Arkansas Stars
The Arkansas Stars are a professional Indoor football team based out of Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. They are planning to found the Ultimate Indoor Football League in 2007. They play their home games at Randal Tyson Track Center on the University of Arkansas campus. The team was a 2006 expansion member of the National Indoor Football League.
Notable players include receiver Darrian Chestnut and defensive tackle Chris Charles (who weighs 467 pounds). Also, their clutch kicker Stephen Arnold. Arnold joined the team after three games and made an immediate impact by nailing the game winning extra point in overtime of his first game to give the Stars their first franchise win.
The team had announced their move to the Ultimate Indoor Football League in 2007, then were linked to the NAIFL when the UIFL and NAIFL announced their merger. When the NAIFL decided not to begin operations, Stars management announced that the UIFL would play in 2007.
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Several global companies are headquartered in the northwest corner of Arkansas, including Wal-Mart (the world's largest public corporation by revenue in 2007), J.B. Hunt and Tyson Foods. This area of the state has experienced an economic boom since the 1970s as a result.
In recent years, automobile parts manufacturers have opened factories in eastern Arkansas to support auto plants in other states. Additionally, the city of Conway is the site of a school bus factory.
Tourism is also very important to the Arkansas economy; the official state nickname "The Natural State" was originally created (as "Arkansas Is A Natural") for state tourism advertising in the 1970s, and is still regularly used to this day.
The Track Center is home to the Arkansas Razorback Track Program that has earned 42 National NCAA Track & Field Championships. The Center has hosted several national events including the Tyson Track & Field Invitational, NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships. The Randal Tyson Track center can host many events such as concerts, sporting events, trade shows, etc.
The NAIFL started after a failed attempt by Greens Worldwide Incorporated, owner of the outdoor North American Football League, to purchase the American Indoor Football League in early 2006. The Ultimate Indoor Football League was a breakaway from the NIFL. Both were proposed as 8-team leagues, with plans to start in spring 2007. The leagues merged in the fall of 2006.
Only two teams had publicly announced their entry to the league. The Arkansas Stars, a team that played their inaugural season in the NIFL, later announced that the UIFL had separated from the merger and was planning to play in 2007. The other team, the Conroe Storm, moved to the APFL. According to the defunct UIFL website, seven teams had committed to play, with more to come.
