Possible Merger

[Caballo Diablo]

This "journalist" has a reputaion of bad info, can anyone shed some light or insight on the subject?

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http://www.pjstar.com/sports/x540128413/EMINIAN-As-to-af2-playoff-possibility-we-ll-know-more-Monday

The following is not the entire article.

LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN? Peoria Pirates majority owner Doug MacGregor is spearheading a group of af2 owners meeting this week with counterparts from the rival IFL in Oklahoma City to examine the possibility of a new league for 2010.

It would essentially be a merger, although a few teams would not be invited.

MacGregor’s vision, according to sources, is for a 32-team league, set up in four eight-team divisions.

“In the scenario that is being investigated, rebound nets and (af2) rules will be used,” said MacGregor, when asked about the source reports. “I can promise that we’ll be playing some version of arena football. It will not be indoor football, but arena football, like the AFL/af2 plays. The arena game that fans love and support will be preserved.”

Known to be on the invite list, from the af2, are Peoria, Quad City, Arkansas, Bossier-Shreveport, Rio Grande, Corpus Christi, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Boise, Tennessee Valley and Tulsa. Among the IFL invites are Bloomington, St. Louis, Wichita, San Angelo (Texas), Omaha, Odessa, El Paso, Colorado (Loveland), Sioux City (Iowa) and Richmond (Va.).

The Pirates would operate in a division with Quad City, Bloomington, St. Louis, Sioux City, Omaha and a seventh member as yet unknown.

A 14-game schedule would be played, entirely within the division, to limit travel costs. Head coaches would be capped at $35,000 and be declared seasonal employees, which means no insurance benefits or unemployment checks in the offseason.

Coaching salary caps likely won’t fly. A guy like Mike Hohensee isn’t going to work for that.

Owners also want to create an “AFL Light” in which current af2 teams Tulsa, Spokane, Iowa and maybe defunct Louisville, would move up and join some of the original AFL clubs — remember, that senior league ceased operations over the winter — in a rebirth.

The new AFL would cap player salaries at $500 per week.

The new af2 — or whatever it ends up being called — would maintain its current $250 per week pay rate.

Rebound nets will be a major argument between the af2 and IFL owners. The IFL is 8-man football without nets. The af2, of course, uses the rebound nets and uniform field kits. It has proven to be a better product.

The patents on the arena football rebound nets and concepts — held by the AFL and af2 for 19 years — have expired this summer.

That means a newly-formed, or reforming league, like MacGregor envisions, could use the nets, too.

“I am a fully participating owner in the af2,” MacGregor said. “My focus is on making the af2 stronger. But it’s just good business to examine options, investigate things.

“I’m not saying another league would happen. The AFL (which suspended operations in 2009) is such an unknown as to whether it comes back in 2010, and that is going to impact things.

“If the AFL does not come back, I am fairly certain some of those teams will want to join a new league and operate.

“Right now, it’s all exploration for us. I don’t even know what such a league would be called. But I think everything will be clarified one way or another by the end of August.”

[robster2001]

If the Richmond "franchise" is considered even close to being on a par with the af2 franchises mentioned, this afIFL2 is already in trouble.

The team is slated to eventually move to an arena for which ground has not yet been broken, and will be playing in 2010 (and probably longer) in a city-owned gymnasium (the Arthur Ashe Athletic Stadium) which has no dasher boards and only bleacher seating - and I'm not sure the building can support af2-style rebound nets. The building sits in the shadow of the vacant Diamond, which the Braves organization fled in 2008. One of the problems was attendance, which dropped over the years as the neighborhood around the Diamond complex deteriorated. Basically, you couldn't get people to the Diamond for AAA baseball - does anyone other than Tommy Benizio think people will come to the Ashe Center for low-level indoor football? They should have waited to see if the suburban SportsQuest arena got built. The only rush to get a team now is because it's a bit embarrassing for the IFL to have its offices in a city that doesn't have a team in the league. Of course, if this merger comes off, the afIFL2 probably won't be headquartered here, so there'd be no need for the Richmond team...

Oh, there's one other complication. The AIFA is 5 minutes away at the Richmond Coliseum, which is also a city-owned dump, so I'm not expecting them to succeed, either. But the 1000 or so fans who showed up for AIFL Bandits games in 2006 will be split between AIFA Richmond and IFL/aFIfL2 Richmond. This guarantees that one, or both, will fail quickly. It's certain that both can't survive.

Changing gears: if you read the full PJS article, you may see why Peoria is looking for an option. The team may back into the playoffs when other af2 teams are booted for not paying mandatory dues and stipends. If the af2 is becoming just another indoor football league, it might make sense to get away from it. Of course, that might just make the new league just another indoor football league.

The link to the PJS article got munged somehow: http://www.pjstar.com/sports/x540128413/EMINIAN-As-to-af2-playoff-possibility-we-ll-know-more-Monday

[Caballo Diablo]

Addressing the subject of their future, the Florida Firecats put out this press release which also refers to a new league:
http://www.floridafirecats.com/news.php?id=197
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2009-07-26

Florida Firecats Issue Statement On The Future Of The Organization

Estero, FL- The arenafootball2 (af2) Florida Firecats issued the following statement today in response to questions about the future of the team and the af2.

During the early months of the 2009 season a few renegade owners of the af2 began taking actions that we felt were highly inappropriate. Those owners began having meetings that we feel were not in the best interest of the Arena Football League (AFL) or af2, and may have legal ramifications. To protect the integrity of the league, our fans and organization we worked out an arrangement with the league to finish this season.

These few owners have continued their course of action with the intent of starting a new league that would contain current members of the af2 while the 2009 season is still underway. We feel that their actions undermined the integrity of the AFL and af2 solely for their own benefit.

At this time we feel we must step back and see what's in the best interest of the game, the fans, and our organization. As one of the oldest ownership groups in arena football history we cannot be part of any actions to destroy the credibility of the AFL or the af2. We look forward to seeing what the AFL does in their efforts to reorganize and see which existing leagues continue to play or new leagues emerge. At that time we will be able to evaluate what is best option for our organization.

We thank our fans for their loyal support.

Florida Firecats Organization

[nksports]

This isn't the time for more pie-in-the sky, grandiose coast-to-coast schemes. The larger leagues need to tighten up into regional clusters for cost-savings.

I also don't like the idea of a coaching salary cap. One, it would be hard to enforce. Most coaches are already "Head coach, director of football operations," "Head coach, director of player-personnel" or something similar (in other words, coach is in charge of player recruitment and scouting. Sometimes a coach is assistant GM). That gives the team a way to skirt the cap issue.

If a team doesn't have the $$$ to pay the coach a lot, give him opportunities to make more such as football camps, bonuses based on wins and attendance etc. Give the coach decent insurance and benefits. (Did this idea come from Sioux Falls?)

Yes, there will probably be a shake-up in the off-season. Since when did a shake-up not occur. If, in a hypothetical situation, all the leagues fell apart at once, the best solution for Peoria would be in a league with River City, Bloomington, Chicago, Milwaukee and Quad Cities.

Here in Dog Patch, an ideal league (or division of a league) might be Wichita, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Bossier-Shreveport (sounds like the CHL) and a couple of others (bring back Frisco, Fayetteville, Ark.?). Omaha, Sioux Falls, Sioux City, Colorado, Independence, Mo. (if Brigade doesn't come back), Rapid City?. How about Wyoming (come on Cavs make the jump), Billings, the Alaska teams, some other NW teams.

The af2 has always been the most expensive of the low-level indoor leagues, so in this economy, grumbling is no surprise. All of the other leagues have their selling points and their problems.

The owners really need to strive for stability. If, as an example here in dog patch, Wichita jumped to this new league, it would be the sixth league for indoor football here since 2000. While I realize most fans in this sport follow teams and not leagues, it would not lend itself to a stable environment to draw fans (remember the NIFL?)

Here endeth the rant.

[nksports]

We feel that their actions undermined the integrity of the AFL and af2 solely for their own benefit.

What pro sports owners don't? Eh, are you reading this George Steinbrenner?