Playing with ten teams in two conferences located primarily in mid-level cities in the central United States, the league's regular season kicked off on February 20, 2016 and ended on June 24, 2016.
The team was originally going to be called the Spokane Shock after the owner of the franchise decided to leave the Arena Football League on September 1, 2015, for the IFL due to easier regional travel.
[4] The IFL originally announced that it would continue with a two-conference format, but would return to having two divisions in each conference, with each of the 12 teams playing 16 games during the 18-week regular season.
[5] However, prior to the season, the league terminated the two Minnesota teams and returned to a division-less two conference format.
On September 9, 2015, the IFL announced the Minnesota Havok would join the league for the 2016 season.