2024 American Indoor Football season
Sports season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2024 American Indoor Football season was the twelfth season of American Indoor Football (AIF) and the first season after an eight-year hiatus. The league played the season with six teams, including the last league champions, the Columbus Lions.
| 2024 American Indoor Football season | |
|---|---|
| League | American Indoor Football |
| Sport | Indoor football |
| Duration | March 17 – June 14 |
| Teams | 6 |
| 2024 | |
| Season champions | Columbus Lions |
| Playoffs | |
| Finals venue | Columbus Civic Center |
| Finals champions | Columbus Lions |
| Runners-up | Corpus Christi Tritons |
Offseason
On July 3, 2023, John Morris announced that the league would indeed relaunch in 2024 with four new teams: Cedar Rapids River Kings, Corpus Christi Tritons, RiverCity Rage and West Virginia Miners.[1] On August 4, 2023, the league announced that the Columbus Lions, the last team to win the AIF Championship in 2016, were returning to the league.[2] On August 24, 2023, the league announced that the Amarillo Venom would return and join the AIF for the 2024 season.[3] On September 11, 2023, the league announced that an expansion team to be based in Albany, Georgia, would also join the AIF for 2024 as its eighth franchise.[4] On September 29, 2023, the league announced the Beaumont Renegades as their ninth team for the 2024 season,[5] but on October 30, the league announced that the Renegades will play an exhibition schedule only in 2024, and will join the league full time in 2025, while the AIF granted West Virginia Miners release from the league after change in the team ownership group.[6]
On February 21, 2024, the league announced that the Flint Rivergators would not play in the 2024 season and would re-evaluate the team's future.[7] Prior to their game on March 24, 2024, the league announced that the Mississippi Raiders would be removed from the league’s schedule due to financial problems involved in the change in ownership during the offseason. The future of the team is unknown.[8]
Teams
| Team | Location | Arena | Capacity | Founded | Joined | Head coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amarillo Venom | Amarillo, Texas | Amarillo Civic Center | 4,912 | 2003 | 2024 | Rick Kranz |
| Cedar Rapids River Kings[a] | Cedar Rapids, Iowa | Alliant Energy PowerHouse | 9,000 | 2011 | 2024 | Daron Clark |
| Columbus Lions | Columbus, Georgia | Columbus Civic Center | 7,573 | 2006 | 2024 | Damian Daniels |
| Corpus Christi Tritons | Corpus Christi, Texas | American Bank Center | 10,000 | 2023 | 2024 | Bradly Chavez |
| Harrisburg Stampede | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center | 2,400 | 2008 | 2024 | Bernie Nowotarski |
| Mississippi Raiders[b] | Batesville, Mississippi | Batesville Civic Center | 3,200 | 2019 | 2024 | Eddie Strong |
Standings
| Team | Win | Loss | PCT | GB | PF | PA | STK | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (1)Columbus Lions | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 320 | 106 | W5 | ||||||||
| (2)Corpus Christi Tritons | 4 | 1 | .800 | 1.0 | 214 | 160 | L1 | ||||||||
| Harrisburg Stampede | 1 | 3 | .250 | 3.5 | 95 | 227 | L3 | ||||||||
| Amarillo Venom | 1 | 4 | .200 | 4.0 | 175 | 276 | W1 | ||||||||
| Mississippi Raiders† | 0 | 1 | .000 | – | 0 | 2 | L1 | ||||||||
| Cedar Rapids River Kings† | 0 | 2 | .000 | – | 67 | 102 | L2 | ||||||||
| Legend | |||||||||||||||
| (1) – hosts Championship game | |||||||||||||||
| (2) – clinched Championship game | |||||||||||||||
| † – Did not finish the season | |||||||||||||||
| All other teams eliminated from postseason | |||||||||||||||
Season schedule
Regular season
All times shown are local to the home team.
Week 1
| Date | Time | Away team | Result | Home team | Stadium | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 17 | 7:00 p.m. CT | Columbus Lions | 47 | 26 | Amarillo Venom | Amarillo Civic Center | ||
Week 2
| Date | Time | Away team | Result | Home team | Stadium | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 23 | 6:00 p.m. CT | Corpus Christi Tritons | 2 | 0 | Mississippi Raiders | Batesville Civic Center | Mississippi forfeited this game before folding. | [8] |
Week 3
| Date | Time | Away team | Result | Home team | Stadium | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 30 | 7:00 p.m. CT | Amarillo Venom | 50 | 76 | Corpus Christi Tritons | American Bank Center | ||
Week 4
| Date | Time | Away team | Result | Home team | Stadium | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 6 | 7:00 p.m. ET | Cedar Rapids River Kings | 29 | 44 | Harrisburg Stampede | Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center | ||
Week 5
| Date | Time | Away team | Result | Home team | Stadium | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 12 | 7:00 p.m. ET | Amarillo Venom | 27 | 74 | Columbus Lions | Columbus Civic Center | ||
| April 14 | 3:00 p.m. CT | Cedar Rapids River Kings | 38 | 58 | Corpus Christi Tritons | American Bank Center | ||
Week 6
| Date | Time | Away team | Result | Home team | Stadium | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 18 | 7:00 p.m. ET | Harrisburg Stampede | 19 | 73 | Columbus Lions | Columbus Civic Center | ||
Week 7
| Date | Time | Away team | Result | Home team | Stadium | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 27 | 7:00 p.m. ET | Columbus Lions | 42 | 34 | Harrisburg Stampede | Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center | ||
| April 27 | 7:00 p.m. CT | Corpus Christi Tritons | 48 | 34 | Amarillo Venom | Amarillo Civic Center | ||
Week 8
No games were played this week.
Week 9
| Date | Time | Away team | Result | Home team | Stadium | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 11 | 7:00 p.m. CT | Corpus Christi Tritons | 30 | 38 | Amarillo Venom | Amarillo Civic Center | ||
Week 10
The Harrisburg Stampede and the Cedar Rapids River Kings were due to play this week, but the River Kings opted to conclude their regular season and instead play exhibition matches. This move also affected the previous week's match against the Columbus Lions, a rematch with the Stampede on June 1, and a match against the Corpus Christi Tritons on June 6.[12] The news came amid a scandal involving River Kings co-owner Dominic Montero.[9][10]
Week 11
| Date | Time | Away team | Result | Home team | Stadium | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 25 | 7:00 p.m. ET | Harrisburg Stampede | 0 | 83 | Columbus Lions | Columbus Civic Center | ||
Week 12
The match between the Amarillo Venom and the Corpus Christi Tritons this week was cancelled for unknown reasons. The Tritons instead played the Dallas Falcons of American Arena League 2.[13] The score was 52-20
Championship Game
On May 7, AIF announced a revised playoff format: the top two teams will play in a single championship game on June 14.[14] The Lions were confirmed to host the game after winning over the Harrisburg Stampede on May 25.
| Date | Time | Away team | Result | Home team | Stadium | Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 14 | 7:00 p.m. ET | Corpus Christi Tritons | 20 | 46 | Columbus Lions | Columbus Civic Center | ||
Media
| Team | TV Station(s) |
|---|---|
| Amarillo Venom |
|
| Cedar Rapids River Kings | None |
| Columbus Lions | YouTube |
| Corpus Christi Tritons | YouTube |
| Harrisburg Stampede | YouTube[16] |