IFL Indoor Football League

Over a Cup of Coffee

by Jerry Hewitt
Published on September 16, 2010 under Indoor Football League (IFL)


There's an argument to be made that the Indoor Football League is a better league than the AIFA, CIFL, and SIFL, but does that argument still hold water if we toss in the new AFL? This morning I'm going to lay out some of the points that argue the IFL is better than its three counterparts and maybe even show a couple areas where it's better than the new AFL.

Using sheer numbers alone, the IFL sports more teams under one flag than any other professional football league outside the NFL, but number of teams alone doesn't make one league better than another. At one time, the National Indoor Football League also boasted more teams than any other league, yet few at that time would have called them better. On the other hand, number of teams can prove a league's superiority if the quality is there. For the first time ever, at least that I can remember, it appears the IFL will enter the 2011 season with perhaps unprecedented team stability.

To back up that assertion, I present as evidence that up until last season, the Intense and United Leagues before merging had no cancelled games or teams folding midseason. In their first year as the IFL, there were no folds or cancelled games. Last season, they did suffer one loss in Anchorage midseason and both Colorado and West Michigan had financial difficulties as well, but they finished the season. From what I've been told, steps were taken after those problems to fix what was broken. Maryland's apparent dismissal from the league because they couldn't meet financial criteria speak to that change as does West Michigan being given a short extended period to meet the financial criteria or be excluded from the 2011 schedule.

Now if I try to bring in the new AFL I might make the argument that pouring millions of dollars into relatively new teams can open speculation as to those team's profitability. I could also add that current AFL that began in af2 teams are now moving up to old AFL markets because they were losing money big time in their smaller markets. These items may suggest some financial problems. Oh, I know now some AFL fans might say I'm wrong by pointing to attendance numbers and they are right that pretty much across the board they exceed the attendance of any indoor team, but butts in the seats don't point to profitability as a team's full overhead has to be taken into consideration.

That is argument one and now we can move on to the next. I maintain that the IFL as a rule attracts better quality players than any of the other three. I won't argue that the AFL attracts the best as that pretty much goes without saying. I can say the IFL attracts a higher caliber of player in general because a player's best chance at moving up is better in the IFL. I read the press releases along with everybody else and can see more IFL players getting shots at the UFL, NFL and CFL than from any other league, including the AFL. Having a better chance of moving up is enough reason for the better players to try and catch on to an IFL team. Also the fact that the IFL has a more national footprint than any of the others aids in players being noticed.

Next we have how the IFL handles the media as opposed to the other leagues. I have said in the past that the CIFL does the best job on gameday and I still hold to that opinion, but game reporting isn't the only media responsibility a league and its teams have. There is the reporting of the day to day news including transactions and community involvement. The IFL and its teams do a far better job of getting information out than the CIFL, but they could learn a thing or two from the smaller league on gameday reporting, such as every team learning to use the PointStreak program. Without question, the IFL outperforms the AIFA in every media category. A few AIFA teams do equal the efforts of the better IFL teams, but overall it is not even close. The SIFL does a decent job of reporting, but their gameday tracking leaves a lot to be desired. In the day to day areas they do okay. I'm not looking at individual categories on how the IFL compares with other leagues, but the overall picture and once again the IFL comes out on top. Notice I didn't mention the AFL here and that's because the AFL pretty much equals the IFL in this area and overall might do a better job, especially on gameday reporting.

This next area is a tough one for me as it has to do with leadership. I think the IFL has a good system with teams voting on needed issues and an Executive Committee to handle other things. The IFL Commissioner also has his duties and from what I see he does the job he's hired to do. Some will argue that he isn't qualified, but heading into his third year he hasn't sunk the league and under his leadership the IFL has grown and become more stable. The IFL has far fewer noticeable problems where you see the leaders name out there outside of maybe the CIFL. The AIFA and SIFL leadership has come under fire way too often in recent months over team difficulties. I also feel that in the case of the AFL they are in good experienced hands.

So if I could sum up why the IFL is the better league overall even though they are the second most expensive, the AFL being more, how would I do it? First and foremost, I think the stability factor has to outweigh all other areas, but a close second would be profitability. I think the IFL model does give teams the best chance at making a profit even though the cost of ownership and operation is more than any of the other three. Better players means higher caliber of play which is different than being more competitive. I feel if talent is pretty much equal from team to team in any league, you'll have a competitive game on the field, but better athletes across the board does mean better, higher quality play. IFL leadership and decision making responsibilities again come out on top. It's a pretty simple conclusion that the IFL is the best league all around when you look at the facts.

In conclusion, if you buy into the IFL as having the best model for a team's success, you also have to wonder if they took that model to a higher tier, the larger cities that most AFL teams play in. You have to wonder if the IFL model might be better than the new AFL plan.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Indoor Football League Stories from September 16, 2010


The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central