The Indoor Football League (IFL) has been making some major headlines this offseason. Over the past couple of months, the IFL landed broadcast partnerships with both Fanduel and Yahoo Sports Network, greatly increasing the national outreach the league will have in 2026 and beyond.
When it comes to arena football, the IFL has consistently been the most stable organization the past few years. A lot of credit can be given to the league’s Commissioner, Todd Tryon, for his quality leadership across that span.
Pro Football Newsroom was privileged enough to have an exclusive sit-down interview with Commissioner Tryon, to discuss the latest IFL developments. We talk about the recent partnerships, the highs and lows of arena football, and the league’s future beyond 2026.
For fans of the IFL and the scene – this is well worth a read.
Full Interview
Q: Todd, appreciate you taking the time to join me today. This IFL “offseason” really hasn’t been much of an offseason, at least for you with all of these moving pieces – what have these last few months looked like for you?
A: “You know, that is correct – it has not been much of an offseason for us. This is supposed to be the downtime, when you can kind of collect your thoughts, and take a deep breath, and wrap up the previous year. But we have bigger goals here at the IFL. We’ve got the partner support, and sometimes that’s the toughest thing to get, but that’s what has allowed us to get some of this done. With that, it’s created a bigger project ahead, and that’s what we’ve been implementing.”
Q: The IFL, from a product standpoint, has seen quite a bit of success the last few years – where has the IFL been successful, in your eyes, where other arena leagues have failed or fallen short?
A: “Stability. We stabilized about three to four years ago, with some really good ownership groups. Some of these other leagues, you’re just trying to get numbers. But for teams to have opponents, you need teams – and sometimes you have to take those risks. We took risks in the past, but about three years ago we stabilized with a quality ownership group, and now all of a sudden, we can raise our standard. It’s slower growth, but you’re getting better ownership to the table, and you’re not having the trouble that some of these other leagues are having.”
Q: The Yahoo Sports Net and FanDuel broadcast deals are transformational for league exposure, we haven’t seen anything of this capacity for quite some time in the arena football scene. Could you take us a little bit under the hood as to how these partnerships came about?
A: “I would date this back to a few years ago. We started making requirements, and setting standards for each team, and it started with the field systems. Everyone needed to upgrade their field systems, so we went with Nexxfield. Their turf is easy to lay down, and pick up, and it looks great. 10 of our 14 teams currently have it. Our new team coming in has to have it, too. We upgraded our dasher board standard, to where there’s a certain look that you need to have. Last year, we partnered with Adidas, to make sure everyone is dressed the way we want them to be dressed, with a quality product. We did a lot behind the scenes to build this league up, so when we got to this moment and started talking to some of these companies, we already had our stuff in order to look like a professional product. So these conversations were happening this past year – it takes a while for things like this to develop. I have to compliment the President on our business side of things, Jared Widman – he did an outstanding job of getting our league leads, cultivating the leads, and helping us on our end with production and broadcasting standards to give us a quality product that companies were attracted to.”
Q: What metrics played a role in landing these deals for the IFL?
A: “We have been stuck as a regional league. I am here in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The only people who have heard of Sioux Falls football, and the Storm, are people in this market. In order for us to grow, how do we grab the national attention? Well, we had to get on a national footprint that made sense to us. We had to partner with companies who wanted to grow in a similar way to us. They have the national platform, we have the exciting product, it’s just a matter of bringing the two together, so you can both win. We had other opportunities, but these were the most strategic partnerships to give us the national presence we are looking for.”
Q: With some of these major moves by the IFL this fall – why did you believe that now was the time to increase the league’s presence and outreach at this point?
A: “Timing is everything. We’ve been stepping our way to this moment, and we were ready. For us, Fanduel checks the boxes of helping us with the linear side, getting us on cable. And of course, betting, which is also coming. Yahoo, on the other hand, they’re getting their fast channel up and going for sports, and they really wanted to use us as a test pilot to figure this out. There were perfect partnerships on both sides, so it was a pretty easy decision.”
Q: There are a lot of alternative professional football leagues in the United States these days. Where exactly do you see the IFL fitting into that puzzle, and where do you see it going in the coming seasons?
A: “I feel like we have an exciting product. We attract the best coaches, and the best players. Our presentation is first class. I’m not going to talk about any other league, I’m going to talk about the IFL. We’re a platform to build and advance your brand, that’s what our mission is. We want to build a platform to expose you to as many people as possible, and what you do with that is up to you. Some players are trying to get to a higher level. We’ve built this platform, and now we have a national spotlight on us, and it’s up to those involved with us to take advantage of that.”
Q: With all of these major partnerships and changes for the IFL, what would you say is currently the biggest challenge facing the IFL, and how are you working to address it?
A: “The biggest challenge is, when you’re dealing with some of these streaming platforms – they dictate your kickoff. They dictate what night of the week games are played, due to the slots and openings they have. You know, we’ve never hosted a game on Sunday night. That’s going to be different – this year, 19 of our games are kicking off at 7:30pm eastern on Sunday night. We’ve got four timezones, when you look at all of our teams. It creates some challenges. Attendance is always a big deal. We’ve had Sunday night football added, and Saturday afternoon football added – there’s some other things sprinkled in there that you guys will hear in announcements. So, getting our marketing campaigns in check to promote different kickoff times will be our biggest challenge.”
Q: In alternative football, there is that lack of fanbase stability at times, which we’ve seen before with other leagues. How do you see the IFL capitalizing on the fanbase they currently have, and then growing that exponentially over the years to come?
A: “I think these latest developments will give us a jolt of excitement. When there’s a nationally broadcasted game, sometimes those individual markets will see that as an even bigger deal. Hopefully, it puts some pressure on our franchises to take another step forward. We’re in a time where you have to go out, grab the consumer, pull them in, and show them some entertainment. I’ve always said, we’re a big party – and at some point, a football game breaks out. You have to have people there that are going to experience that. Our franchises have already been doing a great job, but how do we get better? Consistent growth across the board is key.”
Q: Once again, Todd I really appreciate your time. Final question – for football fans, whether it be the NFL, or maybe they have knowledge of the arena scene already – what is your pitch to them, as to why they should pay attention to the Indoor Football League in 2026 and beyond?
A: “It’s fastbreak football. It is a 50 yard field, and there’s no out of bounds. Players go flying into the crowds. The football goes flying into the crowds. We go through 50 footballs a game – the customer can keep the football as part of our experience. It’s great talent, high D1-level talent. Guys are coming from major colleges. Players are running down the sidelines, high-fiving the fans. There’s not a lot of sports out there that have this level of access for the fans. You’ve got coaches on the sidelines calling the plays and interacting with fans at the same time. It’s truly a fan-friendly environment. It is great to have deals with Fanduel and Yahoo Sports Network, but really, the experience of the IFL is in-person. Hopefully, we can find some new customers who like what they see on TV. If you like what you see on TV – come out to a game. It’s a party.”
Final Thoughts
There is no doubt about it: the future ahead for the Indoor Football League is bright. The IFL has taken strides forward each and every season, and now feature the largest broadcasting deal that this space has seen for arena football in almost a decade.
Todd Tryon also told Pro Football Newsroom that there are some early partnership discussions being held with the CFL. The IFL has “learned from their one and done deal with the XFL”, though, so there is no timeframe for when – or if – a deal will come to fruition at some point.
The IFL will kick off their 2026 season on March 14th, with the Quad City Steamwheelers taking on Fishers Freight.
What are your thoughts on the Indoor Football League landing these major deals for 2026? Are you excited to watch the IFL next year? Let us know down in the comments below, or join the conversation on Discord!
