This afternoon (Thursday, October 10th) both Champions Indoor Football and the National Arena League released the same statement (below) informing everyone that the partnership agreed to will not happen. The official statement by the leagues read.
“On Thursday, representatives of the National Arena League (NAL) and Champions Indoor Football (CIF) announced they will hold off on the previously announced partnership for the 2020 season,” The leagues said in a press release. “The leagues cited scheduling conflicts with the arenas as a major obstacle for the 2020 season.”
CIF/NAL Partnership for 2020 will not happen
“We knew the partnership we were proposing included a very aggressive timetable to implement,” said CIF Commissioner Ricky Bertz. “Both of our leagues had significantly different starting and ending times for our seasons. When we attempted to coordinate a full schedule that worked for all teams involved, many previously available arena dates were no longer available. After lengthy discussions, Chris and I decided it was best to not proceed together this season.”
As the scheduling process unfolded, it became apparent that there would be too many obstacles to constructing a logical schedule for the 2020 season. Both leagues wanted to make this arrangement work, but did not want to compromise the on field product in the process.
“It was important for both of our leagues to make sure our teams played schedules that made sense” said NAL Commissioner, Chris Siegfried.
Both leagues indicated that they would be releasing schedules soon. A partnership between the two leagues may be revisited at a later date.”
Currently this leaves Champions Indoor Football with 7 teams heading into the 2020 season while the National Arena League is seemingly left with just 5, pending the return of the Massachusetts Pirates. The Pirates posted a graphic today advertising 2020 Season Tickets with the National Arena League logo on it, which may mean they’ll be returning to the NAL.
Stay tuned to Last Word on Sports for more news about the CIF/NAL Partnership among other things around the CIF, IFL, and NAL throughout the 2020 offseason.
