Alaska Wild The Alaska Wild were a team in the Indoor Football League . They are the first American football team in the state of Alaska . They were to join the af2 , but they decided to join the Intense Football League instead . They were among the teams who formed the Indoor Football League , but they suspended operations after 9 games of the 2010 season . They played home games at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage , Alaska History . On March 20 , 2006 Alaska Professional Sports ( APS ) was formed by Weatherholt & Associates , LLC with the goal of bringing professional football to the state of Alaska . At that time Alaska was the only state in the United States that did not have football played above the high school level . The original business plan for APS was written by David Weatherholt during the winter and spring of 2005 - 2006 . During the business planning process Weatherholt was in contact with the " arena football 2 " ( af2 ) league headquartered in Chicago about joining that league . The original goal was to join the af2 , and on April 25 , 2006 Weatherholt paid the application fee for admission to the league . The next step was to secure funding and form the team . The goal was to incorporate APS , which took place on May 4 , 2006 and to raise equity capital by selling common stock in the newly formed corporation . On Friday May 5 , 2006 Weatherholt made his plan public when a press release was sent to the Alaska media outlets announcing his plans for bringing a professional indoor football team to Alaska . The Alaska Wild team name was selected as part of a " Name the Team " contest hosted by APS . Over 1 , 500 names were submitted online by football fans across the United States and Canada . United States Air Force TSgt Deryl Morse submitted the winning team name . Morse was on hand to accept a family four - pack season pass to inaugural season from Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich and Weatherholt . A public offering for the sale of common stock was approved by the State of Alaska on August 28 , 2006 . This made Alaska Professional Sports , Inc . one of only three professional sports teams that were publicly owned . ( The Boston Celtics in the National Basketball League and the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League are the other two teams . ) The public offering did not raise enough capital to meet the October 1 , 2006 deadline for admission to the af2 . On September 29 , 2006 , Weatherholt made a public announcement that the deadline was missed . Two weeks after Weatherholt announced the delay , Chad Dittman , President of the Intense Football League and the owner of the Corpus Christi Hammerheads contacted Weatherholt . Weatherholt flew to Dallas , Texas and signed an agreement to join the Intense Football League on October 26 , 2006 . This meant that in less than 162 days , the Alaska Wild needed to secure a coach , players , equipment , cheerleaders , mascot , reconfigure the Sullivan Arena for football and all of the thousands of details needed . Then on January 17 , 2007 , APS announced that the Alaska Wild has concluded a national search and signed Keith Evans to lead Anchorage ' s first professional football team . Evans , of Tacoma , Washington , visited team executives in early January for an interview and to familiarize himself with Alaska and the organization . Evans was selected from other applicants because of his west coast background . On April 12 , 2007 at 7 : 00 pm Alaska sports history was made when the Frisco Thunder , an expansion team , narrowly defeated the Alaska Wild in front of a sellout crowd of over 6 , 100 excited fans . The day after the first game , team management accepted the recommendation of Randy Magner , VP of Operations , the coach ' s boss , to terminate Keith Evens ( 0 - 1 ) the first coach for the Alaska Wild . Magner was offered the head coach position and refused to take it and ultimately resigned from his position with APS . On April 17 , 2006 Hans Deemer ( 7 - 21 ) , who had been a volunteer coach , accepted the position of Alaska Wild Head Coach becoming the second head coach in the team ' s history . The 2008 Alaska Wild season opened on March 6 , 2008 with an 88 - 7 victory over the new expansion team from Fairbanks , the Grizzles . On the field , the Alaska Wild was off to their best start going into their 7th game with a 4 - 2 record . In February 2009 , Coach Deemer resigned and was replaced by Floyd Johnson ( 0 - 8 ) the third head coach of the Alaska Wild . New team owner Deeter replaced Johnson after 8 games with Sonny Rodriguez ( 0 - 6 ) the fourth head coach . The Alaska Wild finished its third season with a 0 - 14 record , sagging game attendance and fleeing sponsors . Deeter scrambled to get out from under the staggering debt brought on by the team ' s on and off the field performances . In August 2009 , Charles Matthews , a Fairbanks pastor , took over the team from Deeter to become the third team owner . On September 27 , 2009 , Matthews announced that Darnell Lee would take over as the fifth head coach for the Alaska Wild . Mathews did not have the financial resources to support the team , nor was he able to sell enough season tickets and team sponsorships . In March 2010 , the Indoor Football League took control of the Alaska Wild team and will operate the team until a new owner is found or the season ends . In May 2010 , after 9 games , the team suspended operations . Coach Lee and multiple players left to play elsewhere and the team no longer had money to continue the season . The league is still looking for an owner for 2011 . Coaching changes . On April 13 , 2007 , the Alaska Wild fired coach Keith Evans just hours following the franchise ' s inaugural game . It marked another turn in the tumultuous path of the Alaska Wild , an expansion team in the Texas - based Intense Football League . The team was unable to agree on contract terms with coach Haywood Hill in January 2007 after prematurely announcing him as head coach the previous month . After Evans termination , Randy Magner was asked to take over head coaching duties , only to resign from the team entirely on April 16 . On April 17 , Hans Deemer was named head coach ; Deemer had been the defensive line coach for the Wild . Deemer resigned in February 2009 . Floyd Johnson was named head coach and fired after starting 0 - 8 . Sonny Rodriguez is now the Wild head coach .