NAL: Highlights & Drawbacks

When you’re an arena or indoor league trying to grow, there will be highlights and hiccups. We saw “Week 0” in the NAL come and go, and now Week 1 start and finish. Overall we think it was a success, and the opening league match-ups couldn’t have made for better football, here are the highlights and drawbacks:

Table of Contents

1 Highlights:
2 Drawbacks:

Highlights:

NAL Network/League Growth in Communication:

Yes, we did lose a stream for a short time, but in an odd way, it showed us a lot about the league leadership. Early on in the day the die-hards noticed issues with the network before any games had kicked off, stirring worry from previous bad experiences. These issues being non listed games and trouble accessing games previously paid for.

Instead of ignoring it, throwing something together, and never saying anything, league leadership made a great effort of informing fans of issues. They used the NAL socials to let us know of the issues, even the issues during the Colorado-Pueblo game. It really does give you confidence heading into the rest of the season that you will get the same level of communication to fans. The self-promotion this far has been unmatched by any other league, and the results from said promotion are beginning to show.

League Games:

No one, and I mean no one wants to watch a weekend full of blowouts, and the two games between league members delivered. The Punishers could never quite put the game out of reach for the Spartans despite taking an early lead and ultimately finding a win. The Amarillo vs Louisiana game ended in a way that most fans have likely never seen before. A failed 2-point conversion resulting in a walk-off victory by the Warbirds.

Pueblo Hosts First Regular Season Game

Paxton Lynch looked the part(in a loss) for Colorado, the city came out and showed out in support of the Punishers, and overall looked great. We can’t forget that Shady Sports was welcomed by the Punishers! It is early in the season but the setup and look of your most hyped expansion team has to give everyone involved a lot of confidence.

Shady Sports had multiple people in attendance at this game. Check out some of our content from the game below:

Paxton Lynch’s First Throw

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZThvs3hfr/

Paxton Lynch Not Afraid to Run

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1GicPHzTY1/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Post Game Interviews

Amarillo vs Louisiana

It wasn’t only good up north, Amarillo and Louisiana put on a show, including a round of free football (OT) in Brookshire Grocery Arena. Despite a third-quarter 26-6 lead, the Rouxgaroux would march back to tie it with 17 seconds left. The lack of any kicking from Louisiana led to a winner-takes-all two point conversation that was batted down.

The socials were a buzz about the games, and it would seem that the upgrades from the off-season seem to be more than paying off for the National Arena League. If this track is kept it could be the best on record. The overall stability and presentation make even the most hardened of fans take a second look.

Speaking of Highlights

The National Arena League since debuting their own network (now available on android and apple app store), have also debuted a “bot” that is auto-posting highlights. While it has resulted in some very odd highlight clips, captions, and posting times in some cases, the overall feel of this move is that the league is trying to grow their brand of indoor football more than ever before. Providing highlights during and even after games promoting fans to subscribe to their streaming platform to see the full games.

Moves like the NAL Network, and the trickle down effect of the applications, highlight posts etc., show that the league seems to have a more focused picture of the future of the National Arena League. With Commissioner Brandon Ikard heading into his second season, rather than focusing on putting out fires like he did much of early 2025, he was able to focus on moving forward.

Given a full offseason to focus on the next moves for the NAL, the new leadership of the league has produced their own NAL Network, partnered with recognizable brands in Phorm Energy Drink, and Black Rifle Coffee, brought in a betting partner in MyBookie, and most recently teased a potential broadcast deal on their NAL State of the Union.

This offseason has seen more progress for the NAL than in recent memory, and it’s time we as a fanbase begin to realize the once perceived gap between the NAL and other leagues is no longer as wide as some would lead us to believe. There is still much more polish needed to get their setup perfected, but let’s not forget we are two weeks in, and other networks have seen their fair share of issues early as well.

Drawbacks:

We will keep this section short, considering how far the NAL has come, but a couple of things were noticeably off.

Dallas Bulls

The first of the short list was the quality control in Dallas. The overall lack of promotion and preparation for the Bulls left many of us stunned. The stream started early as planned, but the most glaring of issues for them lay dead center of the field, the AFL 2.0 logo staring at anyone tuning in early. It was of course covered, but pairing that with the fact that attendance was less than 150 (as best we can tell) makes for extreme concern. Hopefully, it’s just growing pains for a brand new (rebranded) team, and we will be rooting for them to clean it up and play well, the rest of the season.

Uniforms

We have recently gotten a look at every single team Uniform. The harder you look the more plain and overly simple they become. Several of these teams, in the past, have been in an arms race for the most eccentric uniforms, most memorably Salina and Omaha in a previous league. Watching them run onto the field (and post them online) to such a blah look, was really disappointing. They aren’t all bad, the chrome numbers for both of the Colorado teams looked fantastic. If this is our biggest complaint, then the league is definitely doing something right!

Overall it was a win of a Week zero and week one for the NAL and we look forward to the rest of the season! If the games aren’t enough and you just have to know more, then tune into Around the Indoor Football world on Saturday morning! Sam, Krish, Cody, and TJ discuss everything Indoor and Arena Football and can keep you updated, especially on the NAL as they went over an hour on the National Arena League last Saturday!

If you enjoyed this article please also check out some of our other recent content below.

Sponsor: Doich Cookie Dough

Just in time for the holidays, Shady Sports Network has a new sponsor! Doich Cookie Dough, a great stocking stuffer for family members, or white elephant gift for a friend or co-worker. With flavors like Chocolate Chip, What the Fudge!?, Basic B#tch, Peppermint Baddie, or the ability to order a variety pack, you can’t go wrong. Did we mention right now they are running a sale? Buy two jars at $7.99 a piece, and get a third for free. Then apply our code ShadySports and save another $5 on every order! Making it just $10.99 for three jars of cookie dough. Doich Foods also offers free shipping on any order over $60.

Use our code ShadySports or click the link below to save $5 on each purchase today!

https://snwbl.io/doich-foods/ShadySports

Give Away

We are currently doing a giveaway to win a piece of Sioux Falls Storm turf that the team once used in games.

YouTube

Please also help us continue growing on our YouTube Channel by subscribing if you haven’t already. Also, like and comment on any videos you enjoy! Thank you for your support, and we hope you continue to tune in!

Also, check out our new Live Events channel dedicated to broadcasting any games we are able to get the broadcast rights to. We have broadcast arena football, A7FL, Big 3 Basketball, Flag Football, Boxing, MMA, and so much more.

Join the Conversation on Discord, Facebook, or Reddit

Are you on Discord or Facebook? Join our server/groups to jump in the conversation, stay up to date on your favorite leagues, and give us your hot takes. You can also promote your content!

Fantasy Reports Facebook Group

Shady Sports Discord Server

Shady Sports Facebook Group

Shady Sports Subreddit

The NHL Great Fanbase

The Real Sports Zone