Fever bolt for IFL

Tri-Cities’ membership in a new arena football league didn’t last long. The Fever have decided to join the Indoor Football League (IFL).

The new arena league was expected to have a Tier 1, including Spokane, Chicago, Arizona, Orlando, Jacksonville, Iowa, Tulsa, Utah, etc; and a Tier 2, which was to include Tri-Cities, Central Valley, Bossier-Shreveport, Tennessee Valley and others. However, Arkansas and Kentucky have opted out, leaving Tier 2 with just five teams. Tri-Cities elected to join the 28-team IFL, along with Arkansas.

I talked to Shock owner Brady Nelson this afternoon. Read on for more on Tri-Cities’ move and Nelson’s thoughts.

 

It’s unclear what will happen to the remaining four Tier 2 teams (Oklahoma City, Tennessee Valley, Bossier-Shreveport and Central Valley), but it sounds like they’ll be joining Tier 1.

“Tier 2 really had no affect on us,” said Nelson, who added that Tier 1 is on solid footing. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up with 17 teams.”

More on Tri-Cities’ departure here and here’s a link to the new arenafootballone.com Web site.There are a couple items of interest on the new Web site. The league has made a $2.5 million offer for AFL’s assets (AFL is in bankruptcy). There’s also an article on the latest league meetings and the additions of Dallas and an unnamed franchise..

The new league’s acquisition — if it goes through — of the AFL name, logo and trademark could lead  to additional teams joining. It would also provide the new league with a recognizable name.