Arena and Indoor football have seen extremely high levels of expansion and contraction since the sport’s inception in 1987. Gaining teams, the pain of your favorite team folding, and watching teams hop from league to league is just as much a part of the thrill as watching a 17-point comeback or a Deuce for the win! In 2025, we saw seven proposed teams, but only three put Turf Shoes to leather! That being said, today, we look at the new kids on the block in the AF1, IFL, and NAL.
Table of Contents
AF1 Expansion
Nothing to show here…Despite several announced teams and grand plans announced by the league, none came to fruition. Arizona Folded right before the season WB-Scranton never had the sponsorship or community support and ultimately called it off.
2026?
No formal agreement or announcements have been made thus far, but Stockton, a team that delayed its debut from 2025 to reorganize, has been active on social media and seems to have good intentions. With the Corpus Christi situation, one can only hope the league sees Stockton come on strong as a replacement.
NAL Expansion
Shreveport Rouxgaroux (3-5)
- Facilities: C-
- Fan Engagement: C
- On Field Product: F
Despite previous success in the region, Shreveport has been underwhelming. As far as NAL expansion teams they will do better than most as far as longevity and support but fall short on quality. Attention to detail isn’t their strong suit. Despite early flashes of success, the 2nd half of the season has seen several blowouts and a forfeit win only granted because an on-field brawl left the non-league opponent short enough players to finish.
I believe this franchise can survive and will, but as many have pointed out, late-season roster dumps and low-effort loss fielding subpar wouldn’t be a good look for the franchise. The good news? It’s year one and a lot of these issues can be ironed out in the off-season.
Beaumont Renegades (7-1)
- Facilities: C
- Fan Engagement: C+
- On Field Product: A+
The NAL was taken by storm in 2025…the storm was a talent-laden Beaumont squad that had no issue with taking down every league champ that entered the League! Robinson III has a 66% completion percentage with 21 TDs. There has been no other team more entertaining to watch in any league this spring…6 of their 7 wins have come on game-ending scores or mind-numbing comebacks in the final seconds!
The field in use could use an upgrade but with the current play and decent fan support, this team could be the next Omaha or Sioux City! Beaumont will take on Columbus 2 weeks from now for the first round of the NAL playoffs; a game sure to be a classic! Overall?! I’m very impressed with Beaumont and hope to see them for years to come!
IFL Expansion
Fishers Freight (2-6)
- Facilities: A+
- Fan Engagement: A+
- On-Field Product: B-
Fishers was one of the most hyped franchises in recent memory. With a full year to promote the team and set up, they didn’t disappoint with the unique uniforms, which are a mix of mid-2000s old-school AFL and modern printing, a brand new gray field, and a solid venue in the Fishers Event Center! A solid hire in Dixie Wooten, the Freight has had it better than most expansion franchises but not without their ups and downs.
After a 2-0 start, the squad has seen a 6-game skid…as you would expect with a brand new team. Solid first-half play kept their heads above water but second-half mistakes and poor QB play sent the Freight off the Tracks (including giving Iowa their only win). The biggest strength outside of on-the-field play is the continued push and success of putting new teams in place with the same ownership or in partnership with ECHL and Minor league hockey in general. The foundation has been laid and it’s sturdy!
My thoughts?
Despite two of these three having a losing record and bleak outlooks on the ends of their seasons we have much to look forward to! Fishers looks solid; any IFL expansion team attached to Minor League hockey I see in for the long haul. The streams on the IFL network are flawless and fan interaction is trending up even with a near sell-out week one! Some roster moves and more polished on-field performance may see this team in a similar position as the Tulsa Oilers, an ECHL partnered 2023 Expansion team.
As far as NAL? Beaumont looks solid… Co-owners, Derron Griffin and Deatrich Wise Jr. seem willing to invest in a roster. A year one playoff berth will bring much needed attention to southeast Texas.
Shreveport on the other hand has a litany of questions to answer. I’ll be rooting for them to survive simply because of the potential to limit travel for teams in the Deep South, but only time will tell.
We will also be catching up with the Arena League and their two expansion teams after a bit of action, so be sure to check back!
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