Spring Football League

For the showcase and exhibition American football league, see The Spring League.

American former professional gridiron football league

Spring Football League

Sport| American football
Founded| 2000
Ceased| 2000
Commissioner| Bill Futterer
No. of teams| 4
Last
champion(s)| San Antonio Matadors, Houston Marshals
Los Angeles Dragons vs San Antonio Matadors Houston Marshals vs Miami Tropics The San Antonio Matadors and the Miami Tropics played the last professional game at the Orange Bowl.

The Spring Football League (SFL) was a short lived professional american football minor league that existed for only one season in 2000.

## Spring football[edit]

Founded by several ex-NFL players such as Eric Dickerson, Drew Pearson, Bo Jackson, and Tony Dorsett, the SFL planned to use the four-game mini-season (dubbed "Festival 2000") to test cities, fans, stadiums, the media, entertainment, and springtime American football as a product. The year before, the Regional Football League staggered through a spring season, then announced it would not return for 2000.

In late 1999, the SFL announced an inaugural season of 2000, with ten individually-owned teams playing a 12-week schedule, followed by a championship game during Memorial Day weekend. Mark Rice, chairman of the SFL board of governors, placed eight of the franchises in Birmingham; Canton, Ohio; Houston; Jackson, Mississippi; Los Angeles; Miami; San Antonio and Washington, D.C. On March 1, 2000, the SFL announced the league had scaled down to four teams that would play four-game schedules on Saturdays from April 29, followed by a championship game in Miami on May 27.[1]

## Teams[edit]

Team | City | Stadium | Head coach

|
|
|

Houston Marshals | Houston, Texas | Robertson Stadium | Ray Woodard
Miami Tropics | Miami, Florida | Miami Orange Bowl | Jim Jensen
San Antonio Matadors | San Antonio, Texas | Alamo Stadium | Brian Wiggins
Los Angeles Dragons | Los Angeles, California | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | Doug Cosbie

SFL teams consisted of 38 players, each of whom would receive $1,200 per game with a $200 winners bonus.

The league's games included pre-game and half-time shows featuring national musical acts (such as The O'Jays, Mark Wills, and Poncho Sanchez), a pronounced effort to attract both African-Americans and Latino fans, and innovative use of wireless communication.

SFL coaches of note:

* Lew Carpenter - Green Bay Packers
* Guy McIntyre - San Francisco 49ers
* Doug Cosbie - Dallas Cowboys
* Keith Millard - Minnesota Vikings
* Jim Jensen - Miami Dolphins
* Hugh Green - Miami Dolphins
* David Little - Pittsburgh Steelers
* Neal Colzie - Oakland Raiders
* Donald Hollas - Oakland Raiders
* Don Narcisse - Saskatchewan Roughriders

## Mini-season cut short[edit]

The Spring Football League suffered from a distinct lack of media attention: newspaper coverage was spotty at best, and the SFL had no radio or TV contracts (although some games were apparently carried on the internet). Attendance was disastrously low, despite some very competitive contests; only 1,100 people showed up at the one game played at cavernous Los Angeles Coliseum. The SFL wasn't even able to finish out its modest, one-month season—league officials ended the test program after only two weeks and four games. Houston and San Antonio, both with 2–0 records, were declared league co-champions.

The SFL planned to return in 2001 with at least eight teams. However, with funding for the league having been provided by tech-stock entrepreneurs, any chance that the SFL would return was scotched by the tech-market crash of 2000 and the subsequent announcement of the XFL by the WWF.

The last professional football game played at the Miami Orange Bowl was an SFL game: a crowd estimated at "less than a thousand" watched on April 29, 2000 as the San Antonio Matadors defeated the Miami Tropics, 16-14.

## References[edit]

1. ^ Associated Press story on SFL

## External links[edit]

* CBS highlight of Houston Marshals vs Miami Tropics via YouTube
* Clips of the San Antonio Matadors vs the Miami Tropics and Los Angeles Dragons via YouTube
* "Remember the SFL"

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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)
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* XFL (2001)
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* 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)
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* 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 football

| Current|

* American Indoor Football
* Arena Football League
* Indoor Football League
* National Arena League
* The Arena League

|

Defunct|

* AF2
* American Indoor Football Alliance
* American Professional Football League
* American West Football Conference
* Arena Football Association
* 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|

* American Arena League
* Fan Controlled Football

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