Playing with ten teams in two conferences spread across the midwestern and western United States, the league's regular season kicked off on February 16, 2017, when the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles hosted the Nebraska Danger.
The regular season ended 18 weeks later on June 18, 2017, with the defending league champion Sioux Falls Storm visiting the Iowa Barnstormers and the Wichita Falls Nighthawks visiting the Nebraska Danger.
[1][2] For 2017, the IFL maintained its two-conference, no-divisions format, with each of the ten teams playing 16 games during the 18-week regular season.
The Billings Wolves and Tri-Cities Fever announced their suspension of operations for the 2017 season, maintaining hope of a return for 2018.
[3][4] In their place, the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles (owned by Project FANchise, with fans controlling every aspect of the team) were accepted into the IFL as an expansion team,[5] and the Arizona Rattlers joined the IFL after having played the last 24 seasons in the Arena Football League.