AFL done for 09?

[chardale]

Head Coach calls somebody who calls me and says AFL WILL NOT play this year. If this is true, WOW. Now what? Did talk to a few A1 players and they said they would play A2 if they had to just to stay fit. Good deal

[Bruiser]

Head Coach calls somebody who calls me and says AFL WILL NOT play this year. If this is true, WOW. Now what? Did talk to a few A1 players and they said they would play A2 if they had to just to stay fit. Good deal

Cool. Judging by your prior prognostications then, we're pretty much assured
that there WILL be an AFL 2009 edition. :p

Although the AFL is in desperate need of a massive overhaul that's for sure.
Team franchise values should plummet and many of these relatively high paid
NFL rejects and wanna-be's will be faced with serious salary adjustments
if they want to continue playing indoor/arena ball.

[SignGuyDino]

Nice to see you're several days late on this, behind myself and CD's threads on this, and posting in the wrong forum at that.

[formerlyknownasfells]

http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3750266

[chardale]

Cool. Judging by your prior prognostications then, we're pretty much assured
that there WILL be an AFL 2009 edition. :p

Although the AFL is in desperate need of a massive overhaul that's for sure.
Team franchise values should plummet and many of these relatively high paid
NFL rejects and wanna-be's will be faced with serious salary adjustments
if they want to continue playing indoor/arena ball. Hey Bruiser, what up. So AGAIN I am wrong? When was I before? Anyway, as of this morning it is official. The players union refuses to take a 40% pay cut for starters so there is no hope. Players union offered to take a 25% pay cut. There are 6 teams that want to play and 6 or 7 on the fence with 4 pulling the plug and the league WILL not play with anything less than 10 teams so it is hopeless. There will not be a arena league season. :infun:

[Bruiser]

... As of this morning it is official. The players union refuses to take a 40% pay cut for starters so there is no hope. Players union offered to take a 25% pay cut. There are 6 teams that want to play and 6 or 7 on the fence with 4 pulling the plug and the league WILL not play with anything less than 10 teams so it is hopeless. There will not be a arena league season. :infun:
ANd as of this past evening the AFL season is back on again.
C'mon man, you're looking silly.
It's the AFL. You can't believe anything in that
league until it actually happens.

[Caballo Diablo]

Really nothing much has changed, it's all still in limbo and we're just speculating.

[Caballo Diablo]

December 13, 2008
Marcum: Group of owners still trying to postpone season
http://blogs.tampabay.com/storm/2008/12/marcum-group-of.html

For now, the 2009 AFL season is on. By Sunday afternoon, who knows if that still will be the case.

Storm coach Tim Marcum said today that the league's board of directors, which voted Wednesday to not suspend the season, will re-convene Sunday and vote on the matter once again. And that, quite frankly, worries him.

"The guys that lost the first vote ... they're trying to postpone the season," Marcum said. "They've called another meeting for Sunday and they're trying to finagle things as much as they can until they get their way."

Marcum said a handful of franchise owners (those from Columbus, Dallas and Philadelphia) are trying to gain enough votes to postpone the season. But he said the Storm, Arizona, New York, Orlando and San Jose are committed to playing in 2009, and are doing all they can to make that happen.

"The USFL took a year off, too," Marcum said. "And look what happened."

Storm owner Dr. Bob Nucci "cares about the fans," Marcum said. "He cares about our players. He cares about the game. We don't want this thing to go away."

When the board, which consists of all franchise owners and a representative from Gridiron Enterprises, which holds the patent for the AFL, met via conference call Wednesday, the vote was 10-7 against playing in '09. A three-fourths vote was needed to shut things down.

Macum said that since that first vote, the Chicago franchise has switched sides and is now against playing. If the other votes hold, that would make it 11 against playing and six for, inching the number closer toward what is needed to cancel the season.

"It looks like they're going to try to vote until they get their way," Marcum said. "The league is in debt. There's a lot of work that has to be done. We're willing to do it. We have a plan; they just won't listen. The 11 people (against playing) will not take any calls. They've got their minds made up."

In light of what is transpiring, Marcum remains hopeful of having a 2009 season. He did, however, concede that the AFL of '09 might not resemble that of '08.

"The odds are, there will be a season," Marcum said. "But this is ridiculous. It's Dec. 13. We've got guys out there, guys with kids and families. We're dealing with 500 families and lives here involved in Arena Football. To pull the plug out now is just not right."

[Caballo Diablo]

December 10, 2008
Marcum: AFL season saved
According to longtime Storm coach Tim Marcum, the AFL will play football in 2009. And his team will be part of it.

That's because the league's board of directors voted Wednesday night to not suspend the season.

"I'm very pleased," Marcum said. "I'm very thrilled with the board of directors vote tonight to go forward with the 2009 season."

The vote -- via conference call -- took place at 6 p.m., Marcum said.

The vote is only the first step to getting the league back on track, Marcum said. He said the current business model isn't working. To back that point up, he said team owners are losing between "$2-3 million" a year.

"We've got to go back to the drawing board," Marcum said. "We have to have the owners, players and coaches come to an agreement that makes sense for the sport. We've got to walk before we can run. We voted to play, but we've still got a lot of work to do coming into the 2009 season."

Marcum might have been happy with the vote, but he was upset about the various media reports in recent days that said the AFL was either dead or would not have a 2009 season.

"I'm irritated by all those people who released the cr-- before anything was official," Marcum said. "I don't think it's going to have any lasting damage on the (AFL), but today there was a lot of negative stuff scrolling across ESPN. That never should have happened."

Late Wednesday, the Storm issued a release that had this quote from team owner Dr. Bob Nucci: "This is a big step in the right direction for the fans, players and our league. Additionally, we are excited about our continuing relationship with the St. Pete Times Forum.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December 11, 2008
Associated Press: AFL still has plenty of uncertainty

The AFL board of directors voted Wednesday to not suspend the 2009 season, but according to an Associated Press story posted today it's still not a sure thing the season will be played.

Briefly, here are some of the things highlighted in the report:

"A disagreement among owners about whether to bring in a private equity firm to invest in the league appears to be the main sticking point. (An) owner, who requested anonymity because of the delicate nature of the negotiations, told the Associated Press in an e-mail that the league's announcement that the AFL would play next year might be premature."
The league's "press release did not say the league definitely will play in 2009."
"No permanent replacement has been named for longtime commissioner David Baker, who abruptly resigned from the 22-year-old league in July two days before the ArenaBowl championship game."
Translation: We haven't heard the last of this.

[Caballo Diablo]

Arena Football League -- Survival as a proud niche sport or death as a foolish big-time pretender?
posted by Jerry Greene on Dec 11, 2008
Orlando Sentinel
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_cheapseats/2008/12/arena-footbal-1.html

I was an enthusiastic endorser of Arena Football League entertainment -- especially the wild version practiced by the Orlando Predators -- since it began. And I would hate to see it go. But -- strictly in my opinion -- the AFL must except a fact of life it wants to continue to have a life:

It's a niche sport.

Nothing wrong with that but it does mean one important thing -- Nobody is getting rich.

Nobody is getting famous or powerful either, but the key is that nobody is getting rich. And as far as I can tell, nobody has gotten rich on Arena Football since it began -- but many have been clinging to the belief that there was a pot of gold at the end of the TV rainbow.

Hasn't happened and it's not going to happen. That's because arena football truly is a niche sport. If you don't have a team nearby, you are not going to pay attention. Even if you do have a team nearby, most of you won't pay attention. The audience is limited. One valid reason is that Arena Football truly is a lot more fun in person than watching on TV. That's because it's part football and part party. Watching at home alone is almost freaky, like having a one-person party.

So will there be a 2009 season in which to party? I'm still not sure. There's another meeting on Dec. 19 and the next season (and/or continued existence) is still open to debate.

As for this week and the media's rush to bury the league: A lot of that was prompted by remarks from owners and others in cities such as Los Angeles, Denver and Dallas -- cities where the arena ownership has strong NFL ties. IMO, that's because those teams are smaller parts of large operations, so it probably seemed like smart business in those cities to simply cut the losses by suspending (or ending) the arena operations.

But other cities -- such as Orlando -- are not part of a bigger picture. Brett Bouchy came back to become majority owner of the Preds, so I presume he believes money can still be made. Of course, I'm guessing that the Preds were practically given back to him because it's not likely anyone else was interested.

So there are still men such as Bouchy that want to carry on the good fight. But -- again just my opinion -- here are a few things that must happen soon:

*** Find a strong commissioner:
This won't be easy because becoming AFL Commissioner right now does not look like a strong career advancement for anyone strong enough and imaginative enough to get the job done. But he's out there. Find him.

*** Break the players' union:
I'm not an expert, so I don't know how you get this done. But the AFL has priced itself to the brink of extinction. While I'm told the current players' union has OKed a 30 percent reduction in salary cap, that won't be enough. Players must understand that they may have to accept more than a 50 percent reduction if the league is to survive. And for every player that won't accept a drastically reduced paycheck, there are 10 guys who will. Never forget that every year our colleges produced thousands of football players who must abandon their dreams and get real jobs.

*** Embrace your niche:
Don't fight it, be proud of it. You appeal to a specific and relatively small number of Americans. You share a common interest and a common bond. Forget the dreams of becoming a major player on ESPN (which was disdainful in its comments this week about still have a small financial connection to the league). It's your party. You can still have fun without the rest of America watching.

There can still be an Arena Football League -- but only if it quickly accepts its niche and finds a financial way to live within it.

[chardale]

Quote:
Originally Posted by chardale
Head Coach calls somebody who calls me and says AFL WILL NOT play this year. If this is true, WOW. Now what? Did talk to a few A1 players and they said they would play A2 if they had to just to stay fit. Good deal

Cool. Judging by your prior prognostications then, we're pretty much assured
that there WILL be an AFL 2009 edition. Again I am wrong? Dont be a hater, It was just a matter of time, but time was short regarding this. Do you know the reason why they called the meeting for Sunday night the 14th to vote AGAIN on this matter? Do ya, I didnt think so. It's because if the teams were still operating after the 15th they would have had to pay EVERYONE still under contract, but then BRUSIER, I guess I dont know what I am talking about, huh

[Bruiser]

I guess I dont know what I am talking about, huh
Yes on that you are correct sir.

First the meeting on the 15th thingy is old news, go check any of the other message boards (as I'm sure you have). But if it really mattered then I guess the player's union voting to go ahead and play in 2009 last night means something too. (not)

Char, may I call you Char?, I categorize you in the "even a blind squirrel occassionally finding a nut" faction.

Carry on.