 | |
| Founded | 1989 |
|---|---|
| First season | 1993 |
| Folded | 1997 |
| Country |  United States  Mexico |
| Number of teams | 15 |
| Last champions | Seattle SeaDogs |
| Most championships | Monterrey La Raza (2 titles) |
| TV partners | Prime Network FSN Southwest |
The Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) was a professional indoor soccer league that played from 1993 to 1997.
In the summer of 1989 Dr Jerry Buss, the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and California Sports, told his executive Vice President, Ron Weinstein, he was closing the doors on the Los Angeles Lazers of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) and that if he ever wanted to "create a professional indoor soccer league that played in the summer months, out from under the shadow of the NBA, NFL, NHL, NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball", he would support the endeavor.[1] One year later, in late 1990, Ron Weinstein incorporated the Continental Indoor Soccer League with his business partner Jorge Ragde. They drafted all the necessary franchise documents to bring the league into fruition and create what was the first professional sports league to operate under the "single entity" formula in 1991.[2] Buss later took a leave of absence from the project and was temporarily replaced by Phoenix Suns owner, Jerry Colangelo, who joined as one of the inaugural members of the league.[3]
Colangelo and Weinstein took the lead role in working to attract NBA and NHL owners. Through Buss's and Colangelo's cooperative efforts they orchestrated two CISL meetings in conjunction with their own NBA Board of Governors meetings. The first was held in 1991 in Marina Del Rey and the second in New York City in 1992. CISL was launched with 7 teams committed to begin playing in the summer of 1993 with another eight contracted for 1994.[4]
Monterrey La Raza made the CISL the first US league to have a team from Mexico participating. In 1995, a second Mexican team entered the league, the Mexico City Toros.[5]
By the end of the 1995 season, the third year of the league, 50% of the teams were already profitable. In 1996, CISL signed a three-year agreement with FOX Sports to televise a game of the week nationally in prime time. That same year, the Indiana Twisters became the next expansion franchise admitted to the league.
In the fall of 1997, the surprising demise of the league took place primarily due to differences of direction between the NBA/NHL owners and three of the leagues non NBA/NHL teams: Dallas, Portland and Houston. They collaborated in an effort to leave the CISL and form their own league, The Premier Soccer Alliance. It is the opinion of many executives within the sports world, that indoor Soccer has never again reached the pinnacle of the CISL since operations formally ceased in the winter of 1998.[6]
The Continental Indoor Soccer League Championship Trophy was titled the "Lawrence Trophy" named in honor of the commissioner and founder's father, Lawrence Albert Weinstein.
| Season | Champion | Series | Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Dallas Sidekicks | 2–1 | San Diego Sockers |
| 1994 | Las Vegas Dustdevils | 2–1 | Dallas Sidekicks |
| 1995 | Monterrey La Raza | 2–1 | Sacramento Knights |
| 1996 | Monterrey La Raza | 2–0 | Houston Hotshots |
| 1997 | Seattle SeaDogs | 2–0 | Houston Hotshots |
| Team | Championships | Runner Up | Champions | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monterrey La Raza | 2 | 0 | 1995, 1996 | |
| Dallas Sidekicks | 1 | 1 | 1993 | 1994 |
| Las Vegas Dustdevils | 1 | 0 | 1994 | |
| Seattle SeaDogs | 1 | 0 | 1997 | |
| Houston Hotshots | 0 | 2 | 1996, 1997 | |
| Sacramento Knights | 0 | 1 | 1995 | |
| San Diego Sockers | 0 | 1 | 1993 |