Reno Express

The Reno Express are a professional indoor football team in Reno, Nevada. They play their home games at the Reno Events Center during the 2019 American West Football Conference (AFC) season.[1] They were the first professional football team to play in Reno since the Reno Barons played part of a season in 2011.[2] The team withdrew from the AWFC 2020 season about a month prior to the start of the season,[3] but stated they had plans to return in 2021.[4]

Reno Express
Established 2019
Play in Reno, Nevada
at Reno Events Center
GoRenoExpress.com
League/conference affiliations
American West Football Conference (2019)
Team colorsBlack, red, silver, white
       
Personnel
Owner(s)Platinum Events & Security LLC
PresidentChris Reynolds
Head coachTroy Hansen
Team history
  • Reno Express (2019)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)
Playoff appearances (1)
  • 2019
Home arena(s)
Reno Events Center (2019)

History

On October 15, 2018, the American West Football Conference (AWFC) was founded by the Idaho Horsemen and announced the Express, Tri-Cities Fire, and Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks as the inaugural members.[5] The Express are owned by Platinum Events & Security LLC, the organization that also own the Idaho Horsemen and operates the AWFC.

Anthony Bartley was the team's first head coach, but left the team after five games and a 2–3 record. He was replaced by assistant Troy Hansen to finish the season with a 6–6 record and the third seed in the playoffs. The Express traveled to Wenatchee, Washington and defeated the Skyhawks 28–27 to advance to the first championship game against the undefeated Idaho Horsemen. Prior the championship game, the team started a GoFundMe fundraiser in order to pay for their trip to Idaho claiming a former associate had been stealing money from the organization.[6] They made it to Boise, and lost 40–20.

Logo change and controversy

The team's original announced logo bore a resemblance to the logo of the Round Rock Express, a Minor League Baseball team. Because the Round Rock team owned the trademarks to the logo, the Reno team was forced to change their primary logo. The team's Facebook page was updated with a temporary logo on October 15, 2018,[7] which was ultimately scrapped in favor of their another logo in late October 2018.

2019 standings

Final standings.[8]

2019 American West Football Conference
Team W L PCT PF PA GB STK
y — Idaho Horsemen 1201.000597331—W12
x – Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks 66.5004613816W2
x – Reno Express 66.5003393966W1
Tri-Cities Fire 012.00030359212L12

y – clinched regular season title

x – clinched playoff spot

References
  1. "Western US based indoor football league forming for 2019". Arena Football Talk. October 21, 2018.
  2. "Reno Barons Inaugural Season Over, Personnel Not Paid". KTVN. June 22, 2011.
  3. "Yakima Canines set for arena football at the SunDome". Yakima Herald. February 26, 2020.
  4. "THE TRI-CITIES FIRE UN-EXPECTANTLY CLOSES UP SHOP!". AWFC. February 28, 2020.
  5. "A DECISION HAS BEEN MADE". AWFC Insider. October 15, 2018.
  6. "Championship Game Go Fund Me". Facebook. July 23, 2019.
  7. "Reno Express Indoor Football - Posts". Facebook. October 15, 2018.
  8. "AWFC Standings". AWFC. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
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