The Rochester Raiders were founded in 2006 as a charter member of the newly created Great Lakes Indoor Football League (GLIFL).

There were a small number of fans concerned with copyright between the team's logo and the National Football League's Oakland Raiders.

The Raiders' first home venue was the ESL Sports Centre in Brighton (a suburb of Rochester, now known as Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex).

However, they would ultimately fall to the Port Huron Pirates by a score of 40–34 in Great Lakes Bowl I, the GLIFL championship game.

[1] Rochester kept most of its championship-caliber core together, re-signing quarterbacks Mike Mikolaichik, Matt Cottingem, and Omar Baker; running backs Jamil Porter and Dee Glanton; wide receivers Maurice Jackson, Chris Carter, Noah Fahrenbauch, and Derrick Dyer; offensive linemen Mike Kallfeltz and Eric Jendryaszek; linebackers Jason Coley and James Vann; defensive linemen Mike Condello, Terrence Dawson, Steve Marriott, and Tom Parks; defensive backs Chris Shaw, Darius Smith, Makis Whitaker, and Jeff Richardson; and kicker Adam Lanctot.

The team also added tight end / defensive end TJ Cottrell (son of Ted Cottrell), wide receiver Darryl Fragger, running back Felix Joyner, defensive lineman Steve Fleming (all three from Port Huron), running back / wide receiver Mark Bly and linebacker Brenton Brady (both from Miami Valley) by way of free agency.

The mix of holdovers from the 2007 club with players from free agency proved to be a winning combination as the team was wildly successful in 2008.

However, the Raiders withdrew from the CIFL playoffs on June 8, 2008, after the Flint Phantoms failed to show up for a Sunday afternoon game.