Sport Indoor football Claim to fame Antonio Clay Founded 2012 | Inaugural season 2013 No. of teams 9 Number of teams 9 | |
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Ceased 2014; merged with LSFL to make CIF Director Bob Scott, Jerry Ploeger, Ethan Henson, John Blazek | ||
The Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) was an indoor football league based along the Midwestern United States region. The league began play in February 2013. In August 2014, the CPIFL and Lone Star Football League (LSFL) completed a merger to form Champions Indoor Football (CIF) to begin play in 2015.
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Season structure
During the off-season, teams hold open tryouts for free-agent players to earn invites to pre-season camps. Free Agent Tryouts range from October to January depending on the individual team. Pre-season typically runs the duration of February and can involve exhibition games with teams inside the league or outside teams in other leagues. The regular season schedule is a 12-game format typically starting in Mid-March and going until Mid-June. Each team will play six home games and six road games typically on Friday and Saturday nights with some exceptions like Sunday afternoon games. The four teams with the best overall record at the end of the season qualify for post-season play. Teams with the best record host the first round of the playoffs. The league currently does not have a divisional split. The second round of the playoffs is considered the CPIFL Championship game to crown the league champion each year.
League history
In August 2012, Sioux City Bandits' managing partner, Bob Scott, generated the idea of a league that would be run by team owners, and not by a president. The idea came after the Bandits had spent two years in the American Professional Football League. The focus was to build the highest level of indoor football in the Midwest by adding teams to the league, linking "well-established teams currently coming from Iowa, Missouri and Kansas." The CPIFL brought together the top indoor football teams in the Midwest from existing leagues such as the Arena Football League, Indoor Football League, and the American Professional Football League to fill the new league. The CPIFL is bringing back rivalries from the past. Tulsa (Oklahoma Defenders) vs. Wichita (Wild), Lincoln (Haymakers) vs. Omaha (Beef), Lincoln vs. Sioux City (Bandits) and Omaha vs. Sioux City are a few examples. The league gained its first member on August 11, 2012, when the Bandits officially announced their intentions to join the CPIFL. Also on August 11, the league voted that James Bain would be the league's first Commissioner.
On August 14, 2014, it was announced at the league website that they have merged with the Lone Star Football League to create what they say is the largest indoor football league in the country.