The Tri-City Rush were a professional indoor football team based out of

Pasco, Washington Pasco ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Washington, United States. The population was 77,108 at the 2020 census, and estimated at 80,038 in 2023. Pasco is one of three cities (the others being Kennewick and Richland) t ...

, with home games at the HAPO Center during the 2021 and 2022 seasons. They were owned by Rage Sports, LLC, and were members of the

American West Football Conference The American West Football Conference (AWFC) was a professional indoor American football minor league created in 2018 by Platinum Events & Security, LLC, the owners of the Idaho Horsemen. The league's inaugural season was in 2019. Players were ...

. They were the third arena/indoor team to play in the Tri-City region preceded by the

Tri-Cities Fever The Tri-Cities Fever was a professional indoor American football, indoor football franchise based in Kennewick, Washington. The Fever joined National Indoor Football League (NIFL) in 2005 as an expansion team. The Fever were owned by Teri Carr. ...

of NIFL,

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

and the

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 ...

and the Tri-Cities Fire of the AWFC. They folded in 2022 after playing two seasons and winning two league championships, citing financial difficulties.

History

The Rush replaced the Tri-Cities Fire after that team folded due to financial difficulties resulting from the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in 2020. The team played two seasons in 2021 and 2022 coached by owner Brandon Tate. They played their home game at the HAPO Center, a smaller arena than the

Toyota Center Toyota Center is an indoor arena located in Houston, Texas, United States. It is named after the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The arena is home to the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and it was once th ...

, previously used by the Tri-Cities Fire and the

before ''them''. They won the AWFC's American West Bowl in the two seasons they competed. Unfortunately, due to not being able to secure funding to continue, the team folded in 2022. Tate would go on to be assistant coach of the

Oregon Blackbears The Oregon Blackbears were a professional Indoor American football, indoor football team based in Salem, Oregon. They were announced as one of the inaugural teams for the revived Arena Football League (2024), Arena Football League (AFL), beginni ...

of the ill-fated revival 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 ...

in 2024 and the

Oregon Lightning The Oregon Lightning are a professional indoor football team based in Redmond, Oregon. They were founded in 2020 and began playing football as members of the American West Football Conference in 2021, known then as the Oregon High Desert Storm ...

of Arena Football One in 2025.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
(web archive)
American West Football Conference website
American football teams in Washington (state) American football teams established in 2021 2021 establishments in Washington (state)

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

Kennewick, Washington Defunct indoor American football teams 2022 disestablishments in Washington (state) American football teams disestablished in 2022 American West Conference football