World Indoor Football League

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World Indoor Football League - Wikipedia

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The World Indoor Football League was an indoor football league that was to begin in 1988 to compete with the Arena Football League, which was playing its second season in 1988. Some of the teams in the league ran into financial trouble before their season was to begin, and thus the league never came to fruition.

Like the Arena Football League, the WIFL was to use rebound nets (the AFL's since-expired patent on them had not yet taken effect), but only to prevent losing balls: any ball that made contact with the nets would be declared dead, similar to a rule instituted by the National Hockey League over a decade later. The WIFL also encouraged high offense, but in a different way: instead of restricting the motion of defensive players as the AFL did (and still does), the WIFL proposed using a permanent version of the power play by placing eight players on offense and only seven on defense, creating an 8-on-7 advantage for the offensive team.

The WIFL planned a 10-game schedule in the summer months, followed by a championship which would revive the name of the World Bowl (last used in 1974 by the outdoor World Football League). Players would be paid US$500 per game (a relatively high sum) or a third of ticket revenue, whichever was greater. The league also had a television contract with FNN-SCORE.

Eleven days prior to the WIFL's debut, however, Baltimore and San Antonio folded, and Indiana followed suit. Not desiring to move forward with only three teams in the league, the remaining franchises instead sought to join the AFL to begin play in 1989. When the AFL reportedly set the expansion fee in the seven-figure range (allegedly to purposefully discourage the WIFL teams from joining), the three teams could not meet those demands and folded. The AFL would not have another competing indoor league until 1998.

The proposed 1988 WIFL lineup

Team	Metro area	Arena	Owner	Head coach
Eastern Conference
Baltimore War Eagles (called Baltimore Pride in local papers)	Baltimore	Baltimore Civic Arena		Mike Williams
Indiana Cougars	Indianapolis	Market Square Arena	John Mellencamp
St. Louis Lightning	St. Louis	St. Louis Arena	Stump Mitchell	Mouse Davis
Western Conference
Las Vegas Aces	Las Vegas	Thomas & Mack Center		Guy Benjamin
San Antonio Texicans	San Antonio
San Diego Thunder	San Diego	San Diego Sports Arena		Don Matthews

External links

ArenaFan article about WIFL

Professional gridiron football leagues in North America

American football

Major	National Football League (1920–present)
Other	American 7s Football League (2015–present) Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (2016–present) United Football League (2024–present)
Defunct national	American Football League (1926)² American Football League (1936–1937)² American Football League (1940–1941) All-America Football Conference² (1945–1949) American Football League (1960–1969)¹ Continental Football League (1965–1969) World Football League (1974–1975) United States Football League (1983–1985) World League of American Football/NFL Europe/NFL Europa³ XFL (2001) United Football League (2009–2012) Alliance of American Football (2019) XFL (2020, 2023)* United States Football League (2022–2023)*
Defunct regional	American Football Union (1886–1895) Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit** (1890–1905) Ohio League² (1902–1919) New York Pro Football League² (1908–1919) National Football League (1902) Anthracite League² (1924) Eastern League of Professional Football (1926–1927) American Football League (1934) Midwest Football League (1935–1940) Dixie League³ (1936–1947) American Association (American football)³ American Football League (1938–1939) Eastern Pennsylvania Football League (1938) Pacific Coast Professional Football League³ (1940–1948) American Football League (1944) American Football League (1946–1950)³ American Football Conference (1959–1961) United Football League (1961–1964) Atlantic Coast Football League³ (1962–1973) Midwest Football League (1962–1978) Professional Football League of America (1965–1967) Texas Football League (1966–1971) Seaboard Football League (1971–1974) American Football Association (1977–1983) Regional Football League (1999) Spring Football League (2000) World Football League (2008–2010) Stars Football League (2011–2013) Fall Experimental Football League (2014–2016) Fútbol Americano de México (2019–2022)
¹ Merged into the NFL. All teams still active as members of the NFL's American Football Conference. ² Teams moved to NFL ³ Official NFL minor league; see also Association of Professional Football Leagues * Merged into the UFL, still active as conferences within

Canadian football

Major	Canadian Football League
Predecessors	Direct Interprovincial Rugby Football Union Western Interprovincial Football Union Other Ontario Rugby Football Union Quebec Rugby Football Union
Junior	Atlantic Football League Canadian Junior Football League Quebec Junior Football League

Arena/Indoor football

Current	American Arena League 2 Arena Football One Great Lakes Arena Football Indoor Football League National Arena League The Arena League
Defunct	American Indoor Football American Indoor Football Alliance American Professional Football League American West Football Conference Arena Football Association Arena Football League (1987–2008, 2010–2019) Arena Football League (2024) arenafootball2 Arena Pro Football Can-Am Indoor Football League Champions Indoor Football Champions Professional Indoor Football League Continental Indoor Football League Independent Indoor Football Alliance Indoor Football League (1999–2000) Indoor Professional Football League Intense Football League Lone Star Football League National Indoor Football League Professional Indoor Football League (1998) Professional Indoor Football League (2012) Southern Indoor Football League Supreme Indoor Football Ultimate Indoor Football League United Indoor Football X-League Indoor Football World Indoor Football League (2007) World Series of Football (1902–03)
On hiatus	Fan Controlled Football

Women's football

Outdoor	Women's Football Alliance (2009–present) United States Women's Football League (2009–present) Women's National Football Conference (2018–present)
Defunct Outdoor	Women's Professional Football League (1965–1973) National Women's Football League (1974–1982) Women's Professional Football League (1999–2007) National Women's Football Association (2000–2008) Independent Women's Football League (2000–2018)
Arena football	X League (2009–present)

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