National Indoor Soccer League (NISL)

The National Indoor Soccer League (NISL) is an indoor soccer league which began play in 2008. Originally, five teams had been announced to play in the inaugural season; four previously in the Major Indoor Soccer League and one formerly in the American Indoor Soccer League. However, the Orlando Sharks (formerly of the MISL) were forced to go inactive because of scheduling conflicts with Amway Arena. Later, the Massachusetts Twisters were brought in from the AISL to take the Sharks' place.

Baltimore Blast

The Baltimore Blast were founded by software designer Bill Stealey as the Baltimore Spirit at the end of July 1992 and joined the National Professional Soccer League. The team replaced the earlier Baltimore Blast, who folded along with the original MISL. When the team was purchased by Ed Hale, a former owner of the original team, the Spirit were renamed the Blast in 1998 (Hale had the rights to the Blast name, hence the reason why the team decided to change its name) and joined the new Major Indoor Soccer League in 2001. After the MISL folded in 2008, the team announced it would be joining the new National Indoor Soccer League. The team plays their home matches at the 1st Mariner Arena and train at the DuBurns Arena, both located in Baltimore, Maryland. The teams colors are Red and Gold.

Massachusetts Twisters

The Massachusetts Twisters were one of the charter members of the American Indoor Soccer League and are owned Paul LaPointe, the original commissioner of the AISL. The Twister's home field in the The Big E Coliseum. The Massachusetts Twisters franchise is also directly affiliated with the Junior Twisters, who play in the Massachusetts Advanced Players League.
On March 31, 2007, having won the regular season in the AISL with 25 points, the Twisters hosted the AISL Championship against the Rockford Thunder, who had earned 23 points on the season. The Twisters prevailed 11-5 over the Thunder and claimed the league championship.
In 2007-08, the Twisters finished second in the AISL regular season standings with a 7-7 record. This led to a championship game rematch with the Rockford team, now known as the Rampage, which finished with a 12-1 regular season record. A few days before the championship game, the Twisters' coach resigned and several players quit the team, apparently because Twisters management refused to pay for air travel for the team and required the players to drive to Rockford, Illinois instead. This led to a farcical championship game in which the Rampage destroyed the Twisters by an 18-5 score.
The Twisters originally announced that they would go on hiatus for the 2008-09 season. However, they later announced that they will play in the new National Indoor Soccer League, replacing the Orlando Sharks. In their first NISL game on November 15, 2008, the Twisters lost 34-11 to the Philadelphia Kixx.

Monterrey La Raza

The current version of the Monterrey La Raza indoor soccer team began play in fall 2007 at Arena Monterrey as a member of the Major Indoor Soccer League. On July 17, 2007, the MISL officially announced that La Raza would enter the league for the 2007-2008 season.
According to a published article in the Baltimore Sun newspaper, dated October 13th 2006, the owner of this new Monterrey franchise also owns the building in which the team will play. La Raza play their home games in Arena Monterrey, owned by TV Azteca, the second largest Mexican television network. TV Azteca also owns La Raza.
TV Azteca has acquired the rights to the Monterrey La Raza name from the owner of the original CISL / WISL franchise, Pedro Luis Durán.
The team was successful in their lone MISL season, reaching the league's championship game before losing to the Baltimore Blast. When the MISL folded, La Raza announced they would be joining the NISL for its inaugural 2008-09 season. They also announced an exhibition schedule against PASL teams for the 2008-09 season.

Philadelphia KiXX

The Philadelphia KiXX are an indoor soccer team, founded in 1995 as an NPSL expansion franchise, that play their games at the Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The team's original owner was Ed Tepper, who had been one of the co-founders of the original MISL. Initially, the KiXX were one of the better drawing teams in the league, but their attendance fell at the turn of the century. In 2001, the KiXX along with five other NPSL franchises founded the new Major Indoor Soccer League. The KiXX won the first MISL championship (2001-2002 season) over the Milwaukee Wave 2 games to 1 (4 to 11, 11 to 4, 8 to 6) in the best of three game championship series. The KiXX also won the 2006-2007 MISL championship defeating the Detroit Ignition 13 to 8 in a one game championship. After the MISL folded in 2008, the KiXX announced that they had joined the National Indoor Soccer League for its inaugural season in 2008-09.
With the demolition of the Wachovia Spectrum following the 2008 season, the Philadelphia KiXX announced their plans to move to the Liacouras Center, on the campus of Temple University, for 2009.

Rockford Rampage

The Rampage are owned by Pro Soccer International, a group managed by Michael O'Flaherty and Oscar Albuquerque, a former member of the former National Professional Soccer League's Illinois Thunder and the 1980 Canadian Olympic qualifying team. The team currently makes its home in the Rockford MetroCentre.
On October 7 & 8th, 2006, try-outs were held for the Thunder at the ISC. 24 players arrived from various soccer backgrounds. Some had played locally with the Rockford Raptors, but other players had played in various leagues including: Segunda división mexicana, Tercera división mexicana, Primera División Uruguaya, 2 Liga Polska, USL First Division, and Premier Development League (PDL).
On March 10, 2007, after defeating the Cincinnati Excite 5-4 with a late goal by Ante Cop, the Thunder secured a position in the AISL finals to face the Massachusetts Twisters.
On March 31, 2007, the Thunder traveled to West Springfield, Massachusetts for the AISL Championship. The Twister claimed the championship winning 11-5.
On August 7, 2007 the AISL announced that the Thunder had changed their name to the Rampage. This is most likely due to the Texas Thunder of the NPF moving to Rockford.
The Rampage finished the 2007-08 AISL regular season with a 12-1 record. They defeated the Massachusetts Twisters 18-5 in the AISL championship game at home on March 15, 2008.
On September 9, 2008, the Rampage announced they were joining the new National Indoor Soccer League for its inaugural season in 2008-09.