| Florida Tarpons | |
|---|---|
| Established 2011 Folded 2019 Played in RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Florida LakelandTarpons.com | |
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| League/conference affiliations | |
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Current uniform | |
| Team colors | Royal blue, red, sea blue, grey, orange, white |
| Mascot | Timmy the Tarpon |
| Cheerleaders | Reel Girls |
| Personnel | |
| Owner(s) | A-League Sports[1] |
| General manager | Michael Taylor |
| Head coach | Michael Taylor |
| Team history | |
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| Championships | |
League championships (2)
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Conference championships (1)
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| Division championships (0) | |
| Playoff appearances (6) | |
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| Home arena(s) | |
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The Florida Tarpons were a professional indoor football team based in Lakeland, Florida, out of the RP Funding Center. Originally established in Estero, Florida, and playing out of Germain Arena, they began play in 2012 as an expansion team of the Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL). The Tarpons joined the X-League Indoor Football (X-League) during the 2015 season when the UIFL merged with the X-League. They played in the Arena Pro Football (APF) league in 2017 before the league became the American Arena League (AAL) for 2018. For 2019, there was an ownership transition that formed their own Florida-based league, called the A-League, and the team rebranded as the Lakeland Tarpons.[2] The team was removed from the A-League schedule at the start of the 2019 season.
The Tarpons were Estero's second indoor football team; their first since arenafootball2's Florida Firecats which played from 2001 until the af2's demise in 2009. In addition, they are the fourth indoor football team in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan area, with them and the Firecats joining the unrelated Fort Myers Tarpons which played in the National Indoor Football League's final season of 2007 and the Florida Stingrays which played the 2008 American Indoor Football Association season. (Both teams played at the Lee County Civic Center). The founders of the Tarpons are Andrew and Leah Haines and Michael & Anna Taylor. The Tarpons moved to Lakeland prior to the 2019 season.