Utah gets new pro indoor football team at Maverik Center as Grizzlies close out final season

Utah football starts this season in Salt Lake City. Photo: Dave Adamson

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Beginning April 19, the Maverick Center in West Valley City is getting new occupants. The Utah Great 8’s, a professional indoor football team in the International Arena League (IAL), are set to kick off their inaugural season.

Their first game is at home against the Cincinnati Slingers, followed by more home games throughout the year against the Pennsylvania Benjamins, Las Vegas Rockers, Glasgow Tartans from Scotland, and the Arizona Juggernauts.

The above-mentioned teams will also host the Gr8’s in away play this season with an additional match in Zurich, Switzerland, to play the Ibexx.

The IAL includes European participants, such as Germany’s Dusseldorf Warriors and Stuttgart Stallions, and Great Britain’s England Eruptions.

On April 12, the present occupants of the Maverick Center, minor league ice hockey’s Utah Grizzlies, will play their final game in Utah. Next year they’ll begin anew in New Jersey as the Trenton Ironhawks.