Indoor Football League
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The Indoor Football League began in 1999 as an offshoot of the troubled Professional Indoor Football League. Kerry Ecklund, the owner of the Green Bay Bombers & Madison Mad Dogs left the PIFL after its first fiananically troubled season to start his own league. Unlike the PIFL, all the IFL teams were owned by the league and franchised out to management groups. NFL Hall-of-Famer Kellen Winslow was brought in as commissioner. The league was successful enough for a major expansion in 2000. Expansion was done regionally to cut down on travel expenses. Hence, the many teams in the Mid-West.
Midway through the 2000 season, the Topeka Knights changed management and became the Kings. After the season, the entire league was purchased by the Arena Football League's Orlando Predators. Two teams, The Lincoln Lightning and Peoria Pirates, as well as many players became a part of their "farm" league, the af2. Other teams resurfaced with new names in the Indoor Professional Football League (which was the reminants of the PIFL that Ecklund left in 1999) and the National Indoor Football League.
Indoor Football League teams:
1999 Season
- Dayton Skyhawks
- Duluth-Superior Lumberjacks
- Green Bay Bombers
- Lincoln Lightning
- Madison Mad Dogs
- Peoria Pirates
- Steel Valley Smash
- Topeka Knights