Why the IFL and NAL are the real deal

In just one off-season times the indoor/arena football landscape has changed a lot. The Arena Football League (AFL) is now at five teams and Champions Indoor Football (CIF) lost one team while adding three others for a total of 14 teams. The Indoor Football League (IFL) lost two teams in the Billings Wolves who folded and the Tri-Cities Fever who went dormant, but gained two teams in the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles by expansion and the Arizona Rattlers who transferred from the AFL to bring the IFL to ten teams. The IFL did pass on the bid by another former AFL franchise, the Jacksonville Sharks because it was outside the league's territory. The IFL is rumored to be adding the Portland Thunder in 2018, a former AFL franchise that went dormant in 2016 when the AFL took over the franchise and renamed them the Steel. The Portland Steel were folded by the league after one season. Also during this past off-season, American Indoor Football (AIF) folded. Teams either folded, joined CIF or one of the three new leagues, Supreme Indoor Football (SIF), Arena Pro Football (APF) which partnered with United States Indoor Football (USIF) and Can-Am Indoor Football, or the National Arena League (NAL). The NAL is a new premier arena football league with teams in Mexico and the United States. They'll play their first season with eight teams and have plans for major expansion in 2018. The NAL was created by Columbus Lions owner Skip Seda and was originally called the Arena Developmental League (ADL). The league changed their name when they acquired a former AFL franchise, the Jacksonville Sharks. The NAL was planning on having a couple more teams but they left for SIF and APF. There was a chance of a New Jersey franchise in 2017 that would've had the league starting play with nine teams, but they didn't get everything in by the deadline, so they'll most likely join in 2018 along with other cities. There's a possibility that former AFL franchise, the Orlando Predators join the NAL in 2018 and become the second NAL franchise in Florida. There's also possibilities of a Houston franchise in 2018 in addition to other cities in the Midwest. The Orlando Predators, former AFL franchise are also rumored to be joining the NAL for the 2018 season. The NAL and IFL will be true powerhouse leagues in 2017, and 2018 should be just as exciting, if not more exciting with those expansion rumors. Stay tuned everyone and get ready for some hard hitting action!