Tupelo, MS announced as 4th expansion team

[sonicrules831]

FORT MYERS, FL - The Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL) is pleased to announce that Tupelo, MS will be the fourth expansion team for the 2012 season.Tupelo will play in the newly formed Southern Division of the UIFL, and will begin play in March 2012. The team will play their home games at the 7,000-plus seat BancorpSouth Arena in Tupelo, MS.

The UIFL will hold a formal press conference over the summer to announce the team name, logo, ownership, and more.

Single game tickets will start at $7.00. Season tickets start at $42.00. The team will play seven home games at the BancorpSouth Arena starting in March 2012.

Tupelo, MS joins other 2012 expansion teams Rome, GA, and Fort Myers, FL, and Danville, IL in the UIFL. Additional teams in the UIFL Southern Division will be announced over the next few months.

For more information about the Ultimate Indoor Football League visit the league website at www.theuifl.com or call 877-500-UIFL (8435). The UIFL recently finished the 2011 season with all six orginal teams – Canton, OH, Johnstown, PA, Huntington, WV, Pikeville, KY, Highland Heights, KY, and Saginaw MI.

[gusher]

One would think Columbus, Albany and Alabama of the SIFL would be very interested in the direction the UIFL is headed.

[Banana Cat]

I was thinking the SIFL would return even with the AIFA and Intense leagues starting back up, but now I'm not so sure. With Hager finally selling off the Swashbucklers he no longer has a real need to have his own playground.

I'm thinking now that this will be the SIFL's last year. Albany and Columbus have three choices really: UIFL, AIFA, or a new league.

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Tupelo's arena let the cat out of the bag on this expansion effort 2 1/2 weeks ago, although it wasn't final then: indoorfootballboard.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=uiflexpansioncontraction&action=display&thread=4221

[Banana Cat]

nems360.com/view/full_story/14201672/article-Indoor-football-returning-to-Tupelo?instance=lead_story_left_column

Indoor football returning to Tupelo

by John L. Pitts / NEMS Daily Journal

TUPELO – Indoor pro football will make a third try at success in BancorpSouth Arena, as an expansion team in the UIFL will begin play in March of 2012.

A news release from BCS Arena says details about the team and its ownership will be made “over the summer.”

The team will play seven regular-season home games in 2012, according to the news release.

It’s unclear if this effort is in any way related to the Mississippi MudCats franchise that played two seasons (2007-08) in the arena. The first indoor team to play here, the Tupelo FireAnts, played in 2002-05.

The UIFL – Ultimate Indoor Football League – began its inaugural season in February with six teams, five of which remain in the league (Canton, Ohio; Pikeville, Ky.; Huntington, W.Va.; Johnstown, Pa.; and Saginaw, Mich.).

The league has announced 2012 expansion plans for three other cities – Danville, Ill.; Estero, Fla.; and Rome, Ga. Additional teams for the new UIFL Southern Division will be announced at a later date.

[Banana Cat]

nems360.com/view/full_story/14427294/article-Plans-for-new-indoor-football-team-still-on-after-sale-of-league?instance=lead_story_left_column

Plans for new indoor football team still on after sale of league

by John L. Pitts / NEMS Daily Journal
22 Jun 2011

TUPELO - The prospects for a new indoor pro football team in Tupelo appear unaffected by news that the league planning to play here, the UIFL, was sold last week.

The Ultimate Indoor Football League, which played its first season this past winter, was sold by co-founders Andrew Haines and Michael Taylor. No terms were disclosed at the time of the sale's announcement last Thursday.

The new owner, Assured Equities IV Corporation, is controlled by Georgia businessman Cecil VanDyke, who is also the owner of two of the current five UIFL franchises, in West Virginia and Kentucky.

The UIFL announced plans last week to expand into several new markets, including Tupelo. Haines, representing the league, signed a lease agreement with BancorpSouth Arena to begin play in March.

Those plans remain in effect.

"Our agreement for 2012 is with the league," said BCS Arena general manager Todd Hunt. "So while the ownership of the league may have changed we still expect to have a team in place for the upcoming season."

What remains unclear is the ownership of the notional Tupelo UIFL franchise. It appears at this point to be unrelated to the idled Mississippi MudCats team, owned by Tupelo attorney Jim Waide, that played here in 2007-08.

"We still have every intention of having a team" in Tupelo," league co-founder Andrew Haines said on Tuesday. He remains as the UIFL president under the new ownership.

"Really nothing has changed in the day-to-day operation of the league, we just have more financial backing," Haines said.

More details about the league's plan for Tupelo are expected this summer. The UIFL season begins in March.

The UIFL is at least the fifth minor-league sports league founded with the involvement of Haines and Taylor. Their previous football league, the AIFL, was founded in 2005 - the MudCats were in the league for both of their seasons - and ceased operations in January.

According to information from Bloomberg Businessweek and similar financial sources, Seattle-based Assured Equities - described as a "Form 10 shell company" - was purchased by Georgia-based Rogue Diva Racing, Inc. for $25,000 on June 25, 2010. Rogue Diva was founded earlier last year.

Rogue Diva president VanDyke was listed as the president, secretary and treasurer of Assured Equities IV.

[exit322]

We can say whatever we want about the UIFL and Haines - for Columbus/Albany/Alabama...it's NOT a step backwards from what they had in 2011.