Arena Cup

[jwalters]

Okay here I go once again trying my hardest to set the Arena League on the right course but as usual I'm sure no one will listen. This years Arena Bowl was a complete joke as far as attendance went with only 10,822 people attending. To add insult to that injury some seats were covered with paper to make them blend in better on t.v. But now for your viewing pleasure we have a neutral site Arena Cup. That's right fans you will all get to see the first neutral site Arena Cup on Fox Sports Net. To top off this package the game is to be held at the CenturyTel center in Bossier Louisiana. Yeah, I said Bossier. It was dumb enough to hold the Arena Bowl in a city that averages about 10,000 per game but now they give us Bossier. The team averages 1,868 fans per game. Considering the Tel center holds well over 8,000 we will get to look at the sea of empty seats on national television. It is safe to assume that the building will be less than half full but I am willing to guess that between 1 and 2 thousand will show up. When will Arena Ball learn. Frankly I'm sick of it. If you want to continue to make a fool of yourself on national television then go ahead. But realize this one day NBC will get tired of the low ratings and cut you loose and then wear will you be. Arena Football is not a major league sport and needs to stop acting like it. I can't say anymore.

[nksports]

NBC has a good deal on AFL. They don't pay a dime. (They do have to pay production costs, but there are no rights fees ala the NFL). It's more or less a time buy by the AFL. They split what advertising revenues that come in.
NBC's main concern is — do AFL games draw a higher rating than the infomercials that local affiliates normally run in a spring-summer Sunday afternoon time slot. As long as the answer is yes, look for more AFL football.

[Houston Caldwell]

There was an interesting proposal on the Kat message board proposing that the next ArenaBowl be played in Columbus, Ohio (who had AFL's 4th best attendance TY despite a 2-win team). I agreed with the idea.
If the ArenaBowl is going to be a neutral-site event, it makes sense to have it in different Arena cities chosen with Arena Football support as the chief criteria. The Super Bowl is in a different city every year; why not the ArenaBowl?