United Bowl (IFL)
The United Bowl is the Indoor Football League's championship game. It has been played every year since 2009. The current United Bowl Champions are the Sioux Falls Storm who won their seventh United Bowl. The Storm won six straight United Bowls from 2011 to 2016.[1]
| First played | August 15, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Trophy | United Bowl Trophy |
 | |
| 2019 season | |
| 2019 United Bowl (July 13, 2019) Sioux Falls Storm vs. Arizona Rattlers | |
| 2020 season | |
| 2020 United Bowl | |
History
The IFL continues to use the "United Bowl" name originally used by United Indoor Football (UIF). The UIF used this name before they merged with Intense Football League to form the Indoor Football League. The UIF held United Bowl I, II, III, and IV in 2005 through 2008, with all four being won by the Sioux Falls Storm. Although the name "National Indoor Bowl Championship" was used for the 2008 contest between the UIF and the Intense Football League, the "United Bowl" name continues to be used for the combined league's championship instead.
2009 United Bowl
The 2009 United Bowl featured the Intense Conference champs, the Billings Outlaws, against the upset-minded United Conference champs River City Rage. The game became a scoring onslaught at the start of the first quarter with each team scoring touchdowns. The Outlaws defense snagged a pick in the second quarter which led to another offensive touchdown and a commanding two score lead by halftime. The Rage fought back though, recovering an onside kick at the beginning of the third quarter and driving the ball the length of the field for a touchdown. That would be the closest the game would get for the Rage. The Outlaws would put up just enough points to keep a comfortable lead throughout the fourth and after recovering an onside kick in the last minute of the game, the Outlaws kneeled the ball and took home the crown with a score of 71–62 in a loud, sold-out Rimrock Auto Arena.
2010 United Bowl
In the 2010 United Bowl, the Billings Outlaws of the Intense Conference took the league championship by defeating the Sioux Falls Storm of the United Conference by a score of 43–34 in front of a sold out crowd in the Billings Sportsplex (a training facility, used by the Outlaws after their arena suffered storm damage during the Billings tornado).
2011 United Bowl
The 2011 United Bowl was won by the United Conference champion Sioux Falls Storm when they beat the Intense Conference Champion Tri-Cities Fever 37–10 on July 16, 2011.
2012 United Bowl
The 2012 United Bowl was a re-match from 2011 and was once again won by the United Conference champion Sioux Falls Storm when they beat the Intense Conference Champion Tri-Cities Fever 59–32 on July 14, 2012.
2013 United Bowl
The 2013 United Bowl was once again won by the United Conference champion Sioux Falls Storm when they beat the Intense Conference Champion Nebraska Danger 43–40 on June 29, 2013.
2014 United Bowl
The 2014 United Bowl was a rematch from 2013 and was once again won by the United Conference champion Sioux Falls Storm when they beat the Intense Conference Champion Nebraska Danger 63–46 on June 28, 2014.
2015 United Bowl
The 2015 United Bowl was a rematch from 2013 and 2014. For the fifth consecutive year the United Conference champion Storm won the league title with at 62–27 victory over the Intense Conference champion (Nebraska Danger). It was Sioux Falls' 9th title in franchise history.
2016 United Bowl
For the sixth consecutive year the United Conference Champion Storm won the league title with a 55–34 victory over the first year Intense Conference Champion Spokane Empire on July 23, 2016. It is Sioux Falls' 10th title in franchise history.
2017 United Bowl
The Sioux Falls Storm advanced to their eighth consecutive United Bowl but lost to the Arizona Rattlers by a score of 50–41. It was the Rattlers first season in the IFL after 25 years in the Arena Football League.
2018 United Bowl
The Sioux Falls Storm once again advanced to the United Bowl, their ninth straight. They were defeated by the Iowa Barnstormers 42–38, marking the Barnstormers' first title in the IFL.
2019 United Bowl
The Sioux Falls Storm reached the United Bowl once again, this time their 10th straight. They beat their United Bowl losing streak that started in 2017, and beat the Arizona Rattlers (a rematch from 2017’s United Bowl) 56-53. This was their 11th Franchise Title.
Results
| Game | Date | Winning team | Losing team | MVP | Site | Attendance | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | August 15, 2009 | Billings Outlaws | 71 | RiverCity Rage | 62 | Chris Dixon | Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark | 8,351 | ||
| 2010 | July 17, 2010 | Billings Outlaws | 43 | Sioux Falls Storm | 34 | Chris Dixon (2) | Billings Sports Plex | 2,500 | ||
| 2011 | July 16, 2011 | Sioux Falls Storm | 37 | Tri-Cities Fever | 10 | Chris Dixon (3) | Sioux Falls Arena | 4,696 | ||
| 2012 | July 14, 2012 | Sioux Falls Storm | 59 | Tri-Cities Fever | 32 | Jeremiah Price | Sioux Falls Arena | 4,901 | ||
| 2013 | June 29, 2013 | Sioux Falls Storm | 43 | Nebraska Danger | 40 | Terrance Bryant | Sioux Falls Arena | 5,202 | ||
| 2014 | June 28, 2014 | Sioux Falls Storm | 63 | Nebraska Danger | 46 | Chris Dixon (4) James Terry |
Sioux Falls Arena | 4,500 | ||
| 2015 | July 11, 2015 | Sioux Falls Storm | 62 | Nebraska Danger | 27 | Brandon Johnson-Farrell | Denny Sanford Premier Center | 9,245 | ||
| 2016 | July 23, 2016 | Sioux Falls Storm | 55 | Spokane Empire | 34 | Lorenzo Brown | Denny Sanford Premier Center | 9,000 | ||
| 2017 | July 8, 2017 | Arizona Rattlers | 50 | Sioux Falls Storm | 41 | Justin Shirk | Denny Sanford Premier Center | |||
| 2018 | July 7, 2018 | Iowa Barnstormers | 42 | Sioux Falls Storm | 38 | Ryan Balentine | Wells Fargo Arena | |||
| 2019 | July 13, 2019 | Sioux Falls Storm | 56 | Arizona Rattlers | 53 | Lorenzo Brown (2) | Gila River Arena | 14,635 | ||
| 2020 | Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||||||||
References
- "2017 IFL RECORD AND FACT BOOK" (PDF). goifl.com. Retrieved August 2, 2017.