Great Lakes Arena Football
American sports league
The Great Lakes Arena Football (GLAF) is a professional American indoor football minor league based in the Great Lakes region in the United States whose operations are currently dormant.
The GLAF was designed to be a regional "bus league" with minimal travel, while league member West Michigan Ironmen have direct control over league operations and membership. The Ironmen joined American Indoor Football on December 25, 2024.
In June 2026, GLAF merged with American Indoor Football.
History
After the 2021 American Arena League season concluded, Charlotte Thunder, West Michigan Ironmen and Pennsylvania Union left to form their own league (Arena Professional Football League), with the intent to run a five-team eight-week APFL schedule will run from April 16 through June 4, 2022. But by the time the season started only two Charlotte and Michigan were operating, and the Ironmen ended up playing an independent schedule. That experience, in addition to traveling costs, led them to form a league of their own called "Great Lakes Arena Alliance".
2023 season
For its first season the GLAA planned that five teams would participate in the league's inaugural 2023 season starting on March 4: Chicago Power, Southern Michigan Apex, Battle Creek Smoke, West Michigan Ironmen and Ohio Blitz, but Chicago were removed just before the season started. All remaining teams advanced to the playoffs, with the Ironmen winning the inaugural league championship, after beating the Southern Michigan Apex 81–25.
2024 season
For the 2024 season the league changed its name to Great Lakes Arena Football and featured a seven team lineup: the Battle Creek (MI) Smoke, Detroit Knights (originally the Detroit Dark Knights), Michigan Avengerz (Farmington, MI), Ohio Boom (Dayton), Toledo Extreme Shamrocks, West Michigan Ironmen (Muskegon) and Tri-State Bucks (Pioneer, OH).
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