2021 IFL Schedule Released
November 17, 2020 - Indoor Football League (IFL) News Release
SIOUX FALLS, SD - The Indoor Football League will kick off its 13th season with a Hall of Fame Game on Sunday, March 26, 2021, featuring the defending United Bowl champion Sioux Falls Storm hosting the Green Bay Blizzard, the league announced on Tuesday. Adding to the excitement around the league's kickoff weekend is the induction of the newest members of the IFL Hall of Fame during halftime of the Hall of Fame Game.
The announcement of the Hall of Fame Game comes as part of the release of the IFL's 2021 schedule. America's longest continuously-running indoor football league, the IFL will kick off in 2021 with 12 teams stretching from the East Coast to the West Coast and from as far north as Wisconsin and the Dakotas all the way south to Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.
The first full weekend of IFL action in 2021 will be the first weekend of April when all 12 teams are in action, beginning with a pair of games on Friday, April 2.
Each team will play 16 regular season games in 2021 - eight home and eight on the road. The expanded schedule, up from 14 scheduled games in 2020, is a nod of appreciation to the fans and corporate partners that stuck with the teams and league during the shortened 2020 COVID-impacted season.
Some interesting facts about the 2021 IFL schedule:
The 2021 roster of IFL teams includes six teams that will be playing their first seasons in the league and six "veteran" IFL brands.
The defending champion Sioux Falls Storm has earned the right to open the season in the spotlight, and from the first game the Storm will wear targets on their backs, including rematches of the past three United Bowls against Arizona and Iowa.
The IFL's 2021 campaign includes five traditional holiday weekends - Easter Weekend, Mother's Day Weekend, Memorial Day Weekend, Father's Day Weekend, and the weekend of the Fourth of July.
Five of the six first-year teams will get to test their mettle against veteran IFL teams in Week 2, which is the first weekend of play for each of the first-year IFL teams; the lone matchup between two rookie IFL teams to open the season is Spokane at Frisco.
There are only two of the 17 full weekends of play in 2021 when there will not be a game played in the state of Arizona - Week 9 and Week 15, which is Fourth of July weekend. During Week 8 the state of Arizona will be hosting 3 of the 5 IFL games played that weekend.
The league will play its 16-game regular season schedule over 18 weeks technically, but all except Sioux Falls and Green Bay -- the Hall of Fame Game participants -- will play their 16 games over 17 weeks.
The postseason, which will feature eight teams, starts the weekend of July 30 with the first-round games, followed by the semifinals the weekend of August 6 before the final two teams enjoy a bye week in advance of the United Bowl the weekend of August 20.
The IFL opens in three new markets in 2021, with the Massachusetts Pirates, Northern Arizona Wranglers, and Louisville Xtreme joining the league. In addition to those three new organizations, the 2021 season will also mark the first time the Spokane Shock, Duke City Gladiators, and Frisco Fighters will take the field. Each of those teams joined the league in 2020, but none were able to play due to the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down the league following its first week of play.
In addition to the 12 teams playing in 2021, the IFL has five additional teams set to play in 2022, including the expansion Columbus Wild Dogs, Quad City Steamwheelers, San Diego Strike Force, Oakland Panthers, and Cedar Rapids River Kings.
"We are extremely excited to be able to continue to grow the IFL, especially given the climate we are in during this atypical year," said IFL Commissioner Todd Tryon. "We were able to maintain our strict standards for team ownership and attract some great individuals and ownership groups into our league, which will only make us better. The future of the IFL continues to be very bright."
Generally concentrated in the Midwest and western part of the United States, the addition of Massachusetts will allow the league to eventually expand into a new region of the country. The addition of Louisville and Northern Arizona bolster the league's footprint in the middle of the country and the southwestern United States.
"The IFL has never before been situated for greater success, both within our local team markets and nationally," Tryon added. "We have a solid plan for expansion, along with national growth as it relates to our league broadcasts and league sponsorships, and we have great league members who all believe in the same vision. It's been too long since we've been able to get on the field and allow our great athletes to perform for our fans, and for us the Hall of Fame Game can't come soon enough."
CLICK HERE FOR A COMPOSITE VIEW OF THE SCHEDULE
2021 IFL WEEK-BY-WEEK SCHEDULE
All times Central Time
WEEK 1
SUNDAY, MARCH 28
Green Bay at Sioux Falls, 3:05 pm
WEEK 2
FRIDAY, APRIL 2
Spokane at Frisco, 7:05 pm
Massachusetts at Bismarck, 7:05 pm
SATURDAY, APRIL 3
Arizona at Duke City, 7:05 pm
Louisville at Green Bay, 7:05 pm
Sioux Falls at Iowa, 7:05 pm
Tucson at Northern Arizona, 8:05 pm
WEEK 3
SATURDAY, APRIL 10
Iowa at Massachusetts, 6:05 pm
Sioux Falls at Bismarck, 6:05 pm
Frisco at Duke City, 7:05 pm
Northern Arizona at Arizona, 8:05 pm
Green Bay at Spokane, 8:05 pm
SUNDAY, APRIL 11
Louisville at Tucson, 5:05 pm
WEEK 4
FRIDAY, APRIL 16
|Arizona at Sioux Falls, 7:05 pm
SATURDAY, APRIL 17
Duke City at Northern Arizona, 8:05 pm
Tucson at Spokane, 9:05 pm
SUNDAY, APRIL 18
Iowa at Louisville, 3:05 pm
Bismarck at Green Bay, 3:05 pm
Bye: Frisco, Massachusetts
WEEK 5
FRIDAY, APRIL 23
Duke City at Frisco, 7:05 pm
Bismarck at Sioux Falls, 7:05 pm
SATURDAY, APRIL 24
Massachusetts at Louisville, 6:05 pm
Green Bay at Iowa, 7:05 pm
Spokane at Arizona, 8:05 pm
Northern Arizona at Tucson, 8:05 pm
WEEK 6
FRIDAY, APRIL 30
Louisville at Frisco, 7:05 pm
SATURDAY, MAY 1
Sioux Falls at Massachusetts, 6:05 pm
Green Bay at Bismarck, 6:05 pm
Tucson at Arizona, 8:05 pm
Spokane at Northern Arizona, 8:05 pm
Bye: Iowa, Duke City
WEEK 7
FRIDAY, MAY 7
Frisco at Green Bay, 7:05 pm
SATURDAY, MAY 8
Northern Arizona at Bismarck, 6:05 pm
Massachusetts at Iowa, 7:05 pm
Louisville at Sioux Falls, 7:05 pm
Duke City at Tucson, 8:05 pm
Arizona at Spokane, 9:05 pm
WEEK 8
FRIDAY, MAY 14
Bismarck at Green Bay, 6:05 pm
SATURDAY, MAY 15
Iowa at Sioux Falls, 7:05 pm
Frisco at Tucson, 8:05 pm
SUNDAY, MAY 16
Duke City at Arizona, 5:05 pm
Massachusetts at Northern Arizona, 5:05 pm
Bye: Spokane, Louisville
WEEK 9
FRIDAY, MAY 21
Sioux Falls at Green Bay, 7:05 pm
SATURDAY, MAY 22
Duke City at Massachusetts, 6:05 pm
Arizona at Louisville, 6:05 pm
Tucson at Bismarck, 6:05 pm
Frisco at Iowa, 7:05 pm
Northern Arizona at Spokane, 9:05 pm
WEEK 10
FRIDAY, MAY 28
Bismarck at Iowa, 7:05 pm
SATURDAY, MAY 29
Spokane at Louisville, 6:05 pm
Northern Arizona at Duke City, 7:05 pm
Frisco at Arizona, 8:05 pm
SUNDAY, MAY 30
Massachusetts at Tucson, 5:05 pm
Bye: Green Bay, Sioux Falls
WEEK 11
FRIDAY, JUNE 4
Iowa at Green Bay, 7:05 pm
SATURDAY, JUNE 5
Sioux Falls at Bismarck, 6:05 pm
Duke City at Frisco, 7:05 pm
Tucson at Northern Arizona, 8:05 pm
Louisville at Spokane, 9:05 pm
SUNDAY, JUNE 6
Arizona at Massachusetts, 12:05 pm
WEEK 12
SATURDAY, JUNE 12
Frisco at Massachusetts, 6:05 pm
Green Bay at Louisville, 6:05 pm
Iowa at Bismarck, 6:05 pm
Tucson at Duke City, 7:05 pm
Spokane at Sioux Falls, 7:05 pm
Arizona at Northern Arizona, 8:05 pm
WEEK 13
FRIDAY, JUNE 18
Massachusetts at Green Bay, 7:05 pm
SATURDAY, JUNE 19
Arizona at Duke City, 7:05 pm
Sioux Falls at Frisco, 7:05 pm
Louisville at Iowa, 7:05 pm
Northern Arizona at Tucson, 8:05 pm
Bismarck at Spokane, 9:05 pm
WEEK 14
FRIDAY, JUNE 25
Iowa at Green Bay, 7:05 pm
SATURDAY, JUNE 26
Spokane at Massachusetts, 6:05 pm
Northern Arizona at Duke City, 7:05 pm
Bismarck at Sioux Falls, 7:05 pm
Tucson at Arizona, 8:05 pm
SUNDAY, JUNE 27
Frisco at Louisville, 3:05 pm
WEEK 15
FRIDAY, JULY 2
Massachusetts at Frisco, 7:05 pm
SATURDAY, JULY 3
Iowa at Louisville, 6:05 pm
Spokane at Duke City, 7:05 pm
Bye: Arizona, Northern Arizona, Tucson, Bismarck, Green Bay, Sioux Falls
WEEK 16
FRIDAY, JULY 9
Iowa at Frisco, 7:05 pm
SATURDAY, JULY 10
Bismarck at Massachusetts, 6:05 pm
Green Bay at Louisville, 6:05 pm
Northern Arizona at Arizona, 8:05 pm
Duke City at Tucson, 8:05 pm
Sioux Falls at Spokane, 9:05 pm
WEEK 17
FRIDAY, JULY 16
Spokane at Bismarck, 6:05 pm
Frisco at Sioux Falls, 7:05 pm
SATURDAY, JULY 17
Louisville at Massachusetts, 6:05 pm
Green Bay at Iowa, 7:05 pm
Duke City at Northern Arizona, 8:05 pm
Arizona at Tucson, 8:05 pm
WEEK 18
THURSDAY, JULY 22
Massachusetts at Spokane, 9:05 pm
SATURDAY, JULY 24
Tucson at Duke City, 7:05 pm
Louisville at Frisco, 7:05 pm
Sioux Falls at Iowa, 7:05 pm
Bismarck at Northern Arizona, 8:05 pm
Green Bay at Arizona, 8:05 pm
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Indoor Football League Stories from November 17, 2020
- Spokane Shock Announce 2021 Schedule - Spokane Shock
- 2021 IFL Schedule Released - IFL
- Tucson Sugar Skulls Announce Schedule for 2021 IFL Season - Tucson Sugar Skulls
- Arizona Rattlers Announce Schedule for 2021 IFL Season - Arizona Rattlers
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