The league looked to establish teams in unrecognized U.S. markets such as Birmingham, Alabama; Memphis, Tennessee; Las Vegas, Nevada; Orlando, Florida; Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; and San Antonio, Texas.

In January 2016, the MLFB held a draft for eight teams based on territory and announced seven general managers (Jerry Hardaway, Rodney Knox, Gerald Loper, Glenn Smith, Quintin Smith, Stephen Videtich and Martin Prince) and eight head coaches (Dave Campo, Charlie Collins, Ted Cottrell, Robert Ford, Wayne 'Buddy' Geis, Galen Hall, Larry Kirksey and Chris Miller).

[14] The league continued to push forward in an attempt to start games in April 2016, but was unable to come up with the needed financials in order to operate a full season.

[17] The trademarked names were:[18] Alabama Airborne,[19] Arkansas Attack, Florida Fusion, Northwest Empire, Ohio Union, Oklahoma Nation, Oregon Crash, Texas Independence, Utah Stand and Virginia Armada[20] In early 2017, the league registered websites for some of their teams that listed eight teams in the league: Alabama Airbourne,[21] Arkansas Attack,[22] Florida Fusion,[22] Ohio Union,[23] Oklahoma Nation,[22] Oregon Crash,[24] Texas Independence,[25] and Virginia Armada.

On April 25, 2018, MLFB filed a Form 10-K with the intent to restart the league with an abbreviated 2018 season beginning in June or July prior to fully launching in March 2019.

[32][33] By July 2019, the league stated it was planning a 2020 start with six teams and that it had agreed to purchase most of the equipment from the recently defunct Alliance of American Football (AAF).

[34] The AAF equipment had been bought by former Arena Football League commissioner Jerry Kurz in a bankruptcy auction earlier that month.

[35] In January 2020, CEO Frank Murtha stated that MLFB is "a developmental showcase league, with games in May and June in six midsize cities - Little Rock, Arkansas; Norfolk, Virginia; Canton, Ohio; and so on - that aren't served by the NFL or, for that matter, Major League Baseball" and said that the annual operating budget will be in the "ballpark of $30 million" as a single entity.

[44] Three days later MLFB launched a new website and revealed that there will be only four teams for the first season: Virginia Armada, Arkansas Attack, Ohio Force and Alabama Airborne.

[50] There are also reports that MLFB was closing in on a broadcast deal with a major media partner and had plans to provide coverage that focused on how coaches were developing players and helping them grow to the next level.

[50] MLFB continued to make news as they announced one definitive term sheet offering a $7.5 million equity line of credit.

[7] On July 28, 2022, players from the Alabama Airborne and two other teams were abruptly evicted from the hotels where they were being housed over unpaid bills and reports from coaches that the league had "shut down" prior to the start of the season.

[58] Four days later it was reported that MLFB employees’ paychecks were "reversed",[59] while the league official website was shut down as a result of unpaid bills.

[62] On August 18, 2022, Murtha announced the league was moving forward with operations for a full season for 2023 and that MLFB had received from an institution an initial stock equity term sheet in the amount of $2,500,000, which it was reviewing.

[63] On March 14, 2023, the league announced they in "extensive and active discussions with a major broadcast company" and they "anticipate that our games will be in June and July with training camp in May, 2023".