American Professional Football League The American Professional Football League ( APFL ) is a Midwestern United States - based indoor football league founded in 2003 . The league consists of professional and semi - professional teams , with a few core teams that play a full 10 game schedule and other teams that play partial schedules . At the end of each season , the playoffs are contested between the league ' s core teams . The first few years of league play were dominated by the Kansas Koyotes , but in recent years the league has gained parity and more stable members resulting in the first championship won by another team , the Iowa Blackhawks in 2009 , and the first championship game contested by two teams other than the Koyotes , when the Iowa Blackhawks defended their championship against the Mid - Missouri Outlaws in 2010 . History . 2003 . Early in 2003 , the APFL started as a regional league with the Kansas Koyotes , Missouri Minutemen , St . Joseph Explorers , and Chillicothe Lumberjacks . However , the Lumberjacks didn ' t make it to opening day and as a result the league played on with three teams while Chillicothe was replaced on the schedule . The Koyotes went undefeated in the league ' s first season and won the championship game in a rout against Missouri , their 4th victory over the Minutemen that season . 2004 . Kansas and Missouri returned and the league added the Iowa Blackhawks and Texas Thunder . The Colorado Stars and Wisconsin Locomotives were originally scheduled to compete , but neither played a down of football in the APFL . The Blackhawks were previously the River City Redemption , who had competed in an exhibition match against the Koyotes the season before . Texas only played a partial schedule . The Koyotes and Minutemen both made it back to the championship , and the Koyotes rolled to a second championship and undefeated season . 2005 . The 2005 season saw the addition of the Kansas Storm , Nebraska Bears , and Wichita Aviators . The Thunder did not return and the league played with six teams . The league saw an increase in competition with these new teams and an improved team in Iowa . The Koyotes again captured the # 1 seed and an undefeated regular season but had to win more close games than the previous two seasons . The Minutemen , twice the APFL runner - up , did not even make the playoffs . Iowa hosted Wichita in the semi - final and won 50 - 42 to earn a berth in the championship game . In a thrilling final , the Koyotes almost saw the championship slip away when the Blackhawks took a late lead . Jerry Lakin hit a game - winning field goal and Kansas completed their third consecutive undefeated season with a 26 - 24 win . 2006 . The Nebraska Bears did not return the next year and the Nebraska Wildcats were added as a travel - only team . The Kansas Storm attempted to move to St . Joseph , Missouri but ended up not playing in 2006 , causing the league to find replacements for their games on the schedule . The 2006 season started with a bang when Kansas finally lost , dropping their season opener against Wichita 50 - 43 . The Aviators were the APFL regular season champions and had earned the right to host the championship game . After Kansas won their semi - final against the Blackhawks , the league decided to move the championship game to Landon Arena , home of the Koyotes . This controversial decision caused Wichita to boycott the championship game , resulting in a forfeit win for the Kansas Koyotes and leading to Wichita ' s exit from the league . 2007 . The MAIFL champion Springfield Wolfpack and two new teams from Texas , the Conroe Storm and Fort Worth Regulators , joined the league for the 2007 season . The Regulators couldn ' t secure a home arena , and they only played road games in 2007 . Conroe had a strong debut season , finishing 2nd in the regular season and earning a home playoff game . The season ended when they were upset in the semi - final by the visiting Blackhawks . Iowa ' s second championship appearance also ended in defeat , and the Koyotes claimed a 5th championship with a 39 - 15 victory . 2008 . The APFL expanded ambitiously in 2008 to 10 teams , and split it ' s teams into divisions for the first time . The Nebraska Extreme joined Iowa , Kansas , Missouri and Springfield in the Northern Division . The Wichita Falls Diablos and former NIFL members Beaumont Drillers and Florida Scorpions joined Conroe and Fort Worth in the Southern Division . The expansion was a flop and led to a disastrous season for the league . Arena problems and mismanagement plagued many teams throughout the league , resulting in a cancellation of the entire season for the Regulators . None of the Southern teams played more than half their schedule , and all of the teams in that division had either folded or were on the verge of folding by season ' s end . In the North , Nebraska and Missouri didn ' t have home arenas , but most of the scheduled games went on as planned . Kansas defeated Iowa in the Northern semi - final , and the Southern semi - final wasn ' t played but Beaumont went on to the APFL championship . With few of their original players available , the Drillers still traveled to Topeka for the championship and lost 62 - 36 . The Drillers played better than many had expected them to given the circumstances , but it wasn ' t enough to stop the Koyotes from taking their 6th championship . 2009 . In the 2009 season , all of the teams from the North except Missouri returned , and Florida was the only surviving member of the South . The Scorpions continued to play in the league as a travel - only team , as did the renamed Nebraska Tornadoes and new member Denver Titans . The core teams of Iowa , Kansas and Springfield played full schedules and participated in the playoffs . The Koyotes continued their streak of championship game appearances by defeating the Wolfpack in the semi - final . For the first time the championship was not held in Topeka when the regular season champion Blackhawks hosted the Koyotes . Iowa blew out Kansas 63 - 17 to earn their first championship . 2010 . The Junction City Force and Mid - Missouri Outlaws joined the league in 2010 . Junction City joined as a travel - only team and primarily played in the Central Plains Football League . The Outlaws came to the league after winning the CPFL title three years in a row and were also notable for defeating the Blackhawks in a matchup during the 2009 season . Iowa won the regular season title once again , and Mid - Missouri came in second during an impressive debut season . Kansas suffered through their worst season to date , finishing in 4th . The Koyotes won their play - in game against the Force , but lost to the Blackhawks in the semi - final . The Outlaws defeated the Wolfpack in the other semi - final , and the top two teams faced off in the championship . In the first championship game to go to overtime , Iowa came away with the victory on a game - winning kick from Jerry Lakin in a 31 - 28 thriller . 2011 . In October 2010 , the Sioux City Bandits announced that they were leaving the Indoor Football League for the APFL . In February 2011 the league added the Florida Scorpions and Kansas City Matadors as provisional members to fill out their 2011 schedule . Interleague play . Because the APFL has always had a small number of teams , teams in the league have regularly scheduled teams from other leagues , both indoor and outdoor , to fill their schedules . In 2010 , APFL teams played interleague regular season games against teams from the Central Plains Football League ( CPFL ) . The CPFL is a 4 - year old regional league based in many of the same states as the APFL . Both leagues follow the same rules but the APFL plays indoors while the CPFL plays outside .