Arena Football  
Arena Football

Arena Football


If you can’t get enough football in your life, you might get depressed whenever the Super Bowl ends, even if you didn’t care about either team. But in this 24/7 culture, you might be happy to find out that there are more football leagues than the NFL or the high school in your town. Arena football is a sport that’s played indoors so it can be played at times when regular football can not. And with a number of leagues, you can be certain to find a game when you need a hit of football.

Current Arena Football Leagues

If you’re looking at the current schedules, it can help to know what leagues are currently in operation before you start planning your weekends around arena football.

  • Arena Football League - (1987–2008, 2010–present)
  • American Indoor Football Association 2006–present
  • American Professional Football League 2003–present
  • Continental Indoor Football League 2006–present
  • Independent Indoor Football Alliance 2007–present
  • Indoor Football League 2008–present
  • Lingerie Football League 2009–present
  • Southern Indoor Football League 2008–present
  • Ultimate Indoor Football League 2005-2006 (as Atlantic/American Football League), 2011-future

This is a comprehensive list right now, but many of these leagues will probably fade away, with replacements in the future, while defunct leagues might return under different names.

Past Arena Football Leagues

In the past, there were a number of leagues that tried to begin arena football madness. These leagues often merge with other leagues or they decide to pop up again when they’re stronger. In any case, here are the leagues that used to be running around the fields.

  • arenafootball2 2000-2009
  • Eastern Indoor Football League 2007
  • Indoor Football League 1999-2000
  • Indoor Professional Football League 1999-2001
  • Intense Football League 2004, 2006–2008
  • National Indoor Football League 2001-2007
  • Professional Indoor Football League 1998
  • United Indoor Football 2005-2008
  • World Indoor Football League 1988
  • World Indoor Football League 2007
  • Xtreme Football League 1999

Arena Football vs. Traditional Football

Many people think that arena football is someone less manly than traditional football – just because it’s played indoors. While not having inclement weather does help the playing, this sport is just as brutal, just as exciting, and just as manly as football. The bone crunching still happens folks, just in a new setting. The many leagues are also showing that many people are interested in playing football that don’t necessarily fit into the NFL. This allows for more diversity of players, no bad thing.

With arena football, you can enjoy a different take on football in a new setting. Now you can have even more teams to root for – your partner will be so happy to hear that, won’t they?