IFL STORIES: ERIC VAN BEEK

Eric Van Beek had never had any desire to work in sports. He had built a career in marketing production and has owned his own company, Audio Fish Productions, since 2007. He also spent some time as a radio DJ and production was a big part of that job.

And then came the perfect storm…the Sioux Falls Storm indoor football team. 

20 years ago, the Storm reached out to Van Beek about operating the audio for their games and the rest, as they say, is history. Van Beek and indoor football became attached at the hip leading to his current job as Chief Operations and Brand Officer for the Indoor Football League.

"It actually kind of happened organically," said Van Beek who spent almost 19 years in the Storm organization. "I got involved and immediately loved it."

And what was not to love about the Storm at that time?

They were in the middle of a more than decade long run as a dominant team in the IFL and Van Beek's marketing background was a perfect fit for the Storm. He became part of the sales team and then worked his way up the ladder to eventually becoming the team's Director of Gameday Operations. 

"Indoor football became part of who I am and now it truly is a part of who I am," said Van Beek. "I can't define myself without it."

And the Indoor Football League would not be able to define itself without Van Beek who has helped the league reach unprecedented heights in his four years on the job.

"Eric Van Beek is the backbone of this league," said IFL President Jared Widman. "With two decades in this sport, he has done it all. The only thing more impressive than his talent is his work ethic."

During most of his time with the Storm, the owner of the franchise was Todd Tryon, now the Commissioner of the IFL.  When Tryon sold the team to a new ownership group in 2020, Van Beek stayed with the franchise for a couple of years until he got a call from Tryon. The IFL needed some help with marketing and operations so Tryon knew the right guy for the job. 

"I've had the opportunity to work alongside Eric for over 15 years, first at the team level and now at the league level," said Tryon. "His range of talents and leadership have been instrumental to our growth. What's most impressive is his ability to take ideas and turn them into reality. Eric serves many roles for the IFL and does them all with excellence."

A big reason for IFL's growth is Van Beek's love and passion for the 50-yard indoor war. Indoor football is a unique sport as it takes many of the characteristics of the 100-yard game and brings the action onto the smaller field within the confines of a hockey rink.  

"From the fan's perspective, I don't know if you can be more interactive with a game," said Van Beek. "This is hockey without the glass but it's football. As a fan, you are part of the game. You can catch the ball if it goes through the wide receiver's hands."

One of the most important parts of Van Beek's skill set is being able to use his experience operating Sioux Falls to help the current IFL teams worth through any issues that may arise.

He's at the league level, but Van Beek knows exactly what it takes to run a successful franchise. 

"That's one of my most enjoyable aspects of what I get to do for a living is helping these teams," said Van Beek. "We want to help in any way we can." 

The Indoor Football League, with invaluable help from Van Beek, has been able to attract new fans by expanding their footprint in terms of new markets and an unprecedented commitment to television coverage. This season, the New Mexico Chupacabras and the Orlando Pirates brought the IFL to two new markets and fans all over the world now have access to watch all 14 teams. 

This past off-season, the IFL took their broadcasts in house as they struck deals with Yahoo Sports and Overnght Media to televise all 119 games this season. With a bigger stage came the need for the teams to be uniform in how the game looked in each arena.

"We have to make sure our product looks good enough to be there," said Van Beek. "There are all different levels of that like the dasher boards, field systems, broadcast crew and talent.  More eyes aren't necessarily good if the product isn't impressive." 

Entering the 2026 season, the IFL has solidified itself as "The Major League of Indoor Football" and Van Beek's marketing and production expertise is a huge part of that. 

"We're reaching more people," said Van Beek. "People throughout the country are starting to see what indoor football truly is and how cool it is, how fun it is and how fast it is. What I fell in love with… I want to help other people fall in love with." 

Van Beek says the IFL is going through "calculated growth" as the league's 18th season is through five weeks of action. It's been a slow and steady process, but as the saying goes "slow and steady wins the race." 

Other leagues have come and gone with many of them failing because they tried to get too big too fast while the IFL has been laying a foundation brick by brick.

"I think a lot of people have put the cart before the horse," said Van Beek. "They're trying to become what they're not ready to become. A league is only as good as the teams and the teams are only as good as their ownership. We've been very careful about our vetting process of who gets to own a team in our league and because of that we have some of the best ownership in sports."

And that brings us to expansion which Van Beek and the rest of the IFL hierarchy is taking a long hard look at. As the league has gained more and more visibility, especially in the last few years, there have been a number of markets and ownership groups that have shown an interest in having an IFL franchise. 

Van Beek says the IFL is going to handle expansion the right way.

"It's definitely important and without getting too detailed, there's a lot in place right now as far as growth is concerned over the next few years," said Van Beek. "We want growth but we want to do it in a very smart way."

It's not easy to find a job that you love.

And if you're able to do that, it probably doesn't feel like a job, especially if it's fun. That's exactly what Van Beek gets to experience each day he comes to work.

"I work for a football league," said Van Beek. "I get to help football happen. I'm a huge football fan. I'm a big sports fan. I love organizational and operational aspects of things. It's all of my strengths and passions in one job. It's like a job that was made for me and I just couldn't be happier. I get up and have fun every day."  

Not bad for someone who didn't have a desire to get into sports.

Thankfully, for everyone involved with the Indoor Football League, Eric Van Beek rode the perfect storm into a job and a sport that he loves.