On April 30, 2021, Keith Russ and Tel Koan, owners of fellow Champions Indoor Football (CIF) teams the Wyoming Mustangs and Billings Outlaws, announced launch of another CIF team to be based in Rapid City with their name, logo, and color scheme.[1] The Marshals name was chosen to reflect the Rapid City area's passion for the Old West, as well as to provide a contrast to their CIF league-mates the Billings Outlaws and Sioux City Bandits.[2]
On October 3, 2023, the Marshals announced their move to the revived Arena Football League and would play there starting in the 2024 season.[3] The Marshals were one of several teams from CIF that merged with the AFL, with owner Wes Johnson conceding that he saw major warning signs with AFL Commissioner Lee Hutton making unattainable promises but had hoped that Hutton would deliver on half of what he promised.[4]
On May 2, 2024, the Marshals indicated that the Arena Football League had not compensated the Marshals for promised expense reimbursements, as a condition of the Marshals and other CIF teams joining the league. Unlike the Iowa Rampage, which folded due to that lack of compensation, the Marshals remained committed to playing the season as long as possible in hopes of a resolution.[5] The team offered new contracts rolling salaries back to CIF levels and granted six players their release when they declined in an effort to keep the team operational.[4]
Immediately prior to the team's May 11 home game against the Billings Outlaws, the Marshals players went on strike, refusing to take the field for the game as fans and the Outlaws had already arrived for the game. Outlaws owner Steve Titus, while expressing solidarity with the Marshals' cause against the league central office, expressed outrage at the strike having happened so suddenly.[6][7] The following week, the Marshals cancelled their newly-scheduled home game with the Southwest Kansas Storm on May 18th; after losing to the previously winless Washington Wolfpack on May 23, the Marshals folded the next day, stating that the labor issues the team faced were "insurmountable" despite the ownership's best efforts to keep the team together.[8][9]
The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, AF2, however, that changed briefly with their expansion into AFL markets such as Atlanta, Denver, and Los Angeles, and AF2 markets such as Fort Myers and Houston. Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson, New Orleans Saints quarterback John Fourcade and Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl running back Bam Morris, all played in the NIFL. The league folded in 2008.
The New Orleans VooDoo were a professional arena football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They were members of the Arena Football League from 2004 to 2015.
Arena football is a variety of eight-man indoor gridiron football. The game is played indoors on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game that can be played on the floors of indoor arenas. The sport was invented in 1981, and patented in 1987, by Jim Foster, a former executive of the National Football League and the United States Football League. The name is trademarked by Gridiron Enterprises and had a proprietary format until its patent expired in 2007.
The Texas Revolution were an American professional indoor football team and a founding member of Champions Indoor Football (CIF). The Revolution were based in Allen and Frisco, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.
The Amarillo Venom are a professional indoor football team based in Amarillo, Texas. They play their home games at the Amarillo Civic Center and are members of American Indoor Football as of August 2024. The Venom began play in 2004 as the Amarillo Dusters, a charter member of the Intense Football League, a small indoor football league based in Texas. They won the championship in their first and only season with the Intense Football League.
The Coralville Chaos are a professional indoor football team based in Coralville, Iowa, and are currently members of American Indoor Football. They will play their home games at the Xtream Arena in Coralville starting in 2025.
The Omaha Beef are a professional indoor football team based in Omaha, Nebraska. The Beef plays their home games at Liberty First Credit Union Arena in nearby Ralston. The Beef competes in the National Arena League (NAL). The Beef has been a member of several leagues, including being a charter member of Champions Indoor Football (CIF).
American Indoor Football (AIF) is a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America.
The Rapid City Flying Aces were a professional indoor American football team in Rapid City, South Dakota. Like their predecessors, the Black Hills Red Dogs, they played their home games at the Don Barnett Arena in Rapid City. As of April 2007, the Flying Aces did not belong to any football league. The team was affiliated with the original Indoor Football League in 2000; with the National Indoor Football League from 2001 to 2004 and in 2006; and with United Indoor Football in 2005. The team considered rejoining United Indoor Football in 2008.
The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams among indoor football leagues. As of the 2023 season, the league consists of 14 teams in two conferences with each team playing 16 games over 19 weeks.
Champions Indoor Football (CIF) was a professional indoor American football minor league created in 2014 out of the merger between the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) and Lone Star Football League (LSFL), plus one team from the Indoor Football League and two expansion teams.
The Quad City Steamwheelers are an indoor American football team that began play in 2018. They played their first season as part of the Champions Indoor Football, and then joined the Indoor Football League prior to their second season. Based in Moline, Illinois, the Steamwheelers play their home games at the Vibrant Arena at The MARK. The team announced it would be dormant for the 2021 season due to the arena capacity restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but returned to play in 2022.
The Gillette Mustangs was a professional indoor football team based in Gillette, Wyoming, with home games at Wyoming Center at the CAM-PLEX. The team was a member of Champions Indoor Football.
The Billings Outlaws are a professional indoor football team that began play as a member of Champions Indoor Football for the 2022 season. Based in Billings, Montana, the Outlaws play their home games at MetraPark First Interstate Arena. For 2024, they have been announced as members of the revived Arena Football League.
The Washington Wolfpack are a professional indoor football team based in Everett in the U.S. state of Washington. They were announced as one of the inaugural teams for the revived Arena Football League (AFL), beginning play in 2024.
The Oregon Blackbears are a professional indoor football team based in Salem, Oregon. They were announced as one of the inaugural teams for the revived Arena Football League (AFL), beginning play in 2024. They play at the Oregon State Fairgrounds Pavilion in Salem. The Blackbears have been in a state of uncertainty since a league reorganization early in the 2024 season, having twice been removed from, then restored to the league.
The 2024 Arena Football League season is the first season in the new version of the Arena Football League (AFL).
The Minnesota Myth were a professional indoor football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Myth played their home games at the Target Center. They were announced as one of the inaugural teams for the revived Arena Football League (AFL), playing its lone season in 2024.
The Iowa Rampage were a professional arena football team based in Council Bluffs, Iowa. They were announced as one of the inaugural teams for the revived Arena Football League (AFL).
The Arena Football League (AFL) is a professional indoor American football league founded in 2023 with their first season beginning in 2024. The current AFL takes its identity, history, rulebook and some team names from, but is not directly connected to, the previous iteration of the Arena Football League founded by Jim Foster in 1986.
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