Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League is a professional Indoor Football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football . For the 2011 season the league had 22 teams in 14 different U . S . states , The 2012 season will consist of only 16 teams . It has been the world ' s largest professional indoor football league . History . Formation of the league . The merger which formed the new IFL was announced the day before the 2008 National Indoor Bowl Championship , a game which pitted the champions of the two leagues against each other . The Sioux Falls Storm ( United ) defeated the Louisiana Swashbucklers ( Intense ) 54 to 42 . 2009 Season . Of the 17 teams involved in the two previous leagues , 14 carried over to the new organization ' s 2009 season . An additional 3 teams came over from the CIFL and two expansion teams began their life in the new IFL . In the 2009 IFL United Bowl , the Billings Outlaws ( Intense Conference ) took the league championship by defeating the River City Rage ( United Conference ) by a score of 71 to 62 . More Information about 2009 Season 2010 Season . After losing two teams to attrition after the end of the 2009 season , and a third in January 2010 , the IFL then added an additional nine franchises to boost its membership to twenty - five for the 2010 season . Three of the new teams were expansion franchises . Two moved over from the Southern Indoor Football League and Continental Indoor Football League . After playing nine games of the 2010 season the Alaska Wild suspended operations , leaving only twenty - four teams to finish the year . In the 2010 IFL United Bowl , the Billings Outlaws ( Intense Conference ) took the league championship by defeating the Sioux Falls Storm ( United Conference ) by a score of 43 to 34 . More Information about 2010 Season 2011 Season . Seven new teams were added to the IFL for the 2011 season . Some of these were new expansion teams , and others moved to the IFL from the AIFA . The IFL also lost nine teams during the offseason , bringing the total number to twenty - two for 2011 . In the 2011 IFL United Bowl , the Sioux Falls Storm ( United Conference ) took the league championship by defeating the Tri - Cities Fever ( Intense Conference ) by a score of 37 - 10 . More Information about 2011 Season 2012 Season . For the 2012 season , the IFL will be switching to a two - conference format with no divisions . 2012 Teams . " An asterisk < nowiki > * < / nowiki > indicates a team new to the IFL for the 2012 season . " 2011 Regular Season - Final Standings . United Conference y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot Intense Conference IFL United Bowl Championship . The IFL continues to use the " United Bowl " name originally used by United Indoor Football . The UIF used this name before they merged with Intense Football League to form the Indoor Football League . The UIF held United Bowl I , II , III , and IV in 2005 through 2008 , with all four being won by the Sioux Falls Storm . Another piece of history about the United Bowl name is that the United Football League , an outdoor league founded in 2009 , was planning on using the name for its championship game , but the IFL retained the trademark to the name so that the UFL couldn ' t use it . The IFL had to continue using the name in some form , and though the name " National Indoor Bowl Championship " was used for the 2008 contest between the UIF and the Intense Football League , the " United Bowl " name continues to be used for the combined league ' s championship instead . 2009 United Bowl Championship . The 2009 IFL United Bowl featured the Intense Conference champs , the Billings Outlaws , against the upset - minded United Conference River City Rage . The game became a scoring onslaught at the start of the 1st quarter with each team scoring touchdowns . The Outlaw defense snagged a pick in the 2nd quarter which led to another offensive touchdown and a commanding two score lead by halftime . The Rage fought back though , recovering an onside kick at the beginning of the 3rd quarter and driving the ball the length of the field for a touchdown . That would be the closest the game would get for the Rage . The Outlaws would put up just enough points to keep a comfortable lead throughout the fourth and after recovering an onside kick in the last minute of the game , the Outlaws kneeled the ball and took home the crown with a score of 71 - 62 in a loud , sold out Rimrock Auto Arena . 2010 United Bowl Championship . In the 2010 IFL United Bowl , the Billings Outlaws of the Intense Conference took the league championship by defeating the Sioux Falls Storm of the United Conference by a score of 43 to 34 in front of a sold out crowd in the Billings Sportsplex . 2011 United Bowl Championship . The 2011 IFL United Bowl was won by the United Conference champion Sioux Falls Storm when they beat the Intense Conference Champion Tri - Cities Fever 37 - 10 on July 16 , 2011 .