2005 by brothers Eric and Jeff Spitaleri and their friend Cory Trapp. The league's first franchise accepted was the Lehigh Valley Outlawz, who joined in late June, 2005. 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. While trying to attract teams, the league agreed to arena contracts before securing owners in efforts to attract owners in those specific market areas. They reached agreements with markets in Danville, Illinois, Battle Creek, Michigan, Rochester, New York, Port Huron, Michigan, Toledo, Ohio and Marion, Ohio. Of those markets, the league was able to sell ownership to four of them. In December, it was finalized that the league would begin with six teams in their inaugural season, with each team playing a 10-game season over a 12-week span. On April 7, 2006, the league held its first games with the Battle Creek Crunch hosting the Port Huron Pirates and the Rochester Raiders hosting the New York/New Jersey Revolution. The Crunch were defeated 62-22 by the Pirates, and the Raiders defeated the Revolution 71-13. The league's first playoff format was a four-team setup with the number-one seed hosting the number-four seed, and the number-two seed hosting the number-three seed. The semifinals featured a pair of blowout games, with Port Huron and Rochester advancing to Great Lakes Bowl I, which was to be played at McMorran Arena as Port Huron was the number-one seed on July 22. 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. 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. The West dominated, with a roster full of Port Huron's championship team. The 2007 season brought big changes, as the league changed its name to the Continental Indoor Football League, and the league expanded to 14 teams with only the Crunch not returning. The league suspended operations in October 2014, when the league's five remaining teams, the champion Erie Explosion, the Saginaw Sting, Marion Blue Racers, Chicago Blitz, and Northern Kentucky River Monsters, either suspended operations or joined other leagues. Shortly thereafter,