2010 Erie Storm season

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox NFL season

| logo =

| team = Erie Storm

| year = 2010

| record = 8-6

| division_place = 3rd

| coach = Shawn Liotta

| general manager = Shawn Liotta

| owner = Bill Stafford

| stadium = Louis J. Tullio Arena

| playoffs = Lost EC Round 1

| uniform =

| previous = 2009

| next = 2011

}}

The 2010 Erie Storm season was the 4th season for the American Indoor Football Association franchise.

On September 8, 2009 the RiverRats announced that Liotta would return to Erie as the head coach for the 2010 season.{{cite web |url=http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090908/FOOTBALL09/309089896/-1/SPORTS |title=Liotta returns to coach RiverRats |date=September 8, 2009 |publisher=CyberInk LP and the Erie Times-News |work=www.goerie.com |accessdate=December 27, 2013}} In December, it was announced that owner Jeff Hauser had sold a stake in the franchise to a local group that included Jeff Plyler (owner of Plyler Overhead Door of McKean, PA) and Bill Stafford (owner of several Subway restaurant locations in Erie), among others.{{cite web |url=http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3945275 |title=Professional Football Continues in Erie Under New Ownership |date=December 29, 2009 |publisher=OurSports Central |work=www.oursportscentral.com |accessdate=December 27, 2013}} The team remained in the AIFA, and the team adopted the corporate name "Erie Professional Football, Inc." in December 2009, in anticipation of a new franchise name to be announced in January 2010.{{cite web |url=http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091229/FOOTBALL09/312299918/-1/SPORTS |title=Indoor football a go in Erie for 2010 |date=December 29, 2009 |publisher=CyberInk LP and the Erie Times-News |work=www.goerie.com |accessdate=December 26, 2013}}

Hauser maintained a smaller stake in the team, which immediately dropped the RiverRats name. On January 5, 2010, the team announced the four finalists of the name-the-team contest; Storm, Blizzard, Pulse, and Punishers. On January 14, 2010 the team was officially named the Erie Storm via a press conference, in which the team logo and colors were also released.{{cite web |url=http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100114/FOOTBALL09/301149876/-1/FOOTBALL |title=New Erie football nickname: Storm |date=January 14, 2010 |publisher=CyberInk LP and the Erie Times-News |work=www.goerie.com |accessdate=December 27, 2013}}

Aided by Dinkins's return, the briefly rechristened Storm rebounded to an 8-6 season in 2010, before losing to the Harrisburg Stampede in the playoffs.{{cite web |url=http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100703/FOOTBALL09/307039930/-1/SPORTS |title=Storm squander lead, fall in AIFA playoffs |date=July 3, 2010 |publisher=CyberInk LP and the Erie Times-News |work=www.goerie.com |accessdate=December 27, 2013}} Dinkins retired at the end of the season.{{cite web |url=http://shawnliotta.com/2010/09/27/congratulations-to-david-dinkins/ |title=Congratulations to David Dinkins |author=Shawn Liotta |date=September 27, 2010 |publisher=Shawn Liotta |work=www.shawnliotta.com |accessdate=December 26, 2013}}

On May 5, 2010, Lake Erie College based in Painesville, Ohio asked a court judge to order the Erie Storm not use the Erie Storm name due to similarities with their own name the Lake Erie College whose athletic nickname is the Storm.{{cite web |url=http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100507/FOOTBALL09/305079901/-1/SPORTS |title=Lake Erie College sues Storm over nickname |author=Victor Fernandes |date=May 7, 2010 |publisher=CyberInk LP and the Erie Times-News |work=www.goerie.com |accessdate=December 27, 2013}} In July 2010, the name "Storm" was dropped, and the team began functioning under the name "Erie Professional Football," which remains the name of the team's corporate entity.