The Indoor Football League National Championship Game returns to Tucson this Sunday for the second year running, as the TCCÂ Arena will again play host for the season finale.
While the Tucson Sugar Skulls failed to make the cut, IFL fans can catch the Western Conference champion No. 3-seeded Arizona Rattlers take on the No. 1 overall seeded Green Bay Blizzard on Sunday at 4:30 p.m.
“This is what every player, coach and fan has been building toward all season,” IFL commissioner Todd Tryon said. “Championship weekend is more than just one game. It’s a celebration of our league, our teams and our incredible fans. Tucson has become an outstanding host, and we’re excited to bring another unforgettable championship experience to Southern Arizona.”
Here are the storylines to follow for Sunday’s title game.
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Road warrior Rattlers
Among the most successful franchises in indoor football history, the Rattlers have won seven championships dating back to 1994. In 1997, Arizona won its second championship, ArenaBowl XI, beating the Iowa Barnstormers 55-33 at home in Phoenix.
Since then, all five of the Rattlers’ championship wins have come on the road. ArenaBowl XXV in 2013 was a victory in New Orleans. XXVI and XXVII, the second and third chapters of Arizona’s three-peat, were in Orlando and Cleveland.
Arizona’s next title, the 2017 win in the United Bowl, came in Sioux Falls, S.D., against the hosting Storm. The Rattlers’ 2024 IFL National Championship victory was obtained in Las Vegas.
Arizona head coach and team president Kevin Guy, the winningest and most accomplished coach in arena/indoor football history, has racked up many achievements in his time with the team. However, since he came aboard as head coach in 2008, Guy and the Rattlers have never won the title on Arizona soil.
“We’ve won five titles since I’ve been with the team and they’ve all come on the road in different cities,” Guy recalled. “We were either a lower seed and had to play the higher seed at their home site or at a neutral site. So I haven’t had an opportunity to win one in the state of Arizona. I would love to accomplish that before my time is up.”
Leaning on local representation
The drive from the Rattlers’ home, Desert Diamond Arena, to the Tucson Convention Center Arena is roughly two hours and 130 miles.
According to IFL data, 1,977 fans attended the Rattlers’ 2024 championship win in Las Vegas. In 2025, the first of the three-year block to hold the title game in Tucson, 3,251 fans attended the Vegas and Green Bay matchup.
The Rio Nuevo board of directors struck a deal with the IFL back in November 2024 to bring the league’s title game to Tucson from 2025 to 2027, spending roughly $1 million to secure the dates.
With Tucson hosting the game, Guy and his players hope the shorter trip will lead to larger crowds, potentially creating a home-away-from-home environment.
“I would really like to see Rattler Nation take advantage of this opportunity,” Guy said. “You only get so many opportunities to do something like this.”
“It’s a really special chance for our fans. I feel like we have the best fans in the IFL,” Rattlers rookie corner and 2026 IFL Defensive Player of the Year Yahsyn McKee Sr. said. “I’m pretty sure it’s going to feel like a home game out there. It would be a great feeling to bring it home for them in Tucson, and hopefully we can do that.”
In local matchups, the Rattlers clashed with the Tucson Sugar Skulls three times this season, twice in Glendale and once in Tucson. While no attendance numbers were available from the game in the Old Pueblo, the two games at Desert Diamond Arena drew 12,403 and 8,004 fans, respectively.
Climbing back to the top vs. unfinished business
Both of the teams competing in Sunday’s championship are no strangers to the stage and pressure that the final game of the season provides.
The Rattlers finished the 2024 season as IFL National Champions, beating the Massachusetts Pirates 53-16 at the Lee’s Family Forum in Las Vegas. It was the franchise’s second title in the Unified Bowl/IFL National Championship era.
On the other side, the Blizzard came agonizingly close to its first-ever IFL title in 2025, losing to the Vegas Knight Hawks on the final play of the game, as Vegas made its only defensive stop of the contest to halt the Blizzard as time expired.
Green Bay wide receiver Andre Williams lies alone on the turf after the official replay review ruled the Blizzard short on their quarterback sneak in the last seconds of the IFL Championship game against Vegas, Aug. 23, 2025, in Tucson.
Former UAÂ quarterback Jayden De Laura was named the IFL National Championship MVP against the Blizzard, completing 12 of 15 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for an additional 70 yards and two touchdowns.
Quarterback connections
While Arizona and Green Bay each have connections to the title game over the past two seasons, one player has had a much more intimate look at both teams.
Rattlers’ quarterback Max Meylor was the driving force behind Green Bay’s 2025 title game appearance, winning IFL Most Valuable Player for the Blizzard. Across 16 games, Meylor completed 201 of 325 passes for a 62% completion rate. He threw for 2,433 yards and a league-leading 57 touchdowns with just five interceptions.
Coming up just inches short of a game-winning score, Meylor left the Blizzard in the offseason, signing with the Rattlers as a free agent.
For the second consecutive year, Meylor has led his team to the IFL National Championship but will don the white and copper of the Rattlers instead of the Blizzard’s familiar forest green, white and silver. Meylor also played his college football at Wisconsin-Whitewater, an NCAA Division III school 140 miles south of Green Bay.
Arizona Rattlers quarterback Max Meylor throws the ball against the Tucson Sugar Skulls at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale on July 11, 2026.
"I have some nerves because it is a championship game and I have a lot of ties with Green Bay and Wisconsin," Meylor said. "I wouldn't really say it's strange, but one of the more unique situations that I've been in. Green Bay has really turned things around the past few years, and Arizona has always been a great franchise, so it's not really a surprise that both teams are in the championship. They are both really good teams."
Beyond Meylor, Green Bay has a connection to the Sugar Skulls in Tucson. Blizzard offensive coordinator Matt Behrendt was the starting quarterback for the Sugar Skulls in the team’s inaugural 2019 season, leading Tucson to its first-ever win in their home opener against the San Diego Strike Force.
If you go
Championship Weekend gets underway with the annual IFL National Championship Media Event on Saturday. The free-to-the-public media day gives fans and media the chance to hear directly from the championship participants. Media day begins at 2 p.m. at the Tucson Arena.
On gameday, doors open at 3:30 p.m., with kickoff scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets for the 2026 IFL National Championship are on sale at IFLNationalChampionship.com.
