The Oklahoma Defenders were a professional indoor football team and a charter member of the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL). Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Defenders played their home games at the Cox Business Center.
It was announced in August 2014, that the team would go dark and cease all operation for the 2015 season, with the goal to return in the 2016 season. Many expect the team to fold and not return for the 2016 season.
The Defenders are the second arena/indoor team based in Tulsa, following the Tulsa Talons which played in arenafootball2 from the league's inaugural season in 2000 until its final season of 2009, and later in the Arena Football League from 2010 until 2011, after which the Talons moved to San Antonio.
The Defenders began play in 2012 as a member of the American Professional Football League. The Defenders experienced immediate success, finishing the regular season with a 9âÂÂ3 record, tied for second place with the Council Bluffs Express. However, the Defenders would get the #3 seed because of the Express holding the head-to-head tiebreaker. In the teams' first-round playoff game, the Defenders lost to the Express 37âÂÂ32.
For the 2013 season, the Defenders played in the Champions Professional Indoor Football League. They posted a 3âÂÂ9 record in their inaugural season in the CPIFL. The team's sophomore season in 2014 in the CPIFL was not much better with a duplicate 3âÂÂ9 record.
It was announced in August 2014, that the team would go dark and cease all operation for the 2015 season, with the goal to return in the 2016 season.
|- | colspan="6" align="center" | Oklahoma Defenders (APFL) |- | 2012 || 9 || 3 || 0 || 3rd League || Lost semi-final (Council Bluffs) |- | colspan="6" align="center" | Oklahoma Defenders (CPIFL) |- | 2013 || 3 || 9 || 0 || 8th League || -- |- | 2014 || 4 || 8 || 0 || 7th League || -- |- !Totals || 16 || 20 || 0 |colspan="2"| (including playoffs)
Source: