| Most recent season or competition: 2014 Continental Indoor Football League season | |
.png) Continental Indoor Football League logo | |
| Formerly | Ohio-Penn Indoor Football League Great Lakes Indoor Football League |
|---|---|
| Sport | Indoor football |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Founder | Eric Spitaleri Jeff Spitaleri Cory Trapp |
| First season | 2006 |
| Owner(s) | Stuart Schweigert Jim O'Brien Rob Licht |
| Country | United States |
| Most recent champion(s) | Erie Explosion (2nd title) |
| Most titles | Cincinnati Commandos Erie Explosion Saginaw Sting (2 titles) |
| Sponsor(s) | Adidas All Night Affair Báden Divine Web Dezine Hillier Studio Impact Scouting Impact Training Insane Sportswear |
| Related competitions | Supreme Indoor Football Indoor Football Alliance Indoor Football League Professional Indoor Football League |
The Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) was an indoor football league based along the Midwestern United States region that played nine seasons from 2006 to 2014. It began play in April 2006 as the Great Lakes Indoor Football League (GLIFL). It was formed by Jeff Spitaleri, his brother Eric, and a third member, Cory Trapp, all from the Canton, Ohio, area.
The league was originally called the Ohio-Penn Indoor Football League, but then executives decided to increase the league's appeal to the entire Great Lakes region. Initially, the league was relatively successful, having a cumulative attendance over 75,000 in the inaugural regular season.[1] However, the league, like other indoor football associations, was plagued by folding franchises and unenforceable policies throughout its existence. For example, the 2006 champion Port Huron Pirates were found to have been paying some of their players over the league salary cap. In 2007, several teams folded during the season, and during the 2008 season, the league's most successful team, the Rochester Raiders, moved to another league due to frustration over the failure of the league to provide notice of an opponent's forfeiture, resulting in lost ticket and advertising revenue. The league also failed to return the Raiders' owners' emergency fund deposit, which was collected specifically to protect against such occurrences.[2]
The CIFL is among several indoor football leagues that maintained a mostly regional operation, with most of its teams clustered in the Midwestern United States.[3] Teams went back and forth between the CIFL and the other regional leagues, as well as the Indoor Football League (a national league of similar caliber), over the course of the league's history.[4] Prior to its disbanding, the CIFL claimed itself to be the longest continually operating current indoor football league in the United States, noting that older leagues such as the Arena Football League and American Indoor Football had suspended operations at least once since the CIFL's founding.
In July 2012, the CIFL changed ownership for the first time in its history, when Jeff Spitaleri sold the CIFL to Indoor Football Incorporated, which included Rob Licht, Jim O'Brien, and Stuart Schweigert. The group also owned the Saginaw Sting. The new ownership of the league sought to help current teams brand their product better, as well as look to expand the league, but its primary goal was to have competitive franchises.[5]
- ^ "Home of the Continental Indoor Football League". CIFLFootball.com. Archived from the original on December 13, 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
- ^ "Rochester Raiders To Withdraw From CIFL". Our Sports Central.com. OurSports Central. June 8, 2008. Retrieved September 22, 2008.
- ^ Steve Jones (September 5, 2012). "Kentucky Xtreme plans to bring arena football back to Freedom Hall". Courier-Journal. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
- ^ Mancina, Greg (September 12, 2008). "Saginaw Sting ready to join new league while owners work to split their differences". The Saginaw News. Saginaw, Michigan: Booth Newspapers. Archived from the original on January 3, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2008.
- ^ Kyle Austin (July 10, 2012). "Saginaw Sting ownership group buys Continental Indoor Football League". www.mlive.com. M Live. Retrieved July 11, 2012.