Post by David on Dec 9, 2015 23:19:07 GMT -8
Spokane's 2016 Home Opponents. They will play Billings and Tri-Cities twice at home (image credit: Spokane Empire (background only))
This is the revised schedule for the newly re-branded Spokane Empire. The schedule was revised due to the IFL's termination of the Minnesota Axemen and Minnesota Havok. For the original post about the Spokane Shock's old schedule for comparison, click here.
The Empire enter their inaugural season in the IFL after spending the past 10 years as members of the Arena Football League/arenafootball2 as the Spokane Shock. They open up on the road against the Tri-Cities Fever at the Toyota Center on February 19. The game against the Fever will reestablish the infamous Tri-City/Spokane rivalry. The Spokane Shock and the Fever battled against each other in the af2 from 2007-2009, with Spokane holding a 7-1 series advantage.
Spokane will play in the Intense Conference. This season, Spokane will play geographic rivals Tri-Cities and Billings four times each (2 home, 2 away).
The Empire, who were originally scheduled to open at home on February 27th against the Fever, will face the Wichita Falls Nighthawks in their only regular season meeting of the season. Spokane will then go nearly a month without football, with a lone game at Billings while serving all 3 of its bye weeks in March.
Spokane will also battle Intense Conference foes Colorado Crush and the Nebraska Danger. The Empire will have Home and Home dates with the Crush, while the one meeting against Nebraska will be on the road. Spokane will play a pair of Home and Home games against 5-time defending United Bowl champion Sioux Falls Storm and two match ups versus former a former af2/AFL foe in the Iowa Barnstormers. They will not face the Cedar Rapids Titans and the Green Bay Blizzard this season.
The IFL's schedule provides that all 10 teams plays 16 games (8 home/8 away) over 19 weeks, with each team getting three bye weeks. The league will observe a league-wide bye week after the regular season ends during Fourth of July Weekend (July 1-July 3). The playoffs begin the weekend of July 8 and wrap up with the United Bowl Championship during the weekend of July 22.
The following is Spokane's 2016 schedule (times are pacific; bold engine orange denotes home games). Television and streaming listings have been listed as they have been released. All Empire games will be broadcast on local radio and online at 700 ESPN. On the television side, total of four home games will be broadcast on SWX. There's no word as to how many Empire road games will air on SWX, but since Billings and Tri-Cities have their own SWX affiliates, it's logical to presume those 4 road games, could be broadcast in Spokane. We will provide updates as information becomes available. All IFL games, including the playoffs and the United Bowl, are streamed on IFLLIVE.TV, but it requires a pay subscription.
FEBRUARY
Week 1 -- Sat., February 20 - Spokane Empire at Tri-Cities Fever (W 60-51)
Week 2 -- Sat., February 27 - Wichita Falls Nighthawks at Spokane Empire (W 66-65)
MARCH
Week 3 -- BYE
Week 4 -- Sat., March 12 - Spokane Empire at Billings Wolves (L 22-30)
Week 5 -- BYE
Week 6 -- BYE
APRIL
Week 7 -- Fri., April 1 - Iowa Barnstormers at Spokane Empire (W 54-51)
Week 8 -- Sat., April 9 - Colorado Crush at Spokane Empire (W 97-72)
Week 9 -- Sat., April 16 - Spokane Empire at Iowa Barnstormers (W 54-34)
Week 10 -- Sat., April 23 - Spokane Empire at Tri-Cities Fever (W 52-39)
Week 11 -- Fri., April 29 - Tri-Cities Fever at Spokane Empire (W 53-51)
MAY
Week 12 -- Sat., May 7 - Billings Wolves at Spokane Empire (W 75-28)
Week 13 -- Sat., May 14 - Spokane Empire at Sioux Falls Storm (L 50-63)
Week 14 -- Fri., May 20 - Tri-Cities Fever at Spokane Empire (W 45-23)
Week 15 -- Fri., May 27 - Spokane Empire at Colorado Crush (W 55-44)
JUNE
Week 16 -- Sat., June 4 - Billings Wolves at Spokane Empire (W 51-41)
Week 17 -- Fri., June 10 - Spokane Empire at Nebraska Danger (W 25-23)
Week 18 -- Sat., June 18 - Sioux Falls Storm at Spokane Empire (L 35-59)
Week 19 -- Sat., June 25 - Spokane Empire at Billings Wolves (L 21-35)
PLAYOFFS
JULY
Wild Card -- BYE
Conference Championship -- Sun., July 17 - Nebraska Danger at Spokane Empire (W 55-44)
United Bowl -- Sat., July 23 - Spokane Empire at Sioux Falls Storm (L 34-55)
OPPONENTS' ARENAS
Billings Wolves - Rimrock Auto Arena; Billings, Montana
Colorado Crush - Budweiser Events Center; Loveland, Colorado
Iowa Barnstormers - Wells Fargo Arena; Des Moines, Iowa
Nebraska Danger - Eihusen Arena; Grand Island, Nebraska
Sioux Falls Storm - Denny Sanford Premier Center; Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Tri-Cities Fever - Toyota Center; Kennewick, Washington
Click here to view the week-by-week schedule for the IFL's 2016 season.
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Graphic courtesy of David.