After more than a year of preparation and anticipation, pro football is taking the field in Hamilton County. The Fishers Freight of the Indoor Football League, which began its season on March 29 in Arizona, will kick off its inaugural home schedule Friday, April 4, at Fishers Event Center.
The Freight is coached by Dixie Wooten, who was twice named IFL Coach of the Year during his three-year run with the Iowa Barnstormers, featuring an IFL championship in 2018. He knows what winning football at this level looks like, and he says Fishers will have a good product on day one.
“For our first year, we are excited and ready to go,” Wooten said. “We have great experience in the right places. We have a lot of great pieces and we can make a run for it. We have the right guys to compete for the championship.”
An established offensive mind in the indoor game, Wooten cites the team’s strengths on offense. Wooten says the team has several players who have had chances in the NFL and played major college football. The team also has a local flavor in running back Jon Lewis, who played at nearby University of Indianapolis.
In the NFL, the average game has 42 total points scored. In the IFL, games average 97 points. It’s a fast-paced, high-scoring game, and Wooten knows how to put points on the board. In his most recent stop, he was offensive coordinator for the perennial power Bay Area Panthers, helping the team climb from the bottom of the offensive statistics to the top. Wooten helped Bay Area to the IFL title in 2023.
When considering the atmosphere and fast-paced game play, indoor football is a strong play for Fishers Event Center. The games will primarily be on Fridays and Saturdays, and the last home game will be on July 25. Besides the on-field action, the Freight is building a fan-friendly and exciting sports property. Upcoming promotions can be found on the Freight’s schedule page, and soon, the arena’s outdoor spaces will draw fan interest.
“We’ve sold about 1,800 season tickets so far,” Wooten said. “It’s a great state-of-the-art facility. The locker rooms and field are amazing. The fans are right on top, so it’ll be a great home-field advantage.”
The Fishers Event Center in Hamilton County opened this fall and holds close to 7,000 spectators. The other two professional teams in the building, the hockey club Indy Fuel and volleyball franchise Indy Ignite, have drawn great crowds and enjoyed great success in their first seasons in the new arena. The Pro Volleyball Federation recently hosted its inaugural all-star match there in February. The Indy Fuel’s ownership group and front office run operations for the Freight. The hockey-football combination has had a grand opening year.
“It’s been great, we are in it together and have everything we need,” Wooten said. “The Fuel atmosphere is great and we have a good situation.”
Wooten says game days at Fishers Event Center will be “a blast.” He promises a fast and exciting game for each of the team’s eight home games.
“I call it a big party when you come to an indoor football game.”
Learn more about pro football in Hamilton County at FishersFreightFootball.com.
