| Tucson Sugar Skulls | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Current season | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||
| Founded | 2018 | ||||||||||
| Headquartered | Tucson Arena inTucson, Arizona | ||||||||||
| Colors | Black, gold, red, white | ||||||||||
| Mascot | Bones | ||||||||||
| Website | tucsonsugarskulls | ||||||||||
| Personnel | |||||||||||
| Owners | Edmund Marquez Ali Farhang | ||||||||||
| Head coach | Rayshaun Kizer[1] | ||||||||||
| President | Edmund Marquez | ||||||||||
| Team history | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Home fields | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| League / conference affiliations | |||||||||||
Indoor Football League (2019–present)
| |||||||||||
| Playoff appearances (3) | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
TheTucson Sugar Skulls are a professionalindoor football team based inTucson, Arizona, that competes in theIndoor Football League (IFL). The Sugar Skulls began play in the 2019 season as anexpansion team. The team plays its home games atTucson Convention Center's Tucson Arena. The franchise is led by owners Edmund Marquez and Ali Farhang.
The franchise was announced by the ownership group led byKevin and Cathy Guy at a press conference held on August 23, 2018, at the Tucson Convention Center.[2] AsKevin Guy was also the head coach of theArizona Rattlers, Cathy was named the majority owner of the Tucson team to oversee primary operations along with Mike Feder and Ali Farhang.[3] The team announcedMarcus Coleman as its first head coach on September 12, 2018.[4] The team name was revealed on September 20, 2018, after a name-the-team contest originating from the local tradition of creatingsugar skulls forDía de Muertos (Day of the Dead) and theRoman Catholic holiday ofAll Souls Day.[5]
The team qualified for the playoffs in their first season with a 7–7 record. They lost to the eventual league championSioux Falls Storm 50–47 in the first round. After the season, the Sugar Skulls hired two-time IFL coach of the year Dixie Wooten away from theIowa Barnstormers as head coach and general manager for the 2020 season.[6] However, the season was cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic before the Sugar Skulls played any games.[7]
InOctober 2025, the Tucson Sugar Skulls indoor football franchise was acquired by a group of Tucson investors led by community leader-businessman Edmund Marquez, and attorney-sports booster Ali Farhang.
The sale — approved by the Indoor Football League (IFL) — became effective onOctober 13, 2025. Under the new ownership, Marquez serves as team president and hold a 25% ownership stake.
Farhang, who had been a minority owner and the team’s general counsel since its founding, increased his stake to 20%. Other minority investors — including former majority owners Kevin Guy and Cathy Guy — now each hold smaller minority shares (approximately 5% each).
As part of the reorganization, the team offices were relocated from the Kino Sports Complex to a building at 2719 N. Campbell Avenue owned by Marquez.
| League champions | Playoff berth | League leader |
| Season | League | Conference | Regular season | Postseason results | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | ||||
| 2019 | IFL | 6th | 7 | 7 | 0 | Lost first round (Sioux Falls) 47–50 | |
| 2020 | IFL | Season cancelled due toCOVID-19 pandemic | |||||
| 2021 | IFL | 9th | 6 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | IFL | Western | 3rd | 9 | 7 | 0 | Lost first round (Northern Arizona) 30-49 |
| 2023 | IFL | Western | 3rd | 9 | 6 | 0 | Lost first round (Bay Area) 46-34 |
| 2024 | IFL | Western | 8th | 2 | 14 | 0 | |
| Totals | 33 | 42 | 0 | All-time regular season record (2019–2024) | |||
| 0 | 3 | 0 | All-time postseason record (2019–2024) | ||||
| 33 | 45 | 0 | All-time regular season and postseason record (2019–2024) | ||||
Note: Statistics are correct through the 2022 IFL season.
| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | Win% | W | L | |||
| Marcus Coleman | 2019 | 7 | 7 | .500 | 0 | 1 | |
| Dixie Wooten | 2020–2022 | 15 | 15 | .500 | 0 | 1 | |
| Hurtis Chinn | 2023 | 9 | 6 | .600 | 0 | 1 | |
| Billy Back | 2024-2025 | 8 | 24 | .250 | 0 | 0 | |
 Sports teams based inArizona | ||
|---|---|---|
| Australian rules football |  | |
| Baseball | ||
| Basketball | ||
| Football | ||
| Hockey | ||
| Pickleball |
| |
| Roller derby | ||
| Rugby |
| |
| Soccer |
| |
| College athletics (NCAA Division I) | ||
| College athletics (NAIA) | ||
| College athletics (NJCAA) |
| |
