Well folks, it’s that time of year again! The AF1 and TAL recently finished up their seasons, the IFL has named its champion to cap off the entire indoor and arena football season, and we all know what that means: It’s Expansion season! The time of year when we find out which markets get the joy of the fifty-yard game, who is playing under a variety of three letters, and who is packing up and finding a new home.

Due to the relative instability of the AF1, the rise of the AAL, and the IFL’s high aspirations, we are in for one of the wildest offseasons the indoor game has seen in years! Trust us when we say that this won’t be the only part of this series; as we get closer to Halloween, the landscape may shift more than even the biggest fan or media member anticipates! Enough of the fluff, Let’s get into the first round of 2027 expansion!

AAL Expansion

So far the AAL has paced every other league in terms of overall growth. After playing their 2026 season with just 4 teams, they headed into the offseason with expansion as one of the priorities of the league. So far it is only August, and the AAL have announced significant expansion. This included the elevation of the Ohio Legends, as well as true expansion franchises like: Montgomery Catfish, Texas Wild Hogs, North Texas Steam, Tri-City Horsemen and the Texas Desperados. Although the Wheeling Miners have decided to return to the National Arena League for 2027.

If we are looking at the broader picture for the AAL, we will see a strategy emerge as they develop pockets of teams across the country in an effort to limit travel for teams. Keeping teams more regional will hopefully lower cost, create rivalries and overall benefit the league. One downside to this strategy: If one team fails, it will create a lot of strain on their regional pocket. If everything works according to plan you have clear cut regions to build out over the future in the Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast.

Montgomery Catfish

Montgomery, Alabama

Owner: To be Announced

Head Coach: Julius Gregory

Home Arena: To be Announced

Outlook:

Of the three we have (so far) in the AAL, Montgomery feels, looks, and posts in a way that almost seems foreign to fans! The constant hook-line-and-sinker post to draw in good attention really lends itself to drawing local fans. The River Region hasn’t seen indoor or arena football since 2007, giving them a good shot at seeing early success.

The addition of Julius Gregory to the fold signals an investment into winning; they didn’t just grab the coach they could, but rather the one they wanted. If we see the current trend become a pattern for them, there is no reason (with the help of the unnamed ownership) they can’t come in and compete with the likes of Jersey and Columbus. Keep your eyes on their socials. It’s always entertaining and very informative, especially to the casual fan.

Not only is the team well thought out, but it’s also well-funded and runs smoothly beneath the surface. The plan in this ownership group isn’t to just win titles and then go away; better yet, the plan seems to be steady year over year building until they have a solid base underneath them. Overspending and irrational moves will never be an earmark of this franchise. In the coming weeks and months, they are planning a media day and a set of tryout days; keep your eyes out for announcements.

Check out some of our recent articles on the Catfish Below.

Texas WildHogs

San Antonio, Texas

Ownership: Quinton Humphrey Sr. and Krystl Clark-Humphrey

Head Coach: Brent Holmes

Home Arena: Rose Palace

Quinton Humphrey Sr. and Krystl Clark-Humphrey come in having been involved in the launching of the San Antonio Gunslingers in the original AAL. Humphrey served as Assistant Head Coach, he has been there helping build a franchise in the exact same arena the Wild Hogs are now set to kick off their 2027 season in. That first hand experience may be very valuable, but the mentorship from those already in the AAL will give them another resource to lean on when it comes to launching a team, and building a fan base.

They do play in another hard to break into Texas market, but they, similar to North Texas have a chance to break that mold, solid local marketing, a roster of mostly local talent will see them through their inaugural season. Brent Holmes comes in as the head coach, an experienced coach who played the arena game for well over a decade. With the right resources and an easy-to-access local talent base, he might make waves in the first season.

While many fans have wondered what exactly is going on behind the scenes, the Wild Hogs have made a good faith effort to keep us updated. Appearing on local radio and podcasts and have recently gotten the fan shop up and going. Similar to the Steam, they have a fairly inexperienced head coach; this one even less so. We see growing pains as the entire franchise gets its footing, but they do appear to be well built and stable heading as far as overall franchise and financial stability go. Check out their socials and keep up with them; they will be one of the more fun, unpredictable teams after we put turf shoe to leather!

North Texas Steam

Denton, Texas

Ownership: Jordan Dunn & Others TBA

Home Arena TBA

Head Coach: Frankie Solomon Jr.

Outlook:

This is the biggest wildcard thus far in the 2026-2027 AAL expansion cycle, with a bit of controversy following the team and its ownership in the wake of the team’s announcement. While we won’t promise anything on behalf of any team, we do believe most of the bad mouthing surrounding the team is blown way out of proportion. You always have to consider the source when information comes out in the wild world of arena football.

The market they are attempting to break into is not one that we have seen often used, though the entire region has struggled in finding local support and a stable fan base. When they take the field next April, it will be one of the biggest triumphs over senseless and mostly misguided hate. In the coming weeks and months, you should expect to see a good bit come out on the Steam, as for now? Well, go check out their socials; you might learn a thing or two about how the AAL runs, or the ruleset it plays with.

They plan on running with Frank Solomon Jr, who, as far as we could find, has some head coaching experience, but none in the arena football space. It will be touch-and-go as things progress to see how well he progresses as a head signal-caller. Overall, this seems like it will either be a great move (despite all of the doubters) or we could see the doormat of the AAL developing in front of us; only patience and time will tell.

Texas Desperados

Texas Desperados

Lufkin, Texas

Owner: “Jason”

Head Coach: To be Announced

Home Arena: To be Announced

Outlook:

This team is so new that we had to push back this article to include them. Earlier this week, we had the opportunity to speak with some of the staff and found a few things interesting. Out of the gate, they recognized that they are in a smaller market, as in 34,000 people in a one high school-sized city in a more rural part of East Texas.

While that doesn’t sound appealing to most owners, it seemed as if they wanted that to be a focus, stating that they want this to be the city and area’s team. Affordable, Family fun was a center point of the entire thing. While we can’t say more at this time, check out our announcement article on them below; we will bring you all the info we can as it becomes available and public.

American Arena League Welcomes Texas Desperados for 2027

IFL Expansion

As is the norm for the “Major League of Indoor Football” the IFL has continued with their plans to also fill out holes in their map. The biggest focus as of late has very clearly been the Southeast. Heading into 2027 the IFL added not one but two teams in Georgia, which now creates much more advantageous travel for teams like Jacksonville, and Orlando.

In addition to the two teams in Georgia, the IFL also added the Texas Draft run by Vivi Lin formerly of the San Diego Strikeforce. Finally they added the Arkansas Diamonds bringing the IFL to 18 teams for the 2027 season, and keeping with the IFL’s standard for responsible expansion.

Savannah IFL

Savannah, GA

Owner: Bryan Caracciolla, and George Mathis III

Savannah Owners Bryan Caracciolla, and George Mathis III with IFL Commissioner Todd Tryon. Expansion

Head Coach: Clay Harell

Home Arena: Enmarket Arena

Outlook:

This one is the most recently announced, but if they appear to be evolving rapidly, it’s because there has been slow and near silent progress in the background for years. As you expect from the IFL, the team and the way it has presented itself is above board outside of the AI graphics. While we don’t know the owners’ actual names at this point, we do know that the group has experience in the IFL. While we can’t exactly say who, we do know that the majority of this ownership group won’t see many firsts while running the franchise, and will have a natural rival in the team they originated from.

This team will be fun; the folks behind the scenes have out-of-the-box ideas and the indoor football experience to see the ideas through. In the coming weeks, we will get a name-the-team contest and all the fun fanfare that makes an expansion franchise for the national fans and locals in the city they play in.The head signal caller is also fairly experienced in the sport, most recently as the mastermind behind the Jacksonville Sharks Defense; we wouldn’t be surprised to see more Sharks come behind him.

As for the Arena? The Enmarket Arena has never had the sport since it opened in 2022. While teams have graced the region before, no team of this level has come to town, and what better timing than when we have another team in the same state kicking off! The Southeastern region of the IFL has filled out nicely this season, and Savannah is just the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! As we know more, you’ll know more about the IFL’s newest team!

Athens Crush

Athens, GA

Owner: Athens Sports Entertainment, LLC (10 Person Group)

Head Coach: Rob Keefe

Home Arena: Akins Ford Arena

Outlook:

As usual, the IFL doesn’t miss with their expansion plans! Athens is horribly underutilized in the arena football world, only being used for less than a full season previously. Not only is it a smart move, but its ownership is a star-studded list of big names in the pro and college sports world! Names like David Pollock, Jerome Bettis, and Brian Jordan. They only account for a little under a third of the ten owners in the group, but the names alone give fans a bit of confidence for the long-term stability of the team. The social media team they have in place has been fairly busy, getting Keefe on the team TikTok, along with a very well-received name-the-team contest!

We can’t go without mentioning the Head Coach, an IFL champion, and most recently an early departure from Orlando. We will admit we have our reservations, but Coach Keefe is a very proven Head Coach. Along with being proven, he has a deep understanding of what it takes to build a franchise from the ground up, as he has been a part of the Albany Empire and Bay Area Panthers. The defensive-minded coach (though we can’t guarantee it) seems like he has the experience, tools, and ownership to not have an inaugural season that looks like the 2026 New Mexico Chupacabras.

The combination of experienced head coaching, big money (and name) ownership, presentation, and venture into an untapped market in a football-hungry state will serve this franchise well. We do have limited concern for the market, as we saw with Kentucky this past season; a college market can be tricky, but with the right combination of marketing and promotion, we could be looking at another Fishers.

As we saw yesterday, Athens also revealed their branding, the Crush. While the name “Crush” has been used in two other now-defunct franchises, it’s not exactly a retread. Instead, it pays homage to the song “Orange Crush” written by the band R.E.M. in the late 90s. What makes the choice unique (and gives it a college football feel) is that they will not use the name Orange or wear orange because of the connection to the Tennessee Volunteers and Florida Gators.

The Branding is a bit boring, but we have a feeling the team won’t be that way come time for kickoff; we can confidently say they won’t be. The likes of Keefe running the show, a fun new market, and star-studded ownership? What else could you ask for besides wins come March 2027?

Texas Draft

(Based in)Austin, Texas

Owner: Vivi Lin and Others

Head Coach: Jonathan Bane

Home Arena: Various Arenas in Texas

Outlook:

This is one we don’t know nearly as much about, but we do have a name and owner at this point! The situation that surrounds this team is nothing that unusual: an ownership group splitting and going in different directions. Where it is very unusual is the approach to the situation from both sides, the other side being Cody Trapp, who we will cover in the ATX Bulls section. Trapp was originally a part of the Draft ownership, before splitting off to start the Bulls.

This intern has created a fairly hostile situation and ultimately led Vivi Lin (formerly of the San Diego StrikeForce) to reassess the situation. What we have gathered over the past few days is that they have a plan in place to play as a bit of a Texas exhibition team. In other words, the Draft home games will be at different home venues across Texas rather than a single arena in Austin.

We have also seen them hire Jonathan Bane, a former head coach of the San Antonio Gunslingers, as the team’s Inaugural head coach. This move should bring a level head and a wealth of indoor football experience.

Overall, it is a rather different spot than what we have grown accustomed to out of the Indoor Football League, but it seems Lin and everyone involved are working behind the scenes to bring a well-made, well-thought-out product to market next spring. The situation isn’t completely settled, but from our sources we can confidently say that this team will play in ‘27, and if Lin’s history is any indicator, they will come out of the gate polished and well prepared for what it takes to thrive in the IFL for 16 games.

AF1 Expansion

The AF1 expansion has left a lot to be desired after a rather tough season for them in terms of appearances. They lost the Oregon Lightning, and despite posts about an announcement, and a return nothing has come out of Oregon since their plunge into dormancy mid-season. The loss of Oregon created at least to some extent more strain on Washington, and Oceanside.

As the season wore on Oceanside had reports of issues before a new ownership group came in and rebranded them with 2 games left to go. Kentucky also had issues, but ultimately Oregon was the only team that has left, with Austin coming in to replace them and bring the AF1 back to 9 teams so far.

Austin Bulls

Austin,Texas

Owner: Cody Trapp

Head Coach: Kenny Vaccaro

Home Arena: TBA

Outlook:

This, of all the teams we have seen announced, seems to be the most shaky. Yes, you can point to owner Cody Trapp and see glowing confidence, but if history is any indicator, they are in trouble long term. We have seen this unhinged, arrogant approach to an AF1 expansion team before, in the Arizona Bandits, and the team never made it to kickoff. Considering the track record of AF1 Expansion to this point has to worry any fan about how far this really goes, especially with an owner that claims to be in the process of building an arena for the team.

It’s never a good start to use your position in an ownership group to pry away investors and create a competing franchise in a rival league while bad-mouthing the league you planned on joining before the coup. At the end of the day, we only want to watch every single team in every league survive and thrive, but we will have our eyes on this one as a maybe. As the 2027 season gets closer, this will either be the spark the AF1 needs or another crash and burn to add to the list of AF1 expansion failures.

NAL Expansion

The NAL took a large leap forward in the grand scheme of things in 2026 by watching as all but 1 team made it through the season with very few if any issues. Games were competitive, overall the league looked and felt a lot more organized and less chaotic than in recent memory. This was huge for the league and it’s appearances to teams, fans, and other leagues.

As it stands the NAL has added two teams in their expansion efforts: the Dallas Apex, a true expansion team, and the Wheeling Miners who return after a one-year hiatus with the AAL in 2026. This appears to be a much more calculated approach to expansion, although it now means the NAL still has two teams on islands in Wheeling and Louisiana, unless they aren’t done yet.

Dallas Apex

Owner: Deatrich Wise Jr & Deatrich Wise Sr

Home Venue: Gomez Western Wear Arena

Head Coach: See Next Section

Outlook:

The Ownership is solid for this team, and it has experience in ownership, considering Deatrich Wise Sr was a part of the Beaumont Renegades ownership in 2025 and part of 2026. Not only does he have ownership experience, but he has spent years either coaching or playing the game, even winning an Arena Bowl. As an owner, he has seen an NAL championship with a stacked team that no one expected to win and dominate in the fashion they did, only losing a single game to the Columbus Lions in that season.

Though Ownership and GM Corey Mayfield are a solid foundation to a successful team, they happen to play in a market that kills arena ball dreams, most recently that of the Dallas Bulls.While it is a difficult market, we do see a path to success. The Apex will have to put in a good faith effort to market the team, especially considering the primarily rodeo venue they settled on.

Overall, it’s a wait-and-see game; year one won’t be easy, but if they can manage a good foundation in year one, maybe they break the pattern we have grown accustomed to when it comes to Texas arena football. We know many people reading this may have their doubts as to if this team makes it past game six, but if you take a deeper look, you’ll know that likely isn’t the case. When you bring in a GM like Mayfield, it’s a good look. This isn’t his first rodeo, and this most definitely isn’t the Dallas Bulls. They won’t drag in the same “semi-pro” attitude that caused the Bulls so many issues.

The other side of any arena team is the business side, which seems to be more on the up and up lately, with smaller and larger sponsorship littering their social media. This is a positive sign if they plan on making it past year one. If those like Mayfeild can help manage things in a way that stretches money and focuses more on business than winning year one, the NAL could have a nice, secure share of a fairly saturated Texas ball market, but like the AAL Texas additions, only time will tell.

As you can tell, it’s already been a busy season of expansion, and per our sources, we haven’t seen the end of expansion yet. If you are asking, where are teams like the Ohio Legends, well, there will be another article coming out soon on all the move-ups and league realignment, as well as periodic articles on the most up-to-date expansion. In the meantime? Well, you can get all the breaking news on all of the indoor and arena football world from Shady Sports Socials, Around the Indoor Football World at 7 AM every Saturday, and of course in the Shady Sports Magazine exclusively on the sport of Indoor and Arena Football.

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