings.^[18]
• Columbus Lions - Joined from the National Arena League for the 2023 season,^[19] but left for the American Indoor Football after winning the league championship.^[20]
• Carolina Predators (Fayetteville, North Carolina) - Joined from the AAL for the 2022 season,^[21] but left after the 2023 season for the American Arena League 2.^[22]
• Mississippi Raiders (Jackson, Mississippi) - Won the Inaugural AIFA Championship in 2022^[23] and played in the 2023 finals before leaving for the American Indoor Football league for the 2024 season.
• Dallas Falcons (Dallas, Texas) - Joined for the 2023 season as a traveling team,^[24] but would leave for the American Arena League 2 for the 2024 season.^[25]
• Las Vegas Kings (Las Vegas, Nevada) - Played in the inaugural AIFA Championship in 2022, but the owner decided to moved the team after the conclusion of the 2023 season to the International Football Alliance.^[26] The team again jumped from the IFA prior to that league's launch and claimed to join Arena Football One, which the league rebuked for misrepresenting their pitch as league admission.^{[27] [28]}
• Capital City Cyclones (Tallahassee, Florida) - Joined from the AAL as the Tampa Bay Tornadoes,^[29] and later was rebranded as the Cyclones prior to the 2022 season.^{[30] [31]} Left after the 2023 season to join the International Football Alliance.^[32]

References

1. Web site: Home – American Indoor Football Alliance . 2022-06-12 . www.goaifa.com.
2. Web site: AIFA Expansion Packet.
3. Web site: Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report . oursportscentral.com . July 12, 2021.
4. Web site: Mississippi Raiders are now AIFA National Champions. Vicksburg Daily News. July 10, 2022 .
5. Web site: Vicksburg coach Muhammad chasing a championship with Mississippi Raiders. July 8, 2022. Vicksburg Post. Bowker, Ernest.
6. Web site: AIFA Championship. .
7. Web site: Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report. December 26, 2022 .
8. Web site: AWFC/AIFA Partnership.
9. Web site: Lions defeat Raiders 55 to 10 in AIFA Championship. American Indoor Football Alliance .
10. Web site: AIFA Champioinship Part1 . youtube.com .
11. Web site: AIFA Champioinship Part 2. youtube.com .
12. Web site: Fayetteville set to welcome arena football back to the Crown with the Carolina Predators.
13. Web site: LIONS JOIN REGIONAL ARENA LEAGUE . December 23, 2022 . National Arena League.
14. Web site: Mississippi Raiders bringing arena football back to Jackson. November 4, 2021 .
15. Web site: South Florida has a new arena football league coming soon — and you could be a part of it. November 29, 2019 .
16. Web site: Dallas Falcons set to join the AIFA for the 2023 Season.
17. Web site: Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report. October 3, 2022 .
18. Web site: AWFC Schedule & AIFA Partnership.
19. Web site: Lions Join Regional Arena League - Columbus Lions. Columbus Lions . December 23, 2022 .
20. Web site: August 4, 2023 . COLUMBUS LIONS JOIN AMERICAN INDOOR FOOTBALL (AIF) FOR THE 2024 INDOOR SEASON . August 4, 2023 . aif-proindoorfootball.com . American Indoor Football.
21. Web site: Fayetteville set to welcome arena football back to the Crown with the Carolina Predators.
22. Web site: Carolina Predators Arena Football Team. .
23. Web site: Mississippi Raiders bringing arena football back to Jackson. November 4, 2021 .
24. Web site: Dallas Falcons set to join the AIFA for the 2023 Season.
25. Web site: Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report. OurSports Central. September 4, 2023 .
26. Web site: Las Vegas Kings Football Team Joins the International Football Alliance. PRLog . en-US.
27. https://theaf1.com/2024/09/26/arena-football-one-statement-on-expansion/ Arena Football One Statement on Expansion
28. Web site: offthewallfbpod . 2024-10-22 . So how about this Las Vegas Kings situation, huh? . 2024-10-22 . OffTheWallFB . en.
29. Web site: TAMPA BAY TORNADOES JOINS THE AIFA! . goaifa.com . July 5, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210709183547/https://www.goaifa.com/news/tampa-bay-tornadoes-joins-the-aifa . July 9, 2021.
30. Web site: TAMPA BAY CYCLONES JOINS THE AIFA! . AIFA . July 5, 2021 . February 3, 2022 . December 13, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211213051836/https://www.goaifa.com/news/tampa-bay-tornadoes-joins-the-aifa . dead .
31. Web site: AIFA teams . February 3, 2022 . AIFA . February 3, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220203185758/https://www.goaifa.com/stats#/1432/teams?division_id=14304 . dead .
32. Web site: Meet The Teams. International Football Alliance.