Breaking: Afl to shut down for 2009 - rocky mountain news

[Aaronhere]

Arena Football League officials are expected to announce before the end of the week the league will suspend play for the 2009 season, the Rocky Mountain News has learned.

That will leave open dates at the Pepsi Center, where the AFL's Colorado Crush has played since 2003.

In summer 2002, the franchise was introduced by former Broncos quarterback John Elway, in a partnership with Broncos owner Pat Bowlen and Kroenke Sports Enterprises owner Stan Kroenke.

Elway, Bowlen and Kroenke could not be reached for comment late Tuesday night.

Earlier this week, the AFL released a statement saying the league is "working on long-term structural improvements."

The league's schedule for 2009 has not been released, and free agency and the dispersal draft have been placed on hold.

Longtime commissioner David Baker resigned earlier this year and the New Orleans franchise was disbanded.

The AFL was founded in 1987 and has 15 organizations. The Crush won the league championship in 2005, beating the Georgia Force 51-48 in Las Vegas.

The Crush went 6-10 last season, finishing third in the Central Division.

It beat the Utah Blaze 49-44 in the first round of the playoffs, then was eliminated the next week with a 64-51 loss to the San Jose SaberCats.

San Jose lost to the Philadelphia Soul 59-56 in the championship game.

"It's just tough," Crush player Delvin Hughley said Monday night at the Denver Sports Fans Choice awards dinner. "I talked to some friends around the league. . . . We don't know. We're under a lot of pressure right now and just don't know what to do.

"Hopefully, we can come out of this thing and everything will be OK."
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/dec/09/afl-expected-cancel-2009-season/

[Aaronhere]

Arizona Rattlers - Though rumors and speculation about the future of the Arena Football League are growing, the Rattlers are “absolutely” going forward with their 2009 season, the team’s spokesman said Monday.
Chicago Rush - Rush general manager Mike Polisky said Chicago's franchise is sound. ''The Chicago Rush expects to play in the foreseeable future, we're in good shape and preparing for next season,'' Polisky said. ''Our record season-ticket sales have surpassed 5,000, we were the most televised team in the league last year, all our games are on radio, we averaged 15,900 fans -- or 99 percent capacity -- and we expect to regain the championship we won in 2006.''
Cleveland Gladiators - The Gladiators are entering their second season in Cleveland. They reached the Eastern Conference Championship in their inaugural season. "It's business as usual with us," said Phil Tesar, Gladiators director of communications. "We are continuing to sell season and group tickets and looking forward to qualifying for the playoffs in 2009. Nothing's changed on our end." Tesar said the Gladiators have a schedule in hand and are waiting for the league to officially OK the release of it. Gladiators President Bernie Kosar could not be reached.
Colorado Crush - Unnamed sources close to the situation have reported to ArenaFan that the Colorado Crush are the most likely team to fold in the days to come. “The Crush are still in business… [We] are planning to move forward with the 2009 season,” said Crush Public Relations Director, Jeff Graham.
Columbus Destroyers - According to Chicago-Sun Times, they are one of the struggling franchises. The Destroyers could be one of the endangered teams. Steve Germain is one of the team's three partners, and Germain Motor Co. recently announced layoffs because of the worsening economy. Repeated attempts to reach Jim Renacci, the Destroyers president, managing partner and general manager, were unsuccessful.
Dallas Desperados - According to Chicago-Sun Times, they are one of the struggling franchises.
Georgia Force - According to Chicago-Sun Times, they are one of the struggling franchises.A Georgia Force spokesperson referred all inquires about the statement to the AFL.
Grand Rapids Rampage - Despite rumors of the impending demise of the Arena Football League, Grand Rapids Rampage general manager Scott Woodruff said Tuesday morning that it remains "business as usual" for the local franchise. In the meantime, he indicated the Rampage are up more than 200 in season-ticket sales compared to last season -- without the benefit of having announced their 2009 schedule. The team already has sold 1,597 full and partial plans, including 373 new season-ticket packages, as of Friday, he said.
Kansas City Brigade - According to Chicago-Sun Times, they are one of the struggling franchises. “We cannot possibly comment on the speculation that is rampant … it is all just that, speculation,” said Brigade executive director Brad Likens in a statement released Monday. “We expect a development this week and will have a comment at that time.” Officials at the Sprint Center have received no indication the Brigade will not play in 2009 and are holding dates for the Arena League season. “We have a hold on our calendar, like we do for all of our tenants,” said Shani Tate Ross, director of communications and marketing for the Sprint Center. “Based on their schedule and their requirements, we hold those dates because we have demands for concerts and other shows. We are proceeding with the schedule and with the season.”
Los Angeles Avengers - No news
New York Dragons - No news
Orlando Predators - As reported on ArenaFan on Monday night, the Orlando Predators have been sold. On Tuesday, the Predators are expected to formally announce that the new owner is none other than one of their former owners, Brett Bouchy. Bouchy was a member of the Predators ownership group for over a decade, ending following the 2006 season. He was most recently was the team’s president before leaving for Arizona for the 2007 season. In his one year as a managing partner in Arizona, he turned heads by guaranteeing that the Rattlers would make the playoffs. He backed that guarantee by promising a 100% refund to all season ticket holders should the Rattlers not qualify for the postseason. “I’m excited to welcome Brett Bouchy back as a part of the Orlando Predators, and I look forward to working with him,” said Predators Director of Media Relations Jason Lucas. Amongst all of the turmoil floating around in the Arena Football League, Bouchy buying the Predators signals good things for the League. The new owner remains confident that there will be a season in 2009.
Philadelphia Soul - The Soul do not have a general manager, but an outside source said the team was operating normally in preparation for the new season. According to ArenaFan.com, the Soul averaged 16,477 fans per game last season, second best in the league behind Tampa Bay.
San Jose Sabercats - Amid reports that the Arena Football League is on the verge of collapse, a SaberCats spokeman said Monday that the team continues with plans to open its season in March. "There are definitely some concerns, but at this point we're proceeding business as usual right now," director of media relations Phil Simon said.
Tampa Bay Storm - Back at Storm headquarters in Tampa, team representatives were well aware of the Post's article and are closely monitoring the situation. But, according to Storm spokesperson Jim Robinson, nobody is panicking. "We're preparing for the 2009 season just as we have for each of our previous seasons,” Robinson said. The Storm is one of the four original franchises in the league. Initially, the franchise was located in Pittsburgh. The team moved here in 1990. Just last week, the Storm announced it had reached a two-year sales and marketing agreement with the St. Pete Times Forum that would keep the team at the arena through at least the 2010 AFL season.
Utah Blaze - No news

FOLDED
New Orleans VooDoo - Folded in October. According to Arenafan.com, "the league held a AFL Board of Directors conference call that detailed some plans and ideas about the future of the league and Saints/VooDoo owner Tom Benson must have heard something to spur this decision. The team was on the verge of making a huge announcement about Lewis and had a bright future with quarterback Danny Wimprine also about to re-sign. The move is especially surprising since Benson, the first NFL owner to sign up for an AFL team, has been a huge supporter of Arena Football for over a decade. He could have used Hurricane Katrina as a permanent excuse to quit prior to 2006, but he did resurrect the VooDoo a year later and the fans responded with an AFL-record 13,000 season ticket holders in 2007."

[Aaronhere]

Suspension of AFL's 2009 season 'possible'
by Brian VanOchten | The Grand Rapids Press
Wednesday December 10, 2008, 1:30 PM
GRAND RAPIDS -- The Arena Football League has tentatively scheduled a Thursday afternoon conference call among its 16 franchises to discuss several options regarding the 2009 season, including the possibility of suspending operations for a year, The Press has learned.

No decision, though, had been reached, according to Scott Gorsline, COO of the Grand Rapids Rampage, and Rampage general manager Scott Woodruff, who disputed a published report in the Kansas City Star on Wednesday that indicated the league and AFL players union had agreed to call off the upcoming season.

"The reality is a lot of things are being discussed right now," Gorsline said. "We're all preparing for different contingencies. We all hear things are up in the air. The rumor mill is very active right now. Until there is a board call, nothing is a done deal.

"I expect there will be some resolution to it by the end of the week."

He confirmed that suspending operations until 2010 is one of the possibilities.

"It is fair to assume this is one of the possible scenarios," Gorsline said. "The goal here is to fix what has been a broken economic model for the league for the last few years. It has been broken for a number of teams. We're trying to stabilize this league for the long term."

It is expected a vote to suspend operations would require approval of at least three quarters of the teams.

Rampage owner Dan DeVos told The Press on Tuesday night he has instructed his staff to continue preparations for the upcoming season.

The report in the Star, as well as an unattributed post on the Rocky Mountain News' Web site late Tuesday night, indicated the AFL players had agreed to call off the 2009 season pending a vote of the board of directors.

"It's pretty much a done deal to suspend the 2009 season. We plan to start up again in 2010," Pete Likens, director of communications for the Kansas City Brigade, told the Star.

It continues to be an unsettling situation, Woodruff said.

"You don't really know what's going to happen," he said. "We're going to have to wait and see what happens tomorrow."

http://www.mlive.com/rampage/index.ssf/2008/12/suspension_of_afls_2009_season.html

[Caballo Diablo]

Even ESPN (who is a shareholder of the AFL) reported today tha the 2009 season had been suspended/postponed.

Here's the official statement postd on the AFL website saying they are still in negotiations.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

League issues official statement
Courtesy: Arena Football League
Release: 12/10/2008

Despite rumors and reports to the contrary, all AFL teams are continuing to work towards ArenaBowl XXIII. As it has previously stated, the AFL continues to work on long-term structural improvement options.

Some of the options may impact the 2009 season. There is currently no timetable for an announcement of any kind. We remain grateful to our fans for their enthusiasm and patience.

[Aaronhere]

NEW YORK -- The owner of the Arena Football League's Los Angeles franchise said Wednesday the league is poised to call off the 2009 season.

Avengers owner Casey Wasserman told The Los Angeles Times that the AFL needs to take the time to become more efficient because of the poor economy. Wasserman is a former league chairman and one of the AFL's major power brokers.

Avengers spokesman John Tamanaha confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday that the team expects the 2009 season to be canceled. Wasserman told the newspaper the decision was not official, but he expected owners to vote to approve it this week.

The Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press reported that a conference call has been tentatively scheduled for Thursday afternoon among the league's 16 franchises to discuss options for 2009.

The AFL issued a statement that did not directly address canceling the season, but said: "Despite rumors and reports to the contrary, all AFL teams are continuing to work towards ArenaBowl XXIII. As it has previously stated, the AFL continues to work on long-term structural improvement options."

The Press reported earlier Wednesday that the players' union, in a conference call Friday, voted to cut the salary cap from $2 million to $1.4 million in order to help save the coming season.

"I'm one of the top-paid guys and I was the first one to say I'd take a pay cut," Ahmad Hawkins, union rep for the Grand Rapids Rampage, told the newspaper. The Press said Hawkins, a defensive back, earned $75,000 last season.

"We agreed to take the salary cap lower. The players want to do anything we can to play this season," Hawkins said, according to the paper.

Pete Likens, communications director for the Kansas City Brigade, was quoted in The Kansas City Star as saying "it's pretty much a done deal to suspend the 2009 season and work toward a single entity-league. We plan to start up again in 2010."

The league, which has been seeking ways to improve its financial footing, on Tuesday delayed the release of the 2009 schedule for the third time and also put off its dispersal draft and the start of free agency.

ESPN has a minor, non-management financial interest in the AFL. The network acquired national TV rights to the league in 2006 and signed a five-year deal to have multimedia rights that included everything from Internet to radio to publishing to international distribution.

"We've always admired the AFL fan-first philosophy, but we have no comment on their business activity," ESPN spokesman Bill Hofheimer said.

The AFL's New Orleans franchise folded despite being near the top of the league in attendance the past two seasons. Saints owner Tom Benson, who also owned the VooDoo, said the decision was based on "circumstances currently affecting the league and the team."

The AFL has endured an offseason of uncertainty. No replacement has been named for longtime commissioner David Baker, who abruptly resigned in July two days before the ArenaBowl championship game.

Since November 2007, the AFL's board of directors has been looking into various ways to bolster the league's finances. One proposal involved individual franchise owners ceding control of the league to new investors.

Sports Business Journal reported in October that AFL owners had approved a tentative deal with Platinum Equity, in which the company would invest up to $100 million and assume management control of the league. That deal, however, has yet to be completed, and there are no guarantees of an AFL bailout. A message seeking comment was not immediately returned by Platinum Equity.

The arenafootball2 league, the official development league of the AFL, said it will continue to operate as usual and will play in 2009 -- its 10th anniversary season. The af2 operates entirely on its own and is not directly affected by the AFL's current situation.

Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.

http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/afl/news/story?id=3759813