The River Kings joined the Indoor Football League (IFL) as an expansion team in 2011 known as the Cedar Rapids Titans and first took the field for the 2012 season.

During the 2018 season, the Titans were sold to new ownership and announced that they would rebrand for 2019 with a name-the-team contest,[1] eventually taking on the Cedar Rapids River Kings name.

In August 2011, it was announced that the Cedar Rapids Titans would become an expansion team of the Indoor Football League for the 2012 season owned by Chris Kokalis, Bob Sullivan and Kenneth Moninski.

[5] Titans' general manager, Chris Kolalis stated, "We believe that Cedar Rapids is a fantastic market to bring a team into.

[7] The Titans lost their pre-season warm-up against Green Bay but began the 2013 regular season with three straight wins in a home-and-home series with Chicago and hosting the new Texas Revolution franchise out of Allen.

The Titans were tasked with replacing 2014 starting quarterback Spencer Ohm, while also losing the IFL's leading rusher, LaRon Council.

[16] In June, it was announced that the Titans had been sold to Roy Choi, a California-based businessman, with the intentions of keeping the team Cedar Rapids.

[17] In a letter to fans posted on the team's website on August 17, 2018, new general manager Ryan Eucker announced that the Titans' name and identity would be replaced as part of a rebranding process after the ownership change.

[1] On August 20, 2018, Eucker announced a name-the-team contest to select a new team name and identity with submissions due by September 5.

[18] On September 22, the team announced their new name as the Cedar Rapids River Kings with a new logo and color scheme to be unveiled by mid-October.

[2] On September 25, 2018, general manager Ryan Eucker announced that Mark Stoute had returned as the head coach of the River Kings.

The River Kings scheduled a limited slate of games between the Coralville Chaos (also owned by Montero) and the West Michigan Ironmen, who join AIF after having operated its own league Great Lakes Arena Football the previous two seasons, among a handful of games against other midwestern indoor football teams.