The NIFL, based in Lafayette, Louisiana, was founded by Carolyn Shiver. The league started operations in 2001, with many teams coming from Indoor Football League being bought the previous year and folding operations. In 2002, the league added in the teams from the Indoor Professional Football League. 2003 was the most successful year for the league as 24 teams played a mostly complete schedule, with few cancellations.
Before the 2005 season, nine teams left the league to form United Indoor Football. That same year, the Intense Football League ceased operations and four teams from there joined the league. Those teams however, left the league before the 2006 season started.
For the 2005 season, the NIFL had an agreement with NFL to handle referee assignment and training.[1]
The 2006 season, was the most chaotic for the league to that point. Ten expansion teams were added to the league, but nine of them had problems that reflected badly on the league. The most notable situation was the owner of the Montgomery Maulers firing the entire team.[2] None of the ten expansion teams returned to the league for the next season.
The 2007 season started with the addition of several league-owned expansion teams, primarily to supplement games with the returning teams. However, the teams were all poorly funded and had problems fielding competitive squads. The San Diego Shockwave were declared the official league champion. The league then officially folded prior to the 2008 season.
In 2016, a new website announced that the league operations were relaunched by Carolyn Shiver with announced goal of bringing 34 teams into the former AFL markets starting in the 2017 season. As of June 2016, the league was looking for local team ownership under the league's business model.[3]
Former teams
Teams that left the NIFL to join (or planned to join) another league
^NIFL squad in Montgomery fired after salary dispute
^"National Indoor Football League Gears Up To Take The Field". PR Newswire. June 23, 2016.
^Hall, Jamie (April 22, 2001). "Tupelo waits to see whether two teams can survive". Southeast Missourian. Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
^ a bAnne Marie Apollo (June 6, 2007). "Short, strange season for Green Cove Lions". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
External links
National Indoor Football League official website
San Antonio Steers vs Beaumont Drillers clip via YouTube