Iowa Rampage

Iowa Rampage
Iowa Rampage
Current season
	Established 2023; Folded 2024; Played in Council Bluffs, Iowa; at Mid-America Center; IowaRampage.com
League/conference affiliations
	Arena Football League (2024);
	Current uniform
Team colors	Red, black, white;
Cheerleaders	Lady Rampage
Personnel
President	Trevor Burdett
Head coach	Tyus Jackson
Team history
	Iowa Rampage (2024);
Championships
	League championships (0);
	Conference championships (0);
	Division championships (0);
Home arena(s)
	Mid-America Center (2024);

The Iowa Rampage were a professional arena football team based in Council Bluffs, Iowa. They were announced as one of the inaugural teams for the revived Arena Football League (AFL).

They were the second official Iowa-based team to play in the league and the first since the Iowa Barnstormers who played off and on in the previous two AFL incarnations from 1995 to 2014 in Des Moines before moving to the Indoor Football League.

On May 2, 2024, after playing a single game (a 58–28 win over the Rapid City Marshals), the team announced they would be discontinuing operations immediately. Ultimately the Rampage never played in Iowa; had the team survived to play its first home game, it would have played at the Mid-America Center.

History[edit]

Founding[edit]

Four years after the AFL folded for the second time, it was announced on February 1, 2023, that the league intended on relaunching in 2024.^[1] On July 18, the 16 intended market cities were announced. Iowa was not among the inaugural markets announced.^[2]

The AFL announced on October 10, 2023, that the Rampage would become the newest team to join the league. The name "Rampage" appears to have originated from a hoax in which critics of the league had set up a fake "St. Louis Rampage" social media account (itself a parody of the St. Louis Rams, who left St. Louis in 2016; St. Louis had been one of the 16 announced markets but would ultimately not get a team); after revealing the hoax, those who had set up the fake team turned the social media account over to the AFL.^[3]^[4]

The owner is Trevor Burdett and the head coach is Tyus Jackson.^[5]

Closure[edit]

On May 2, 2024, following a 58–28 road win over the Rapid City Marshals, the Rampage issued a statement stating the team was folding immediately, accusing commissioner Lee Hutton of reneging on promises to compensate the Rampage and the Champions Indoor Football teams that had agreed to join the AFL for increased expenses. The Rampage apologized to the Council Bluffs community and fan base and announced that its assets would be liquidated in an effort to cover its expenses up to that point.^[6] Hours after the announcement, the Southwest Kansas Storm claimed that the league was still going forward with the Storm's upcoming game against the now-nonexistent Rampage and would pay the Rampage players to travel to Dodge City to play the game.^[7]

References[edit]

^ Thompson, Jaylon (February 1, 2023). "Arena Football League announces it's returning for 2024 season with 16 teams". USA Today. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
^ "16 ORG. LOCATIONS REVEALED Chicago, Philly Get Teams". 18 July 2023. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
^ St. Louis Rampage [@STLRampageAFL] (July 31, 2023). "Well, uhh... we got em'. Conglatulations AFL, you finally noticed. This is what happens when you just announce locations and not ownership, arenas, team mascots, etc. This is not how you run a football league. Get everything prepared before you do something" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ Hutton, Lee (July 31, 2023). "OFFICIAL AFL STATEMENT". Arena Football League. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
^ Iowa Rampage (January 23, 2024). "Jackon Takes The Helm As Head Coach For The Iowa Rampage". Retrieved March 1, 2024.
^ Parsons, McKenzy (2024-05-02). "Iowa's AFL team discontinues operations at start of their first season". KETV. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
^ Statement from the Southwest Kansas Storm regarding the Week 2 game against the Iowa Rampage, via X, retrieved May 2, 2024

External links[edit]

Official website

[1] Thompson, Jaylon (February 1, 2023). "Arena Football League announces it's returning for 2024 season with 16 teams". USA Today. Retrieved October 5, 2023.

[2] "16 ORG. LOCATIONS REVEALED Chicago, Philly Get Teams". 18 July 2023. Retrieved July 18, 2023.

[3] St. Louis Rampage [@STLRampageAFL] (July 31, 2023). "Well, uhh... we got em'. Conglatulations AFL, you finally noticed. This is what happens when you just announce locations and not ownership, arenas, team mascots, etc. This is not how you run a football league. Get everything prepared before you do something" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[4] Hutton, Lee (July 31, 2023). "OFFICIAL AFL STATEMENT". Arena Football League. Retrieved August 1, 2023.

[5] Iowa Rampage (January 23, 2024). "Jackon Takes The Helm As Head Coach For The Iowa Rampage". Retrieved March 1, 2024.

[6] Parsons, McKenzy (2024-05-02). "Iowa's AFL team discontinues operations at start of their first season". KETV. Retrieved 2024-05-02.

[7] Statement from the Southwest Kansas Storm regarding the Week 2 game against the Iowa Rampage, via X, retrieved May 2, 2024

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