The league has its roots in the Atlantic Indoor Football League, which began play in 2005 under the leadership of Andrew Haines. The Lake Erie Steelheads, a fifth team, was to play one exhibition game between the 2007 regular season and playoffs. .wsite-product .wsite-product-price a {} To accommodate this, and to keep travel expenses down, for the 2010 season the AIFA adopted a scheduling system that effectively treated the Eastern and Western conferences as separate leagues, with no regular-season crossover between the two conferences. In 1999, the current corporation formed with its three conferences: MAC Commonwealth, MAC Freedom, and Middle Atlantic.[1]. The league will explore other options for enhancing student and faculty interaction beyond the athletic arena in order to support the mission of the league and foster the educational goals of the institutions. As part of the deal, Morris would acquire the rights to the Eastern Conference teams and merge them into the SIFL,[6] while Mink would retain the western conference teams, rights to the AIFA name, and television contract, the last of which was extended through 2013.
.blog-header h2 a {} League owners stated that the neutral site was chosen so that both games could be televised to obtain nationwide exposure for the league. Alvernia University, Misericordia University, and Eastern University, all from the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference, accepted membership in the MAC Freedom and started participation in the 2008–09 school year. The lower division continued as MAC football, but Delaware, Lafayette, Lehigh, Gettysburg, and Bucknell operated as football independents for the rest of their tenure with the league.

var STYLE_PREFIX = 'wsite'; Numerous other MAC schools competed in other football leagues throughout most of the league's history. The AIFA expanded throughout existing territory and, in 2008, expanded into the Western United States. [1] The team applied for the American Indoor Football Association, but was turned down, and so they are taking a year off before they search for another league. jQuery(document).ready(function() { jQuery(initFlyouts); }); } The moves gave the AIFA a much more significant presence on the West Coast of the United States. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. Retrieved November 7, 2011. The long-time indoor football franchise is expected to return in 2022 after executing a 2022 IFL League Affiliation Agreement. Date when the school joined the overall MAC; this does not necessarily reflect when that school joined MAC Freedom. The league originally announced six franchises, but the Baltimore Blackbirds, Bay Shore Brawlers, and Pittsburgh Ironmen left the league before the start of its first season. Maryland Mid-Atlantic Indoor Football League Teams Scores Teams Go to all MAIFL, not just Maryland Do you care about your team? The AIF ball pattern was similar to that of the basketball in the. .wsite-elements.wsite-not-footer h2, .wsite-elements.wsite-not-footer .product-long .product-title, .wsite-elements.wsite-not-footer .product-large .product-title, .wsite-elements.wsite-not-footer .product-small .product-title, #wsite-content h2, #wsite-content .product-long .product-title, #wsite-content .product-large .product-title, #wsite-content .product-small .product-title, .blog-sidebar h2 {} In addition, the league held its first All-Star Game the same weekend, also in Florence.

Only after this, the person, and everybody involved with the league and people following the league found out there was no insurance for the players, despite Jim Terry claiming the league had insurance earlier. Rutgers had previously dropped out of the MAC for all sports and a five-team football league was not desirable. The game the next night was played.

Both are full contact leagues. As the 2010 season approached, AIFA continued to expand its nationwide footprint. The game scheduled for Saturday, February 24 was not played amid local media reports that the EIFL had folded. . .wsite-headline-paragraph {} SimplyMe TV). The 2007 season started with a pre-season game on January 27, 2007.

Two teams played all of their games on the road, and the regular season was cut short two weeks because of teams being unable to secure venues for playoff games. On Friday, February 16, 2007, the game for that night was cancelled when the building the game was supposed to play at was padlocked due to a lack of liability insurance. In May 2018, Manhattanville College announced that they would leave the MAC Freedom Conference and return to the Skyline Conference for the 2019–20 academic year.

The Lions then announced that they were leaving the league due to the league's instability, especially in the Southern Division where the Lions were the only team that did not have a cancelled or rescheduled game. Platooning and free substitution were allowed, meaning players did not have to play both offense and defense. In 1912, the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletics Association (MASCAA) was founded primarily as a track association and had its first event, a track meet, at Lafayette College in May 1913. As of January 2011, no schedule had been released, and the league informed the remaining three teams that there would not be a fourth team representing Eugene, Oregon as the league had earlier promised.

The AIFA became the third league since 2004 (excluding the folded WIFL and NIFL before its folding) to lose its standing champion (the 2004 NIFL champion Lexington Horsemen left to join the newly created UIF and later were in af2, and the 2006 champion Billings Outlaws also left to join two years later). .fancybox-title {} The 2016 season saw the league grow from nine teams to a total of 28 announced teams. else document.observe('dom:loaded', initFlyouts); However, because it was represented at the original formation meeting of the all-sports MAC in 1922, it is often regarded as a founding member. The lower division continued as MAC football, but Delaware, Lafayette, Lehigh, Gettysburg, and Bucknell operated as football independents for the rest of their tenure with the league. With only the Yakima Valley Warriors left, the AIFA ceased operations; it said that it would attempt to relaunch in 2012 with eight to 12 teams in at least two regions of the United States. The game, played before 6,500 fans at the Casper Events Center, saw the Reading Express defeat the Wyoming Cavalry for their first title, 65–42. In 1983, the Centennial Football League was formed by 8 MAC members. List of Denver Broncos starting quarterbacks, List of Pittsburgh Steelers starting quarterbacks. Jim Terry, who owned the EIFL and the Mahoning Valley Hitmen, and served as the league's commissioner, indicated that the Hitmen might become a barnstorming team. The Mid-Atlantic Prep League was founded to unite independent schools with similar academic and athletic philosophies with the goal of fostering healthy athletic rivalries, meaningful competition, and the values of sportsmanship. Later in the season, FSN Pittsburgh agreed to pick up the remaining games; Erie, Pennsylvania-based Image Sports Network was also involved with the league. The Rage was created in March 2006 by Ed Santiago and Mike Greene. The MAC now sponsors all NCAA Division III sports except women's rowing.

Although the upper division of the conference (which also included Muhlenberg, Drexel, La Salle, and Saint Joseph's) competed at the Division I (then known as the University Division) level in other sports, only Rutgers was considered a University Division football school. The company's filing status is listed as Incorporated and its File Number is D16726770. Austin Colts – Added midseason in 2016 but folded prior to playing any games. Date when the school joined the overall MAC; this does not necessarily reflect when that school joined MAC Commonwealth. The AFL allows only one in motion. Member teams currently compete in 27 sports, 14 men's and 13 women's. Haines would, in April 2010, announce he was relaunching his league as the Ultimate Indoor Football League beginning in 2011 and revived two defunct former AIFL teams.) [8] On July 13, the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks also announced they were leaving the AIF.