 | |
| Founded | 2015 |
|---|---|
| Team history |
|
| Based in | Tingley Coliseum inAlbuquerque, New Mexico |
| Home arenas |
|
| League | Champions Indoor Football (2015–2019)
Indoor Football League (2020–present)
|
| Colors | Red, gold, white |
| Personnel | |
| Head coach | Kyle Moore-Brown |
| General manager | Tim Smith |
| Owners | Michael Fietz Bob Pitre[1] |
| Championships | |
| League titles (2) |
|
| Conference titles (2) |
|
| Playoff appearances (5) | |
| Website | abqfootball |
 Current season | |
TheNew Mexico Chupcabras are a professionalindoor football team based inAlbuquerque, New Mexico. They began play in March 2015 as theDuke City Gladiators and were members of theChampions Indoor Football (CIF) league. The Gladiators played atTingley Coliseum in Albuquerque from 2015 to 2019,[2][3] but began playing the 2021 season atRio Rancho Events Center in nearbyRio Rancho due to availability during theCOVID-19 pandemic. The team played the entire2022 Indoor Football League season at Rio Rancho Events Center. After winning back-to-back CIF championships in 2018 and 2019, the Gladiators left the CIF for theIndoor Football League (IFL) in the 2020 season. They went dormant for the 2025 season, but will be returning for 2026 as the Chupacabras, returning to Albuquerque and theTingley Coliseum.[4]
The team was formed in February 2015 by an ownership group called Duke City Sports Entertainment Group, Inc. a New Mexico corporation consisting of several investors, which also included Gladiators founder and general manager Matt Caward, along with co-founder and head coach Dominic Bramante, and director of media relations Andres Trujillo.[5][6][7][8] The Gladiators joinedChampions Indoor Football (CIF) in the league's inaugural season after theRio Rancho-basedNew Mexico Stars cancelled their entry into the league shortly before the season began.[9][10][11] (In April 2015, the Stars announced that they would instead join the North American Indoor Football for 2016.)[12] The Gladiators had originally looked to join theX-League Indoor Football but geographical and financial considerations as well as the sudden availability of the CIF franchise slot led the team to change directions.[13][14]
In2015, the Gladiators played an abbreviated 11-game CIF schedule in 2015, as a direct replacement for theNew Mexico Stars, but with some modifications and non-league games because of prior scheduling maneuvers and arena availability.[14][15][11] The team opened training camp on March 15.[16] Their first indoor practice session was March 24.[3] Regular season promotions included Hispanic Heritage Night on March 28 and Public Service Day on April 26.[17]
The Gladiators won the 2018 CIF championship. In February 2019, it was announced the Gladiators had been sold to Gina Prieskorn-Thomas, one of the former co-owners of the Gladiators.[18] The team then won its second CIF championship. After the season, the CIF granted the Gladiators petition to be released them from their commitment to play the 2020 season.[19] The team joined theIndoor Football League on August 20, 2019.[20] Head coach Dominic Bramante, who had been with the team since its inaugural season, was not retained during the offseason after his contract had ended.[21] The Gladiators then hired Pig Brown as head coach from theNebraska Danger.[22] The day they were to play their first IFL game on March 12, 2020, the league postponed all games due to venues institutingsocial distancing measures during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[23] The IFL eventually cancelled the entire season in April, but the Gladiators stated they would play exhibition games for their 2020 season once they were allowed to use the venues again.[24] By May, plans for exhibition games were ended and the team split with head coach Pig Brown without ever coaching a game.[25] Assistant coach Martino Theus was promoted to head coach in July 2020 while preparing for a 2021 season.[26]
To start the 2021 season, the Gladiators had to move at least the first three home games to the nearbyRio Rancho Events Center inRio Rancho as Tingley Coliseum was being used as a COVID-19 vaccination clinic.[27] They subsequently would play the rest of the season in Rio Rancho. Head coach Martino Theus was replaced at the end of June 2021 after a 2–4 record by former Gladiator quarterbackRobert Kent Jr.[28]
On January 9, 2025, the Gladiators changed ownership with new owners Michael Fietz and Bob Pitre taking control of the team from previous owner Gina Prieskorn-Thomas effective immediately.[29] On August 22, 2025, the team announced their rebrand as theNew Mexico Chupacabras and their return to Albuquerque and the Tingley Coliseum.[30]
| League Champions | Conference Champions | Division Champions | Playoff berth | League leader |
| Season | League | Conference | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | ||||||||
| 2015 | CIF | 5th | 7 | 4 | 0 | ||||||
| 2016 | CIF | Southern | 4th | 6 | 6 | 0 | |||||
| 2017 | CIF | South | 4th | 7 | 5 | 0 | Lost Conference Semifinal (Amarillo) 41–70 | ||||
| 2018 | CIF | South | 1st | 10 | 2 | 0 | Won Conference Semifinal (Wichita) 44–39 Won Conference Championship (Texas) 41–28 Won Champions Bowl (Sioux City) 31–27 | ||||
| 2019 | CIF | South | 1st | 9 | 3 | 0 | Won Conference Championship (Amarillo) 70–62 Won Champions Bowl (Salina) 35–29 | ||||
| 2020 | IFL | Season cancelled due toCOVID-19 pandemic | |||||||||
| 2021 | IFL | 4th | 7 | 7 | 0 | Won First round (Iowa) 34–33 Lost Semifinal (Arizona) 55–58 | |||||
| 2022 | IFL | Western | 4th | 8 | 8 | 0 | Lost First round (Arizona) 53–14 | ||||
| 2023 | IFL | Western | 6th | 5 | 10 | 0 | |||||
| 2024 | IFL | Western | 7th | 3 | 13 | 0 | |||||
| Totals (2015–2024) | 62 | 58 | 0 | All-time regular season record (through 2024) | |||||||
| 6 | 3 | — | All-time postseason record (through 2024) | ||||||||
| 68 | 61 | 0 | All-time combined record (through 2024) | ||||||||
SeeCategory:Duke City Gladiators players
Our New Owners!
New Mexico Chupacabras
Our New Owners!
New Mexico Chupacabras
