JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sharks are taking their championship and moving on.
The Sharks announced that they were leaving the National Arena League and joining the Indoor Football League on Tuesday, officially announcing their intentions after weeks of rumblings. The Sharks won their third NAL championship earlier this month with a 54-45 win over the Carolina Cobras.
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“We worked so hard to put our house on order, we wanted a better league for us so that we survived for our fans. Our fan base is the most important thing, without the fans, we wouldn’t be here,” said Sharks owner Kevin Wezniak. “So, it was a difficult decision. A lot of us have personal investments in the NAL, a lot of us will retain those personal investments in the NAL for the time being until it goes one way or the other.
“But right now, the Jacksonville Sharks are fully committed to this decision in this change to join the premier football league in America. And this is the only team in Jacksonville that’s won four championships.”
The wasn’t necessarily unexpected. The NAL lost the Albany Empire and Fayetteville Mustangs during the season for financial issues, and the West Texas Warbirds and Orlando Predators announced they were leaving for the Arena Football League.
The IFL is expanding in 2024 with the addition of Jacksonville and the Columbus Wild Dogs, bringing the league membership to 16 teams. Adding the Sharks is a boon for the league. Jacksonville won the National Arena Bowl championship in 2011 when it was a member of the Arena Football League. They joined the NAL in 2017 and won championships in the inaugural season, as well as 2019 and this year.
It’s a step up in competition for the Sharks. The IFL has a partnership arrangement with the XFL to serve as somewhat of a feeder system into the relaunched league.
The IFL, which began in 2009 after the United Indoor Football League and the Intense Football League merged, is largely composed of teams in the Midwest and the West part of the country. There are no natural regional rivals like Orlando, but coach Jason Gibson said that he was looking forward to forging new rivals. He said the Arizona Rattlers and the Massachusetts Pirates were two he was looking at.
Another local tie is former Jacksonville Sharks coach Les Moss is also the head coach of the North Arizona Wranglers.
“They’re all rivalries. I mean, you want to win every game so I mean, obviously you when you think of you think of Arizona and Jacksonville, I mean, who’s not going to want to come to that game,” Gibson said. “It’s kind of looking at, you know, Florida-Georgia or whatever big rivalry there is. And that’s what’s really great about this and being able to see the different teams and, you know, we talked about and I’m sure there’ll be some new rivalries.”