The Southern Steam are a professional indoor football team and currently a member of Elite Indoor Football (EIF) since 2017. The Steam joined

X-League Indoor Football X-League Indoor Football (X-League) was a professional indoor football minor league that began play in 2014. The league was co-chaired by Michael Mink and Kacee Smith. On September 19, 2015, the league announced a merger with the future "North ...

in 2013, as the Pennsylvania Steam based in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Phila ...

. Midway through the 2014 season, the Steam were sold to a Georgia ownership group, who moved the franchise to

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

, during the regular season. Following the 2014 season, the Steam joined

American Indoor Football American Indoor Football (AIF) was a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...

(AIF) for the 2015 season. After the 2016 season, the AIF folded leaving the Steam to search for a new league. The Steam played their home games at the Martin Luther King Jr. Arena at the

Savannah Civic Center The Savannah Civic Center is a multi-purpose facility located in Savannah, Georgia, in Savannah Historic District. Built-in 1974, the facility consists of an arena, theatre, ballroom, and exhibit halls. Throughout the years, the center hosts va ...

. However, the City of Savannah stated in 2016 that the Steam could not return unless they pay all money owed to the city prior to returning. They began playing in nearby Statesboro instead, first outdoors and then in a converted warehouse for 2017 as the Southern Steam. In 2019, the Steam announced via

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...

they were relocating to

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, for the 2019 season citing lack of ticket sales.

Franchise history

It was announced in October 2013, that the Pennsylvania Steam would be joining

for its inaugural 2014 season, playing their home games at

Santander Arena The Santander Arena (formerly known as the Sovereign Center) is a 7,160-seat multi-purpose arena, in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was built in 2001. The arena sits on the former site of the Astor Theater; one of several grand movie and theater palac ...

under head coach Shane Houser.

2014 season

After playing one road game as the Pennsylvania Steam, the franchise was sold by Missouri Sports Holdings to an ownership group led by Bobby Dammarell in Savannah, Georgia. The team played their remaining three road games as the Savannah Steam, while the four home games that were scheduled to take place in Reading, Pennsylvania were cancelled and counted as wins for the opposing teams.

2015 season

It was announced in December 2014, that the Savannah Steam were joining

for the 2015 season, playing their home games at Tiger Arena. However, the Steam eventually played their home games at DeVaul Henderson Park, an outdoor park in

Richmond Hill, Georgia Richmond Hill is a city in Bryan County, Georgia. The population was 16,633 at the 2020 U.S. Census, an increase of almost 80% from the 2010 population of 9,281. Richmond Hill is part of the Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Rich ...

. They finished the regular season 5-2, failing to qualify for the playoffs.

2016 season

For 2016, the Steam announced that they would be playing at the

. The team would run into severe financial troubles during this season with over $20,000 owed in rent for the use of the Civic Center and several unpaid sponsors. Eventually, the unpaid sponsors took their claims to the local sheriff's department in order to initiate an investigation and obtain the fees they were owed. In June 2016, general manager Jenny Dammarrel, wife of owner/head coach Bobby Dammarrel, first filed for

Chapter 13 bankruptcy Title 11 of the United States Code sets forth the statutes governing the various types of relief for bankruptcy in the United States. Chapter 13 of the United States Bankruptcy Code provides an individual with the opportunity to propose a plan ...

and then was later jailed after being charged with deposit account fraud for bad checks issued to players and staff. Despite the 2016 season's financial difficulties, a 3-5 record, and no wins over another AIF team (one forfeit win, one loss reversed based on ineligible players, and one win over a local semi-professional team), the Steam were still invited to the AIF playoffs against the Florida Tarpons. The Steam replaced the

Myrtle Beach Freedom The Myrtle Beach Freedom were a professional indoor football team based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and played their home games at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. They were a member of American Indoor Football for one season until the le ...

when the Freedom were asked to play against the West Michigan Ironmen when they lost their playoff opponent.

Elite Indoor Football

On July 18, 2016, the AIF announced it had ceased operations. On August 4, the Steam announced they were accepted into the new Elite Indoor Football. In fact, Elite Indoor Football is based at the same office in the Savannah suburb of Ellabell and its president is Robert Dammarell, also owner of the Steam, indicating that (like the Cape Fear Heroes did in creating

Supreme Indoor Football Supreme Indoor Football (SIF) is an inactive professional indoor football league based in the Southeastern United States. The SIF was originally the creation of the Cape Fear Heroes ownership. During the league's initial launch in 2015, it was ...

) Dammarell and the Steam created their own league. On August 17, 2016, the City of Savannah made it clear that the Steam could not return to the Civic Center for home games unless the Dammarrels paid all money owed to the city from the previous season; in any event, the Savannah Coastal Outlaws of United States Indoor Football and Arena Pro Football had already secured a lease on the Savannah Civic Center. The Steam had a cross-schedule agreement with

to play games against some of its teams for the 2017 season. Before starting their season, the Steam appeared to have rebranded to the Southern Steam. Once they starting playing EIF league games, they were listed as playing outdoors in nearby Statesboro. Later in the 2017 season, the team moved home games into a converted warehouse in Statesboro. In 2019, they moved to

, and the Jacksonville Ice & Sportsplex.

Statistics and records

Season-by-season results

''Note: The finish, wins, losses, and ties columns list regular season results and exclude any postseason play.''

Head coaches' records

''Note: Known statistics are correct through the end of the 2018 Elite Indoor Football season. This does not account for the 2017 or 2019 EIF season due to inadequate record keeping''

References

External links

Official website

Old website
{{AIF Former X-League Indoor Football teams Former American Indoor Football teams American football teams established in 2017 American football teams in Jacksonville, Florida American football teams in Savannah, Georgia