The Sioux City Bandits are a professional indoor football team based in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury County, Iowa, Woodbury and Plymouth County, Iowa, Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, fo ...

, and compete as a member of

National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. As of the end of the 2024 season, the league consisted of five teams. A team's typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, but as of the 2022 ...

(NAL). The team was founded in 1999 as the Sioux City Attack. In 2001, the team assumed their current name of the Bandits. The Bandits play their home games at the

Tyson Events Center The Fleet Farm Arena, formerly Gateway Arena, is a multi-purpose arena inside Tyson Events Center, located in Sioux City, Iowa and sponsored by Tyson Foods and Fleet Farm. The arena is commonly referred to as Tyson Events Center for marketing pur ...

History

In 2000, the Sioux City Attack joined the original

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...

(IFL). After this season concluded, the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played it ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

bought out all but two of the league's teams. Once they were founded, the Sioux City Bandits assumed identity of the Attack. The organization has played in eight different leagues including the original IFL (as the Attack), the

National Indoor Football League The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, ...

(NIFL),

United Indoor Football United Indoor Football (UIF) was an indoor American football league in the United States that operated from 2005 to 2008. Ten owners from the National Indoor Football League, including one expansion (the Dayton Warbirds, which never played a ...

(UIF), the new Indoor Football League (IFL),

American Professional Football League The American Professional Football League (APFL) was an indoor football league that was founded in 2003. After the 2012 season, most of the teams left to start the Champions Professional Indoor Football League. The league consisted of professi ...

(APFL), the

Champions Professional Indoor Football League The Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) was an indoor football minor league based along the Midwestern United States region. The league began play in February 2013. In August 2014, the CPIFL and Lone Star Football League (LSFL) ...

(CPIFL), and then

Champions Indoor Football Champions Indoor Football (CIF) was a professional indoor American football minor league created in 2014 out of the merger between the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) and Lone Star Football League (LSFL), plus one team fr ...

(CIF). Notable early team accomplishments include former Sioux City running back Fred Jackson being signed by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

. Jackson, out of

Coe College Coe College is a private liberal arts college in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was founded in 1851 and is historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). The college is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and the Associati ...

, was the 2005 United Indoor Football's league leading rusher in which he set an indoor football record for most yards in a single season with more than 1,700. That year the Bandits hosted the championship game facing their rival

Sioux Falls Storm The Sioux Falls Storm are a dormant professional indoor football team based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Storm joined the original Indoor Football League as an expansion team in 1999 as the Sioux Falls Cobras, and first took the field for ...

. Sioux City had beaten Sioux Falls three times during the regular season but lost the championship game, 40–38. After owning the team for 20 years, owner Bob Scott sold the Bandits to Missouri businessman J. R. Bond on 20 January 2021. After the 2021 season, Don Belson came on as the minority co-owner of the team. Belson had been associated with the team for nearly 20 years working in game day operations. In July 2023, the Bandits announced they were leaving the CIF for a new league along with the

Omaha Beef The Omaha Beef are a professional indoor American football, indoor football team based in Omaha, Nebraska. The Beef plays their home games at Liberty First Credit Union Arena in nearby Ralston, Nebraska, Ralston. The Beef competes in the National ...

and the

Topeka Tropics The Topeka Tropics were a professional indoor football based in Topeka, Kansas, and played their home games at the Stormont Vail Events Center. The team originally folded after its inaugural 2022 season, but was renewed under new ownership befo ...

, the last of which would ultimately fold before the 2024 season. On August 8, 2023, the team announced they had joined the

History

Notable games

Players

Current roster

Bandits Ring of Honor

Staff

Season-by-season

Head coaches

References

External links