This may come as an absolute shock to the fans at home, and for a variety of reasons, but yes, you read that right: the Tri-City Horsemen are headed to the American Arena League for the 2027 season! It’s a move not many people saw coming, but it does unlock a lot of possibilities for the league and team in the upcoming season and beyond.
Horsemen Rundown
As many have seen, the City of Kearney dropped the news a bit early, and some outlets announced that the Horsemen would be in the National Arena League come 2027, but as we see now, that isn’t the case. Instead, they join the growing list of stable, well-planned expansion and AAL2 move-ups, as yet another stable team. They come into the fold really as an established team, considering this is an extension of the Idaho Horseman that played in the AWFC and NAL until the end of the 2024 season. They will keep nearly the same branding and the same owner, with the move out of dormancy and into the arena rules game next season.
What fans may question is the location of the team. Nebraska? What about regionality? Well, we took a deeper look into the distance from Kearney and the other markets you’ll find in the AAL. The trip to Denton will be the closest, at just over nine hours by bus will be the shortest trip, though it isn’t the longest possible trip, as Wheeling to Mississippi was over eleven hours in 2026. The ultimate goal is to make the AAL affordable for teams and owners, and though the Horsemen are a good distance from the closest opponent, they won’t be on a complete “island”.
This also gives the AAL a door into the Midwest. If Tri-City can establish themselves in the area, a Midwestern Division isn’t out of the question beyond the 2027 season with an anchor already in the region.
They will play at the Viaero Center, a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena in the City of Kearney. This venue seems to be a perfect fit for the level they will play and the type of team the AAL is trying to bring in. It won’t look empty with 2,500 fans and will look packed with anything over 4,000. Check out the website if you want to get a good idea of how arena football will look before turf.
The last professional attempt at football at the Viaero Center (then known as Tri-City Arena) was the Tri-City Diesel, of the NIFL from 2001-2004. Similar to the Montgomery Catfish, it gives another dormant market a well-built franchise to support!
Who were the Idaho Horsemen?
The first leg of this franchise was a fairly successful franchise that saw a sharp dip in fanfare and attendance in the Nampa market they called home from 2019 to 2024. In their time in the NAL, they struggled, though it was just a single season in 2024. If you go back and watch some of those games, you can see that the market just wasn’t buying into what the team was putting out. Sometimes it’s a hard reality of the sport that it’s not meant for every region, state, or city.
Previous to the NAL year, they played in a league called the American West Football Conference. The AWFC was a small, hyper-regional league led by the team. The league functioned past the COVID year despite 2020 costing the league several of its teams, and they won the league title game two of the four years it was played. They come into 2027 with an all-time record of 32-17 and really seem like they will be geared to add to the win total come next April.
Meet the Owner: Chris Reynolds
Reynolds has been the Owner/GM of the Horseman through their entire journey as an indoor football franchise. He was also the owner of the entity that owned the American West Football Conference, meaning this isn’t his first rodeo and will come in with a solid understanding of what it takes to not only make a franchise work, but also a league. Beyond football, his professional life has had stretches in Law Enforcement, Corrections & Real estate.
No matter what you think of the sport or league, you have to be excited for the people of Kearney, Nebraska! It’s another huge grab and step for Commissioner O’Hanlon and the American Arena League; their hunger to put out an affordable, fun version of the sport that large and small markets can enjoy is paying off week over week, and a team at a time as we get deeper into the 2026-2027 offseason.
If you want to know everything there is to know about the Horseman, the American Arena League, and the sport of Indoor and Arena football, follow Shady Sports on Facebook, Twitter, and all social media! Of course, if you don’t get enough there, catch Around the Indoor Football World every Saturday only from Shady Sports!
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We are currently doing a giveaway to win a piece of Sioux Falls Storm turf that the team once used in games. There is now a second way to enter. Donate any amount of money to Sammy Strong Foundation, take a screenshot of the “Thank You for Donating to Sammy Strong” image after your donation, and send it to us on any social media platform to automatically enter to win.
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