1980-81 Major Indoor Soccer League season

Seasons

1979-80

1980-81

1981-82

Teams and Alignment

Division	Team	Primary Venue	Municipality
Atlantic Division	Baltimore Blast	CFG Bank Arena	Baltimore
	Hartford Hellions	PeoplesBank Arena	Hartford, Connecticut
	New York Arrows	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	Uniondale, New York
	Philadelphia Fever	The Spectrum	Philadelphia
Central Division	Buffalo Stallions	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium	Buffalo, New York
	Chicago Horizons	Allstate Arena	Rosemont, Illinois
	Cleveland Force	Richfield Coliseum	Summit County, Ohio
	St. Louis Steamers	St. Louis Arena	St. Louis
Western Division	Denver Avalanche	McNichols Sports Arena	Denver
	Phoenix Inferno	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum	Phoenix
	San Francisco Fog	Cow Palace	Daly City, California
	Wichita Wings	Britt Brown Arena at Kansas Coliseum	Park City, Kansas

Changes

• League realigned into Atlantic Division, Central Division, and Western Division.
• Buffalo Stallions realigned from Atlantic Division to Central Division.
• Chicago Horizons enfranchised in Central Division, playing at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.
• Denver Avalanche enfranchised in Western Division, playing at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver.
• Detroit Lightning relocate from Cobo Arena at Cobo Center in Detroit to Cow Palace in Daly City, California, renamed San Francisco Fog, and realigned from Central Division to Western Division.
• Houston Summit Soccer relocate from The Summit in Houston to CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, renamed Baltimore Blast, and realigned from Central Division to Atlantic Division.
• Phoenix Inferno enfranchised in Western Division, playing at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
• Pittsburgh Spirit suspend operations before Pittsburgh Spirit resume operations in 1981-82.

Regular Season Results

Division	Team	W	L	GB
Atlantic Division	New York Arrows	35	5
	Baltimore Blast	21	19	14
	Philadelphia Fever	18	22	17
	Hartford Hellions	13	27	22
Central Division	St. Louis Steamers	25	15
	Cleveland Force	21	19	4
	Chicago Horizons	20	20	5
	Buffalo Stallions	20	20	5
Western Division	Wichita Wings	23	17
	Phoenix Inferno	17	23	6
	Denver Avalanche	16	24	7
	San Francisco Fog	11	29	12

Postseason Results

Team (Best-of-Three)		Team (Single-Game)		Team (Single-Game)		Champions
New York Arrows	2	New York Arrows	10	New York Arrows	6	New York Arrows
Phoenix Inferno	1
Baltimore Blast	2	Baltimore Blast	1
Cleveland Force	1
St. Louis Steamers	2	St. Louis Steamers	7 (3)	St. Louis Steamers	5
Buffalo Stallions	0
Wichita Wings	2	Wichita Wings	7 (1)
Chicago Horizons	1

Special Event Results

Event	Away	Score	Home
MISL All-Star Game	Western Stars	8-5	Eastern Stars

Markets and Venues

Combined Statistical Area	Metropolitan Statistical Area	Metropolitan Division	County / Equivalent	Municipality	Venue	Team / Event	Regular	Postseason	Total
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Olean, NY Combined Statistical Area	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area		Erie County, New York	Buffalo, New York	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium	Buffalo Stallions	20	One	21
Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI Combined Statistical Area	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area	Chicago-Naperville-Schaumburg, IL Metropolitan Division	Cook County, Illinois	Rosemont, Illinois	Allstate Arena	Chicago Horizons	20	One	21
Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH Combined Statistical Area	Akron, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area		Summit County, Ohio	Unincorporated	Richfield Coliseum	Cleveland Force	20	One	21
Denver-Aurora-Greeley, CO Combined Statistical Area	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area		Denver County, Colorado	Denver	McNichols Sports Arena	Denver Avalanche	20		20
New Haven-Hartford-Waterbury, CT Combined Statistical Area	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area		Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut	Hartford, Connecticut	PeoplesBank Arena	Hartford Hellions	20		20
New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area	Nassau County-Suffolk County, NY Metropolitan Division	Nassau County, New York	Uniondale, New York	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	New York Arrows	20	Two	22
		New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ Metropolitan Division	New York County, New York	Manhattan, New York	Madison Square Garden	MISL All-Star Game			One
Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD Combined Statistical Area	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metropolitan Statistical Area	Philadelphia, PA Metropolitan Division	Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	The Spectrum	Philadelphia Fever	20		20
Phoenix-Mesa, AZ Combined Statistical Area	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metropolitan Statistical Area		Maricopa County, Arizona	Phoenix	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum	Phoenix Inferno	20	One	21
San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA Combined Statistical Area	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area	San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metropolitan Division	San Mateo County, California	Daly City, California	Cow Palace	San Francisco Fog	20		20
St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL Combined Statistical Area	St. Louis, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area		St. Louis		St. Louis Arena	St. Louis Steamers	20	Three	23
						New York Arrows		One	One
Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA Combined Statistical Area	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area		Baltimore		CFG Bank Arena	Baltimore Blast	20	Two	22
Wichita-Arkansas City-Winfield, KS Combined Statistical Area	Wichita, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area		Sedgwick County, Kansas	Wichita, Kansas	Britt Brown Arena at Kansas Coliseum	Wichita Wings	20	Two	22
Total							240	14	255