Super Independent Baseball?

[Dan K]

Another independent league? Looks like some big plans for a national independent league with regional divisions.


http://www.superindybaseball.com/

[nksports]

This sounds like something Joe Newman would come up with.

Eight divisions nationally with a minimum of four teams? Is this the return to Class D ball?

[arizonacub]

a better idea would be an Indy leagues Championship Cup at the end of the season. Atl, Can-Am, Northern, AA, GBL, Frontier.....there's you leading six.

[robster2001]

The first "news" article is titled "Toole Announces Establishment of Super Independent Baseball".

It's my hope that this doesn't turn out to be a misspelling of how SIB turns out.

Then again, since there won't be an SIB game until mid-May 2011 (according to the website countdown), there's plenty of time to see whether or not Jason Toole is a businessman, a dreamer, or worse.

I just don't think there are enough open markets for what he wants to do, unless he does have eyes on existing independent leagues/markets...

[arizonacub]

the South Coast league didn't last more than one season? and now the guy is reorganizing to go national?

[Morris Mott]

So, let me get this straight? You expect business people to invest money in this... for real?

And you expect smart businessmen and women to do all this without any clue on which other markets/cities will be operating along side them? Without knowing which cities they have to travel to, thus enabling a travel budget estimate? Or without knowing what sort of player salary cap or front office payroll they can expect to pay out?

Independent markets are few and far between, with only around 3-4 in each region (West coast, central, southern) being a viable option. For this enterprise to work, the SIB would have to corner at least 6 clubs in their 8 divisons for a total of 48 new independent clubs.

The combined efforts of Independent ball and it's seven (7) Leagues are having a hard time getting 2-3 new clubs per year and the SIB expects to field 48????

I wish anyone luck with this... because they are going to need it!

[skippy]

This is a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad idea.

Brought to you by the same people who brought you the bad idea south coast league.

Just stop now, before you BURN through any legitimate communities again.

[arizonacub]

How could they not have an idea of at least some of the markets they plan on entering? seems like a way too large of an idea? My home state of Missouri wasn't even listed on the divisional breakdowns? embarassed to admit i checked it out that much...but...planning to launch two years from now? c'mon!

[robster2001]

You know... the more I think about it, this seems to remind me of another organization with fancifully-named divisions that tried to ramp up a lot of teams quickly...

It's right on the tip of my tongue, but I'm apparently drawing a blank again. I hate when that happens.

[skippy]

This idea also has goes along the slippery slope that communities without baseball, want it.

With the exception of about a dozen markets, independent baseball has failed.

Affiliated minor league baseball does a pretty good job finding sustainable markets, and then blackmailing those markets into building mega palaces on taxpayer money.

The markets that don't buy into that crap (El Paso, Wichita, Amarillo) either support independent ball, or do without.

Most reasonable sized markets have had this attempted in it before and failed.

Here's a thought, take all your sports marketing degrees, shove them somewhere, and pay attention to reality and history. STOP taking a piss on a great game and get a job somewhere that doesn't have a brand new stadium, and learn how to market without that crutch.

[arizonacub]

well said Skippy

[Independent_Baseball]

Skippy,
To your point, here is the list of independent teams which folded or moved since 1993 (although some simply switched names, not locales). Bob Wirz's IndyBaseballChatter.com blog mentioned this post: http://independentminorleaguebaseball.com/blog/2009/01/05/list-of-recently-folded-professional-independent-baseball-teams/

The reasons why many independent teams burn out their welcome in pro cities are plentiful. Having been behind the scenes in independent baseball, here are just a few:
- Poor marketing (the big one!)
- Not differentiating the stadium from high school or local college teams who use the facility during the spring
- Paying for sub-standard front office executives with inadequate qualifications
- Nepotism and giving less-than-qualified family members hiring/firing authority or (equally as bad) direct communication with the media
- Not offering enough entertainment value
- Poor negotiations on stadium leases, paying too high a price per game
- Not expanding the awareness of the team through the internet or even minor league baseball tour companies/collectors/summertime baseball stadium-hoppers
- New teams get a late start on operations/marketing
- Not working with local chambers of commerce or other business/visitors bureaus
- Management deliberately (or inadvertently) ticks off some local authority figure who makes it his/her mission to see the team fail
- Not doing enough market research to truly catch the pulse of the community to get them to become loyal, raving fans
- Not signing players who are also marketable in the community
- Poor money management or not addressing any employees who skim money from concessions, souvenir stands, etc.

Again, this is just a short list of things which have happened with various independent teams since the mid-1990's. Take a look at the teams which have been around a long time (e.g. St. Paul) and you will notice that many of the previously-listed concerns are absent.

Whether Super Indy Baseball can address these concerns is up to their management and new owners. Hopefully they all learn from the past (not just the SCL), use the time between now and 2011 to implement systems/countermeasures to address these concerns, and provide their targeted communities with enough of a reason to support their teams into the final week of the season.