With the Super Bowl taking place on Sunday night and the champions being crowned, we officially turned the page from one 20 year tyrannical QB reign to the beginning of another, but more importantly the end of Super Bowl Sunday means that it is time to shift our focus to the greatest show on turf:
It's Indoor Football season baby!
People often utter the phrase "Any Given Sunday" when talking about outdoor football and how anything can happen in any game, but realistically that phrase is 10000x more applicable to the indoor game -- where truly anything can happen in any given game and season.
In 2022, the Bay Area Panthers went 1-15 in their inaugural season in the IFL.
The next year, they went 11-5 and won the IFL National Championship.
Not to mention it is a proper championship trophy, too. Get out of here, CFP.
In 2021, the Northern Arizona Wranglers went 3-15 in their inaugural season in the IFL.
The next year, they went 12-4 on their way to winning their first IFL National Championship.
Could you imagine the Carolina Panthers turning around and winning the Super Bowl next year?
Spoiler alert: No, you can't.
I point these two examples out specifically to show how close the ceiling and the floor are to each other when it comes to the best and worst teams in the Indoor Football League. There is so much more parity in the IFL than any other sports league in the US, and as a result it usually yields a very, very fun and entertaining on-field product in any given game.
I've known about the IFL for a couple years, but I truly dove in last season and was instantly hooked. One of the things that got me into it and truly one of the most underrated aspects of the IFL is that there is no barrier to entry to view the games -- they are all streamed live with replays available on YouTube!
What has plagued smaller sports leagues in the past is airing their games on obscure channels that can be difficult to find or only available on select cable or satellite TV packages. In the 2020s, streaming is KING and having your product easily accessible is so important. There are so many options on the internet when it comes to entertainment -- making it as easy as possible to find your product is only going to help the league continue to grow.
The IFL is a really fun league and I am very much looking forward to seeing how the rosters finalize over the next couple of weeks as we inch closer to the season kicking off on March 16th.
We'll dive into more of the IFL later, but in the mean time please enjoy this tasty little banger from last season -- the Arizona Rattlers vs the eventual league champions, the Bay Area Panthers.
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