North American Continental Football League

### Country

Based in the United States but include teams from Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, and Panama.

The **North American Continental Football League** (**NACFL**) is a football league headquartered in El Paso, Texas. The NACFL began after John Raven, an American man from Houston, Texas, famously protested against the use of turf (which is why the NACFL uses natural glass in all stadiums.) following the 2021 National Football League (NFL) season.

The NACFL was founded in El Paso, Texas on December 2, 2022, after three men (John Raven, Antonio Holiday, and Justin Lakender) decided to create a football league that did not use turf fields in their stadiums. Holiday previously worked as offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL during their Super Bowl victory at the closing of the 2021 season. After Odell Beckham, Jr. suffered a torn ACL during the game, it sparked the idea of the NACFL in Holiday's mind. During this time, John Raven was protesting against turf fields along with Justin Lakender.

The league contains sixteen teams, eight of which are expansion teams, and the NACFL began playing in the Spring of 2023. The defending Raven Bowl champion is the Panama Steamrollers, one of the eight expansion teams.

## History

The North American Continental Football League was founded in El Paso, Texas on December 2, 2023, after three men were angry with the National Football League's policy of turf fields. John Raven, Antonio Holiday, and Justin Lakender met together in El Paso and created the NACFL in the middle of the 2022 NFL season.

The first teams created were the El Paso Tigers, Orlando Ocelots, Montgomery Flames, Cancun Cavers, Rochester Magicians, Milwaukee Guardians, Toronto Tracers, and the Vancouver Astronauts. All but one of these teams still exist, and the league was originally divided into two divisions, the North and South divisions. The North division contained Rochester, Milwaukee, Toronto, and Vancouver, and the South division included El Paso, Orlando, Montgomery, and Cancun.

The first season was organized as a 12-week "test season", with two rounds of playoffs and a Milwaukee Raven Bowl championship. It was dominated by the Montgomery Flames, who went undefeated during the 10-week regular season but fell to the Milwaukee Guardians in the Raven Bowl. The first season was considered a success, and the league was reorganized into a 15-week regular season and a 2-week playoff time.

The first season of the NACFL was considered a breakthrough for natural fields, as it was reported that only eight injuries occurred during the season, while the NFL suffered a breathtaking 328 injuries. Even so, the NACFL still received criticism because natural fields were hard to take care of, and all stadiums had to be closed to account for weather.

After the second season and the victory of the Montgomery Flames as Raven Bowl champions, the Cancun Cavers were relocated to Mexico City as the Mexico City Cave Miners and eight expansion teams were created, creating four-round playoffs. The new teams introduced were the Louisiana Pelicans, Guadalajara Chihuahuas, Guatemala Relentless, Panama Steamrollers, Portland Bolts, Detroit Detriments, Ottawa Orioles, and the Anchorage Aggravators.

At the beginning of the 2031 season, the NACFL introduced sixteen new teams, including the Seattle Sagebrush, Sacramento Goldrushers, Carson City Carnage, Phoenix Ferocity, Minneapolis Monarchs, Brooklyn Bulls, Chicago Cardinals, Ann Arbor Ogres, Pittsburgh Damage, Charlotte Salamanders, Atlanta Azaleas, Tennessee Iris, Austin Reverends, Oklahoma Cassowaries, Tallahassee Titans, and the New Orleans Strikers.

## Teams

The NACFL is divided into two conferences and four divisions. The team with the most Raven Bowl championships is the Toronto Tracers of the second conference.

### Conference One

West Division
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East Division
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South Division
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North Division
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### Conference Two

West Division
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East Division
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South Division
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North Division
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## List of Raven Bowl champions

* 2023 champions: Montgomery Flames vs. Milwaukee Guardians (25 - 28)
* 2024 champions: Montgomery Flames vs. Toronto Tracers (42 - 24)
* 2025 champions: Louisiana Pelicans vs. Toronto Tracers (14 - 17)
* 2026 champions: Guadalajara Chihuahuas vs. Detroit Detriments (31 - 28)
* 2027 champions: Orlando Ocelots vs. Toronto Tracers (21 - 28)
* 2028 champions: Guatemala Relentless vs. Toronto Tracers (24 - 25)
* 2029 champions: Mexico City Cave Miners vs. Portland Bolts (21 - 23)
* 2030 champions: Panama Steamrollers vs. Toronto Tracers (7 - 3)