By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
These are uncertain times for the world of Champions Indoor Football.
The league that has served as the home of the Salina Liberty since 2016 was supposed to enter its ninth season in 2024, but doubt has begun to loom large as teams have abandoned the league in droves.
Earlier this offseason the Omaha Beef, Sioux City Bandits, and Topeka Tropics announced they would be the first to desert, with Omaha and Sioux City quickly finding a home in the National Arena League for the 2024 season.
On Monday, the CIF announced the addition of a new expansion team from Park City, Kansas in the ICT Regulators, but no sooner was the ink dry on the paperwork before the Billings Outlaws were confirmed as the newest member of the prestigious AFL (Arena Football League) just a day later.
These moves left the CIF with just five member teams for 2024 (Salina Liberty, Gillette Mustangs, SW Kansas Storm, Rapid City Marshals, and ICT Regulators), but the chaos may not be done yet, as on Wednesday it was announced in a statement that the Gillette Mustangs were being put up for sale by owner Steve Titus.
While a return to the Champions Indoor Football League is not impossible for the Tropics, who have, as of Wednesday, August 30th, not yet found a home for 2024, many are left to ponder the fate of a league that in eight seasons has never seen its membership dip below six teams.
For more on this developing situation, stay tuned to the Salina, Little Apple, and JC Posts.