2021 Indoor Football League season

The 2021 Indoor Football League season was the thirteenth (and twelfth complete) season of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The league played the season with twelve teams, down from thirteen the previous season, by adding one expansion team, one team from the National Arena League, one team from the American Arena League, and four teams going on hiatus. In addition, three existing teams made their IFL on-field debut after the 2020 season was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3]

2021 IFL season
League	Indoor Football League
Sport	Indoor football
Duration	April 23 – September 12
Number of teams	12
Season MVP	Drew Powell (Arizona)[1]
Finals champions	Massachusetts Pirates
Runners-up	Arizona Rattlers
Finals MVP	Alejandro Bennifield[2]

As there were still many pandemic-related restrictions still in place during early 2021, the start of the season was delayed from February to April with the postseason to begin in August. The top eight teams qualified for the postseason with the Massachusetts Pirates, playing their first season in the IFL, defeating the Arizona Rattlers in the United Bowl on September 12.^[2]

Offseason

On June 26, 2020, the Columbus Wild Dogs announced that they would not begin play until 2022.^[4] On August 19, 2020, the Massachusetts Pirates, formerly of the National Arena League, were added to the IFL for the 2021 season as the league's first East Coast-based team.^[5] On August 25, the league added the Northern Arizona Wranglers in Prescott Valley, Arizona, for the 2021 season, joining the Arizona Rattlers and Tucson Sugar Skulls as the third IFL team to be based in Arizona for 2021.^[6] On November 6, the Louisville Xtreme of Louisville, Kentucky, was added.^[7] The 2020 expansion Oakland Panthers,^[8] as well as the Cedar Rapids River Kings, Quad City Steamwheelers, and the San Diego Strike Force withdrew from the season due to the effects of the pandemic.^[9][10]

The initial schedule for the twelve teams was announced on November 17, 2020, with all teams playing 16 games between March 28 and July 24, 2021, before the playoffs.^[11] On February 17, the league pushed back its start date to April 23 for four teams, with the rest of the teams to start on May 14. The four teams that started on April 23 were to still have 16 games, but the others teams were to play a reduced 14-game schedule.^[12]

Teams

Team	Location	Arena	Capacity	Founded	Joined	Head coach
Arizona Rattlers	Phoenix, Arizona	Footprint Center[a]	18,422	1992	2017	Kevin Guy
Bismarck Bucks	Bismarck, North Dakota	Bismarck Event Center	10,100	2017	2019	Rod Miller
Duke City Gladiators	Rio Rancho, New Mexico	Rio Rancho Events Center	6,000	2015	2020	Martino Theus (until June 30) Robert Kent Jr.[14]
Frisco Fighters	Frisco, Texas	Comerica Center	3,500	2019	2020	Clint Dolezel
Green Bay Blizzard	Green Bay, Wisconsin	Resch Center	8,600	2003	2010	Corey Roberson
Iowa Barnstormers	Des Moines, Iowa	Wells Fargo Arena	15,181	1995	2015	Les Moss
Louisville Xtreme	Louisville, Kentucky	KFC Yum! Center	22,090	2012	2021	Mark Stoute
Massachusetts Pirates	Worcester, Massachusetts	DCU Center	12,339	2017	2021	Patrick Pass
Northern Arizona Wranglers	Prescott Valley, Arizona	Findlay Toyota Center	6,000	2020	2021	Dominic Bramante
Sioux Falls Storm	Sioux Falls, South Dakota	Denny Sanford Premier Center	10,678	2000	2009	Kurtiss Riggs
Spokane Shock	Spokane, Washington	Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena	10,771	2006	2020	Billy Back
Tucson Sugar Skulls	Tucson, Arizona	Tucson Convention Center	8,962	2018	2019	Dixie Wooten

1. Was known as Phoenix Suns Arena at the start of the season until July 16, 2021.^[13]

Regular season

Standings

Team	W	L	PCT	PF	PA
y – Arizona Rattlers	12	2	.857	708	535
x – Massachusetts Pirates	11	3	.786	627	455
x – Frisco Fighters	10	3	.769	532	485
x – Duke City Gladiators	7	7	.500	741	661
x – Iowa Barnstormers	6	6	.500	499	483
x – Spokane Shock	6	6	.500	520	486
x – Bismarck Bucks	7	8	.467	613	616
x – Sioux Falls Storm	6	7	.462	569	558
Tucson Sugar Skulls	6	8	.429	574	597
Green Bay Blizzard	5	9	.357	494	569
Northern Arizona Wranglers	1	13	.071	443	736
Louisville Xtreme[a]	0	5	.000	153	223
(y) clinched regular season title • (x) clinched playoff spot Final standings[b] • Source[15][16][17] Terminated midseason Standings reflect overall winning percentage per the official IFL source, but are not based on playoff seeds due to tiebreakers.

Schedule

The season began on the weekend of April 23–24 with two games: the Bismarck Bucks at the Green Bay Blizzard and the Massachusetts Pirates at the Louisville Xtreme. The four teams were the only teams playing until May 15 when the other teams joined. After initially postponing the Xtreme's June 12 home game, the IFL subsequently terminated the Xtreme's membership due to failing to maintain the league's minimum obligations and the team did not finish the season. All of the Xtreme's games were removed from the schedule.^[18]

Week	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Venue
1	April 23[19]	Bismarck Bucks	41–35	Green Bay Blizzard	Resch Center
	April 24[20]	Massachusetts Pirates	49–18	Louisville Xtreme	KFC Yum! Center
2	May 2[21]	Massachusetts Pirates	36–40	Green Bay Blizzard	Resch Center
3	May 7[22]	Louisville Xtreme	29–49	Green Bay Blizzard	Resch Center
	May 8[23]	Massachusetts Pirates	36–18	Bismarck Bucks	Bismarck Event Center
4	May 15[24]	Green Bay Blizzard	46–58	Bismarck Bucks	Bismarck Event Center
	May 15[25]	Iowa Barnstormers	56–36	Sioux Falls Storm	Denny Sanford Premier Center
	May 15[26]	Frisco Fighters	36–33	Spokane Shock	Spokane Arena
	May 16[27]	Arizona Rattlers	51–20	Northern Arizona Wranglers	Findlay Toyota Center
5	May 21[28]	Tucson Sugar Skulls	36–42	Green Bay Blizzard	Resch Center
	May 22[29]	Frisco Fighters	34–26	Louisville Xtreme	KFC Yum! Center
	May 22[29]	Northern Arizona Wranglers	39–61	Bismarck Bucks	Bismarck Event Center
	May 22[30]	Duke City Gladiators	63–55 OT	Iowa Barnstormers	Wells Fargo Arena
	May 22[31]	Arizona Rattlers	46–50	Sioux Falls Storm	Denny Sanford Premier Center
	May 22[29]	Spokane Shock	34–26	Massachusetts Pirates	DCU Center
6	May 29[32]	Sioux Falls Storm	49–43	Louisville Xtreme	KFC Yum! Center
	May 29[33]	Bismarck Bucks	42–49	Iowa Barnstormers	Wells Fargo Arena
	May 30[34]	Tucson Sugar Skulls	55–35	Duke City Gladiators	Rio Rancho Events Center
7	June 4[35]	Arizona Rattlers	41–34	Green Bay Blizzard	Resch Center
	June 5[36]	Louisville Xtreme	37–42	Massachusetts Pirates	DCU Center
	June 5[37]	Sioux Falls Storm	64–28	Bismarck Bucks	Bismarck Event Center
	June 5[38]	Iowa Barnstormers	33–13	Tucson Sugar Skulls	Tucson Convention Center
	June 5[39]	Spokane Shock	42–24	Northern Arizona Wranglers	Findlay Toyota Center
	June 5[40]	Duke City Gladiators	57–58	Frisco Fighters	Comerica Center
8	June 12[41]	Iowa Barnstormers	22–53	Bismarck Bucks	Bismarck Event Center
	June 12	Green Bay Blizzard	Ppd.[42]	Louisville Xtreme	KFC Yum! Center
	June 12[43]	Tucson Sugar Skulls	34–44	Arizona Rattlers	Phoenix Suns Arena
	June 12[44]	Duke City Gladiators	34–17	Northern Arizona Wranglers	Findlay Toyota Center
	June 12[45]	Spokane Shock	50–32	Sioux Falls Storm	Denny Sanford Premier Center
	June 12[46]	Frisco Fighters	40–33	Massachusetts Pirates	DCU Center
9	June 18[47]	Bismarck Bucks	50–29	Green Bay Blizzard	Resch Center
	June 19[48]	Arizona Rattlers	51–36	Duke City Gladiators	Rio Rancho Events Center
	June 19	Louisville Xtreme	X	Frisco Fighters	Comerica Center
	June 19[49]	Massachusetts Pirates	37–34	Tucson Sugar Skulls	Tucson Convention Center
	June 19[50]	Sioux Falls Storm	47–57	Iowa Barnstormers	Wells Fargo Arena
	June 19[51]	Northern Arizona Wranglers	37–63	Spokane Shock	Spokane Arena
10	June 25[52]	Iowa Barnstormers	44–48	Green Bay Blizzard	Resch Center
	June 25[53]	Spokane Shock	35–56	Arizona Rattlers	Phoenix Suns Arena
	June 26[54]	Frisco Fighters	53–48	Duke City Gladiators	Rio Rancho Events Center
	June 26[55]	Bismarck Bucks	27–52	Sioux Falls Storm	Denny Sanford Premier Center
	June 26[56]	Tucson Sugar Skulls	44–48	Northern Arizona Wranglers	Findlay Toyota Center
	June 27	Massachusetts Pirates	X	Louisville Xtreme	KFC Yum! Center
11	July 2[57]	Massachusetts Pirates	38–37	Frisco Fighters	Comerica Center
	July 3	Spokane Shock	X	Louisville Xtreme	KFC Yum! Center
	July 3[58]	Northern Arizona Wranglers	38–52	Duke City Gladiators	Rio Rancho Events Center
	July 3[59]	Arizona Rattlers	54–38	Tucson Sugar Skulls	Tucson Convention Center
12	July 9[60]	Iowa Barnstormers	35–42	Frisco Fighters	Comerica Center
	July 10[61]	Bismarck Bucks	38–43	Massachusetts Pirates	DCU Center
	July 10	Green Bay Blizzard	X	Louisville Xtreme	KFC Yum! Center
	July 10[62]	Northern Arizona Wranglers	19–62	Arizona Rattlers	Phoenix Suns Arena
	July 10[63]	Duke City Gladiators	40–41	Tucson Sugar Skulls	Tucson Sugar Skulls
	July 10	Sioux Falls Storm	35–46	Spokane Shock	Spokane Arena
13	July 16[64]	Frisco Fighters	42–43	Bismarck Bucks	Bismarck Event Center
	July 17	Louisville Xtreme	X	Iowa Barnstormers	Wells Fargo Arena
	July 17[65]	Duke City Gladiators	71–54	Northern Arizona Wranglers	Findlay Toyota Center
	July 17[66]	Tucson Sugar Skulls	34–45	Spokane Shock	Spokane Arena
	July 18[67]	Arizona Rattlers	44–68	Massachusetts Pirates	DCU Center
	July 18[68]	Sioux Falls Storm	31–21	Green Bay Blizzard	Resch Center
14	July 24	Louisville Xtreme	X	Massachusetts Pirates	DCU Center
	July 24[69]	Green Bay Blizzard	34–26	Iowa Barnstormers	Wells Fargo Arena
	July 24[70]	Northern Arizona Wranglers	30–33	Frisco Fighters	Comerica Center
	July 24[71]	Spokane Shock	61–68	Duke City Gladiators	Rio Rancho Events Center
	July 24[72]	Sioux Falls Storm	33–59	Arizona Rattlers	Footprint Center[a]
	July 24[73]	Bismarck Bucks	27–34	Tucson Sugar Skulls	Tucson Convention Center
15	July 30[74]	Green Bay Blizzard	30–41	Bismarck Bucks	Bismarck Event Center
	July 31	Iowa Barnstormers	X	Louisville Xtreme	KFC Yum! Center
	July 31	Duke City Gladiators	48–60	Arizona Rattlers	Footprint Center
	July 31[75]	Northern Arizona Wranglers	46–48	Tucson Sugar Skulls	Tucson Convention Center
	July 31	Frisco Fighters	37–33	Sioux Falls Storm	Denny Sanford Premier Center
	July 31[76]	Massachusetts Pirates	63–57	Spokane Shock	Spokane Arena
16	August 7[77]	Green Bay Blizzard	33–50	Massachusetts Pirates	DCU Center
	August 7	Louisville Xtreme	X	Sioux Falls Storm	Denny Sanford Premier Center
	August 7[78]	Tucson Sugar Skulls	28–55	Arizona Rattlers	Footprint Center
	August 7	Northern Arizona Wranglers	11–71	Duke City Gladiators	Rio Rancho Events Center
	August 7[79]	Spokane Shock	34–45	Frisco Fighters	Comerica Center
	August 7[80]	Bismarck Bucks	41–48	Iowa Barnstormers	Wells Fargo Arena
17	August 13	Sioux Falls Storm	X[81]	Bismarck Bucks	Bismarck Event Center
	August 13[82]	Arizona Rattlers	30–20	Spokane Shock	Spokane Arena
	August 14[83]	Duke City Gladiators	59–63	Tucson Sugar Skulls	Tucson Convention Center
	August 14	Louisville Xtreme	X	Iowa Barnstormers	Wells Fargo Arena
	August 14[84]	Sioux Falls Storm	49–55	Iowa Barnstormers	Wells Fargo Arena[85]
	August 14[86]	Green Bay Blizzard	20–38	Frisco Fighters	Comerica Center
	August 15[87]	Massachusetts Pirates	51–16	Northern Arizona Wranglers	Findlay Toyota Center
18	August 21[88]	Tucson Sugar Skulls	56–38	Northern Arizona Wranglers	Findlay Toyota Center
	August 21[89]	Green Bay Blizzard	35–58	Sioux Falls Storm	Denny Sanford Premier Center
	August 21[90]	Frisco Fighters	38–55	Arizona Rattlers	Footprint Center
	August 21	Bismarck Bucks	45–57	Duke City Gladiators	Rio Rancho Events Center
	August 21[91]	Iowa Barnstormers	19–55	Massachusetts Pirates	DCU Center
	August 21	Louisville Xtreme	X	Spokane Shock	Spokane Arena

1. Was known as Phoenix Suns Arena at the start of the season until July 16, 2021.^[13]

Playoffs

The top eight teams made the IFL playoffs, where teams were ranked by winning percentage due to the imbalanced schedule. After Louisville was terminated midseason, the schedule was further imbalanced leading to several tiebreaker parameters needing to be used resulting in the fourth place Duke City Gladiators and fifth place Iowa Barnstormers switching seeding for the playoffs.

The quarterfinals consisted of the top seed hosting the eighth seed, the second seed hosting the seventh seed, the third seed hosting the sixth seed, and the fourth hosting the fifth seed. In the semifinals, the highest remaining seed hosts the lower remaining seed and the next-highest hosts the next-lowest from the quarterfinals. The semifinal winners then meet in the 2021 United Bowl.^[11][92]

	First round (August 28–29)					Semifinals (September 4–5)					United Bowl (September 12)[93]
	8	Sioux Falls	42
	1	Arizona[94]	69
						5	Duke City	55
						1	Arizona	58
	7	Bismarck	19
	2	Massachusetts[95]	44
											2	Massachusetts	37
	(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
											1	Arizona	34
	6	Spokane	33
	3	Frisco[96]	44
						3	Frisco	22
						2	Massachusetts	43
	5	Duke City[97]	34
	4	Iowa	33