Billings fans take the new indoor football team back to the future nickname | Football

BILLING If you succeed at first, why not try again?

This apparently thinks of Billings indoor football supporters who voted to flee to baptize the city’s new Champions indoor football team Outlaws into a nostalgic nod to the franchise group that built a loyal club as a three-time champion in various indoor iterations from 2000-10.

In a public competition sponsored by The Billings Gazette and EconoPrint, nearly 400 names were sent to Tommy Benizio, a consultant whose firm in Benizio Sports Dallas has helped facilitate the return of indoor football to Billings.

The Outlaws were the clear winner, said Benizio, who was in town Wednesday and took on the Mustangs baseball game with Outlaws co-owner Keith Rust. I really feel like the community chose this name. I hear nothing but stories of family memories and positive experiences that people had with Billings Outlaws a decade ago.

Said Rust: I’m happy with the name Outlaws. That was the name I wanted. Compared to Id, it was probably the best.

Benezio said he only remembers one of the other three finalists: Magicians. I thought it was pretty cool, he said.

But Outlaws is synonymous with successful indoor football in The Magic City.

The team earned playoffs in eight of 11 seasons, winning Titles in 2006 and then in 2009 in front of more than 8,000 spectators at MetraPark, now First Interstate Arena. They also won a year later at the sold-out Sports Plex when a tornado tore the roof off the Metro.

However, the Tornado proved to affect the Outlaws death, and the team folded after the season. With the exception of the two-year period with Billings Wolves in 2015-16, Billings has been without indoor football.

I know pretty much about the Outlaws while they’re here, said Rust, who also owns the CIF Gillette Mustangs and spends most of her time between Wyoming and West South Dakota. They had a pretty good run.

The Rusts Gillette team went 4-8 in the first season, but the Mustangs didn’t lack enthusiasm in Northeast Wyoming. The team’s first five games were sold out, he said, and the team won two of the league’s best fan base awards.

It’s been fantastic, Rust said.

He said the Gillettes model will also be planted in Billings. This includes the team’s extensive involvement in the community, especially with players who connect with fans.

The Mustangs, according to Rust, required players to be on the field for 15 minutes after each game to mingle with the crowd. Outlaws do the same.

We were out in the community every day, he said. We got to where everyone knew us.

After the April announcement, when indoor football returned to Billings, Rust said the team has hired a general manager and sales staff. He said he and Pick-Six Entertainment partner Tel Telen expect to hire a head coach in September.

We’ve got so many sequels that we have to go through, he said. When we announced a coaching search, we overloaded our resumes.

Rust said he was looking for a coach with a real fan-oriented, real community-oriented person with players out in the community, like fans. Only a real character with as much experience as they can bring.

Outlaws is also working to form a dance group. Operations personnel will be hired closer to the start of the season in March, Rust said.

In 2021, Champions Indoor Football had active teams in Salina, Wichita and Dodge City in Kansas; Omaha, Nebraska; Sioux City, Iowa; and Gillette. Omaha won the league title 40-39 on July 17 over Salina, led by former Outlaws coach Heron ONeal. Two teams from Texas and one from Oklahoma were passive; another expansion team from Denver will give the league 10 active teams for 2022.

In the future, Rust will know that hell has shared his allegiances for the first time with Billings and Gillette meeting during next year’s 12 match seasons.

Right, he said. I probably wouldn’t root for either team. I hope it ends in a draw.