It began play in April 2006 as the Great Lakes Indoor Football League (GLIFL).

It was formed by Jeff Spitaleri, his brother Eric, and a third member, Cory Trapp, all from the Canton, Ohio, area.

[1] However, the league, like other indoor football associations, was plagued by folding franchises and unenforceable policies throughout its existence.

For example, the 2006 champion Port Huron Pirates were found to have been paying some of their players over the league salary cap.

The league also failed to return the Raiders' owners' emergency fund deposit, which was collected specifically to protect against such occurrences.

[2] The CIFL is among several indoor football leagues that maintained a mostly regional operation, with most of its teams clustered in the Midwestern United States.

[5] The Great Lakes Indoor Football League was founded in 2005 by brothers Eric and Jeff Spitaleri and their friend Cory Trapp.

[6] The league's first franchise accepted was the Lehigh Valley Outlawz, who joined in late June, 2005.

[7] During the league's first season, it cost a new owner a $15,000 franchising fee, with a capped salary of $5,400 per team, per week, with no player earning more than $300 per game.

[15] The Pirates were able shut down the Raiders' offense for most of the second half, earning a 40–34 victory for Port Huron, thus completing the first undefeated season in league history.

[16] At the conclusion of the first season, the league also put together an All-Star Game at Stabler Arena, where they split up three teams each for an East vs. West matchup.

[20] On August 23, 2015, it was announced that the CIFL would return for the 2016 season (playing an interlocking schedule with another proposed league, Supreme Indoor Football, as part of the Indoor Football Alliance) and the Explosion, Sting, and Blue Racers will return to the CIFL as a result.

Fields may vary in size due to physical constraints within facility, with CIFL permission.

Padded dasher board walls around the entire field acted as an extension of the ground (only "out of bounds" if contact made by opposing player that forces player into the dasher wall, much like a 'down by contact' rule).

Starting in 2013, teams were allowed to expand their active rosters from 19 players to 21, and are required to carry a backup quarterback and kicker.

Clocks stopped only for incomplete passes and out-of-bounds plays during the final minute of the second and fourth quarters.

Linemen must rush inside if nose up or slanted into if shaded, and they must make contact before any movement to the outside is made.

The current rule reads: The CIFL regular season consists of a schedule of 10 games for each team.

In the league's first season, 2006, the playoff format featured a 1-4 seed based on their W-L-T records.

The winners advanced to the Great Lakes Bowl I, and the highest remaining seed hosted.

From that point, the matchups would remain the same as the previous year, with the exception that the winners of each divisional playoff would meet in the CIFL Championship Game.

[29] The Saginaw Sting was the franchise with the most time in the league; they completed their fourth season at the end of 2014.

Individual teams are free to work out deals with their local affiliates to broadcast their games.