World Indoor Football League (2007)

Defunct American indoor football league

This article is about the 2007 sports league. For the 1988 sports league, see World Indoor Football League.

World Indoor Football League

Sport| American football
Founded| 2007
Ceased| 2007
CEO| Gary Tufford (Executive Director & Commissioner)
Country|  United States
Last
champion(s)| Augusta Spartans

The World Indoor Football League (WIFL) was an indoor football league founded by Harry Pierce, owner of the Rome Renegades and Raleigh Rebels of the American Indoor Football League. The league was a splinter league that formed after disgruntled ownership in the AIFL, caused significant turmoil and resulted in several teams leaving the league.

Both the Rebels and Renegades were to play in the league, with the Rebels to be renamed as the Carolina Bombers. However, on October 16, 2006, Pierce folded both franchises.

Daytona Beach Thunder player Javan Camon, in his second year with the club, died as a result of injuries received during a game against the Columbus Lions on February 26, 2007. Camon was involved in a helmet-to-helmet block during the late stages of the game. He was attended by paramedics and doctors at the Ocean Center arena for approximately 25 minutes without recovering. He was pronounced dead on arrival at an area hospital. [1] So, in his honor, the league's MVP award was named after him as the Javan Camon Award.[2] The award was given to Marvin Stone of the Augusta Spartans. Columbus Lions' Jason Gibson was named Coach of the Year, and Danny Burnham of Rome, Georgia. was named Fan of the Year for his efforts assisting the league's PR department.

Daytona Beach also made some news in the indoor football ranks when arena football legend Barry Wagner joined the team in March 2007; Daytona Beach had previously attempted such a publicity stunt by signing Terry Bradshaw to a similar contract in 2006. The Osceola Ghostriders also featured former New England Patriot Greg Jefferson for one game.

On June 30, the league's only championship game, the World Indoor Bowl, took place in Columbus, Georgia with the Augusta Spartans defeating the host Columbus Lions 63-60 before a crowd of 3,529.

Two teams - Columbus and Augusta - announced on September 28, 2007, that they were moving to a reformed American Indoor Football Association for 2008. [3]

The announcement came after the Daytona Beach Thunder announced they were leaving the WIFL in hopes of joining AF2 for either the 2008 or 2009 season. [4][permanent dead link].

## World Indoor Bowl

[edit]

The World Indoor Bowl was the championship game of the World Indoor Football League. The only World Indoor Bowl was played between the regular season champion Columbus Lions and the Augusta Spartans, who won a semi-final game against the Osceola Ghostriders to earn the berth.

Game | Year | Winning Team | Losing Team | Site

|
|
|
|

World Indoor Bowl I | 2007 | Augusta Spartans | 63 | Columbus Lions | 60 | Columbus Civic Center

## 2007 teams

[edit]

* Augusta Spartans - rejoined AIFA for 2008 under new ownership as the Augusta Colts. Folded after 2008 season
* Columbus Lions - joined AIFA for 2008
* Daytona Beach Thunder - joined AF2 in 2008 but folded after the season
* Osceola Ghostriders - folded after 2007 season

## Announced WIFL teams that never participated in league play

[edit]

* Carolina Bombers - ceased operations during 2006 off-season
* Charleston Sandsharks - announced move from NIFL, then withdrew and joined AIFA
* Huntington Heroes - announced move from, then returned to, AIFA
* Rome Renegades - ceased operations during 2006 off-season
* Tallahassee Titans - were to move from the AIFA to WIFL for the cancelled 2008 season.

## External links

[edit]

* Official Website
* Press release
* WIFL's 2007 Stats

* v
* t
* e

World Indoor Football League

Teams|

* Augusta Spartans
* Columbus Lions
* Daytona Beach Thunder
* Osceola Ghostriders
* Tallahassee Titans

Arenas|

* Columbus Civic Center
* Donald L. Tucker Center
* James Brown Arena
* Ocean Center
* Silver Spurs Arena

Seasons|

* 2007

* v
* t
* e

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)
* Fútbol Americano de México (2019–2022)
* 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)

* 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 Arena League 2
* Arena Football One
* American Indoor Football
* Indoor Football League
* National Arena League
* The Arena League
* United Indoor Football Association

|

Defunct|

* 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
* Great Lakes Arena Football
* 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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