By Chris Mabry and Seth Tucker

GRAND ISLAND - NE, IFL Fans it's finally here. The schedule for the 2021 season is finally out. Before we go through the schedule, here's a breakdown at what to look for in 2021. 

This upcoming IFL season will feature 12 teams. They will be divided into two conferences each with six members. All 12 teams will compete in a 17 week regular season with each club playing a total of 16 games with two bye weeks. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams will qualify for the playoffs and compete for a spot in the United Bowl.

Here are the teams playing this season:
1. Sioux Falls Storm 
2. Louisville Xtreme 
3. Iowa Barnstormers 
4. Green Bay Blizzard
5. Bismarck Bucks
6. Massachusetts Pirates.
7. Arizona Rattlers 
8. Tuscan Sugar Skulls 
9. Northern Arizona Wranglers 
10. Duke City Gladiators 
11. Spokane Shock 
12. Frisco Fighters

Key Takeaways
The season will kickoff on Sunday, March 28th, 2021, with the defending champion The Sioux Falls Storm will take on the Green Bay Blizzard at home in the Hall of Fame Game. This will be the lone matchup for that week. Following week one, every team is in action, with the first teams not taking a bye week until week three. All teams will have had their bye week by Week 16.

The Duke City Gladiators have a tough stretch of games in Weeks 4-9, playing five away games in this stretch, only broken up by a bye week in week six.

The Louisville Xtreme and Spokane Shock are the only teams to play back-to-back games against the same opponent, with the two teams playing each other weeks 10 and 11.

The Pirates and Shock each play 11 different opponents, most in the league, while the Gladiators, Barnstormers, and Wranglers each play six different opponents, least in the league.

Written By: Aaron Castete

The Spring League's 2020 Fall Season, which began Tuesday, October 27th, has been having several of their games aired on FS1. The Spring League is providing fans some entertainment on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, to fill the void of College Football and the NFL's off-days. Fans across the country have given some positive ratings on The Spring League, and fans are enjoying seeing some talented players who want another shot at things.

If The Spring League can sign a deal to play on FS1 in the prime of College Football and NFL season, then why can't the Indoor Football League or National Arena League do it in the Spring, where there is ZERO football on National Television? Now is the perfect opportunity for the IFL and NAL to negotiate a deal with FS1, and promote the brand of Arena/Indoor Football on National Television yet again!

​The Arena/Indoor brand is a hard-hitting, fast-paced, and thrilling brand of football. Arena/Indoor Football is like when you add seasoning to that bland dish your grandmother cooked, and boom, there is a brand new taste that you have discovered. The game would appeal to both fans of the NFL and College Football. They could even see some former players from their favorite teams, continuing their careers and grinding day by day.

So, I challenge the Indoor Football League and National Arena League front office staff members to branch out, and try to get a deal done to put their brand of football on National Television.

Written by Chris Mabry
Just moments ago, the National Arena League announced that the Ontario Bandits will be joining the NAL and will start play in 2021.

The Bandits are located in Southern California and will play their home games at the Toyota Arena which holds 9,500+ people.
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The Bandits will be led by team President Pat Johnson. Johnson is a former Super Bowl Champion wide receiver and an Olympic-caliber sprinter in both high school (Redlands, Calif.) and at track & field powerhouse University of Oregon.

By Seth Tucker

LOUISVILLE - Just days after being removed from the National Arena League, the Louisville Xtreme have found a new league to call home in the Indoor Football League.

The move was first announced on the Louisville Xtreme's Instagram Page (@louxtremefb), with the IFL posting their official announcement shortly afterwards. 

In the Instagram post put out by the Xtreme, Victor Cole, managing partner and general manager of the Xtreme, said that, "We are very excited to announce that we are joining the Indoor Football League" and that "The IFL is the premier indoor football league with teams ranging from coast to coast and we are more than excited to be affiliated and partnered with such a classy organization."

On October 30th, just one week ago, the NAL announced on their website that they had terminated league memberships for both the Louisville Xtreme and the Tampa Bay Tornadoes. Both had been terminated because "both teams failed to provide the league-mandated letters of credit." We have yet to see if Tampa Bay will make a move similar to the Xtreme's.