Amarillo Venom
| Amarillo Venom | |
|---|---|
| Established 2003 Folded 2025 Played in Amarillo, Texas at the Amarillo Civic Center | |
| League/conference affiliations | |
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Current uniform | |
| Team colors | Black, red, tan, white |
| Mascot | Striker |
| Cheerleaders | Venom Vixens |
| Personnel | |
| Owner(s) | VC Maven Inc. |
| President | Jordan Lott |
| General manager | Jordan Lott |
| Head coach | Trae Ivory |
| Team history | |
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| Championships | |
League championships (3)
| |
| Conference championships (0) | |
| Division championships (2) | |
| Playoff appearances (12) | |
| Home arena(s) | |
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The Amarillo Venom were a professional indoor football team based in Amarillo, Texas. They played their home games at the Amarillo Civic Center. The Venom began play as the Amarillo Dusters in 2004 as a charter member of the Intense Football League, a small indoor football league based in Texas. They won the championship in their first and only season with the Intense Football League.
In 2005, the Dusters became the first team to leave the Intense Football League and join the AF2, the minor league of the Arena Football League, where they played for four seasons until the AF2's folding in 2009. At that point, the team held a fan vote as to whether to join some of their AF2 brethren in the new Arena Football 1 (later gaining rights to the name as Arena Football League) or enjoy numerous Texas rivalries in the Indoor Football League. In 2009, it was announced that the Dusters would be moving to the Indoor Football League for the 2010 season. It was then announced that the Dusters would have to be renamed because the Arena Football League owned the rights to the Dusters name and logo and the team became the Amarillo Venom.
The Venom then joined the Lone Star Football League for the 2012 season, which eventually merged into Champions Indoor Football (CIF) prior to the 2015 season. Prior to the 2021 season, the Venom withdrew from the CIF and later formed the Arena Football Association for the 2022 season. However, the team suspended operations in February 2022.
The team was featured on an episode of Only in America, a show that aired on the Discovery Times channel.
The Venom were relaunched for the 2024 season as members of the revived American Indoor Football league, but did not complete the season and went silent on May 30, 2024.
On July 26, 2024, it was announced that the team will be rebranded back to the Dusters for the 2025 season. On August 20, 2024, it was announced that the Dusters had joined the National Arena League for that season. However, their membership was terminated on February 2, 2025. The team eventually folded for good in 2025 following the announcement of the return of and relcation of the West Texas Warbirds to Amarillo.