Salvi Buys Schaumburg Franchise

[J.J. Smith]

Just saw this in the Daily Herald...

New Schaumburg baseball team on its second owner

http://dailyherald.com/article/20110824/news/708249963/

...The article says that they are still on track to start in the FL. Maybe Gary to the FL also? Would sure make sense to me.


"Salvi has owned the Gary Southshore Railcats in Gary, Ind., for the past four years and will still do so.

"Oremus is the new owner of the Joliet Slammers baseball team, and as a new owner, decided to devote his full attention to that franchise, Salvi said.

“It was important for the Schaumburg franchise to get off to a very good start in 2012,” Salvi said. “I learned a lot in four years (as an owner.)”

Schaumburg Village Manager Ken Fritz said there’s been only a six-week transition since the first indication that Oremus was thinking of selling the new team. He said there were some personal reasons behind Oremus’ decision that he couldn’t get into.

“The thing with Mr. Oremus was unexpected — not only by us but by him,” Fritz said."



...My take on this is that Oremus is losing money in Joliet, and decided it might not be too much fun to lose money in two locations at once. Indy baseball has always been a tough go, and seems to be getting tougher.

[Fool Nelson]

Is there a rule that an owner cannot have two teams in the same league? I hope so, because I hope Gary stays in the American Association for variety reasons. I enjoy going to Joliet and watching the Slammers, and I like watching the Thunderbolts even in that ugly structure they call a stadium, but there are enough Frontier League teams in the Chicago area. (Well, my last observation might be an argument for Gary going to the Frontier League, so, in that case, I rebut myself.)

[J.J. Smith]

It does look as if disappointment in the financial success of Joliet had a lot to do with the decision to sell the Schaumburg franchise.

From an article in the Southtown Star...

“I just made a decision to sell the team and concentrate on the Joliet ballclub,” Oremus said Wednesday.
He remains committed to Joliet, Oremus said when asked if he plans to retain ownership of the local professional baseball team.

“I have no reason to doubt that we’ll be in Joliet in 2012,” he said. But, he added, “I’d like to see more people in 2012.”

Attendance at Silver Cross Field in Joliet has not met management’s expectations despite the team’s success on the field. The Slammers are in first place in the East Division of the Frontier League.

The Slammers are in the middle of the pack in Frontier League attendance, ranked fifth in the 12-team league. Average attendance at Silver Cross Field is 2,377, while management has said it needs to build average attendance to better than 2,500.

http://southtownstar.suntimes.com/news/7253744-418/slammers-owner-sells-interest-in-schaumburg-team.html


...If they really need to sell an average of 2,500 tickets at Silver Cross to make it worthwhile to operate there, I'd say they are in for some disappointment. From what I've heard about attendance this year from people who have been out there, the 2,377 figure is way inflated (as usual). Very few indy teams can sell 2,500 tickets consistently, and I don't see Joliet becoming one of them.

They are following an organization that absolutely ran everything into the ground and ripped off a lot of local people. Maybe they thought that running everything on the up up would bring people back. But really, attendance at Joliet had been on a downward spiral for years. They are playing in a beautiful stadium in a stable, geographically sane league. If they can't do well under these conditions, it might point to more fundumental problems with the indy baseball business model, circa 2011.

[Minor League Man]

I think the real test is going to be attendance in 2012...a lot of folks were left jaded by the Jackhammers, so naturally attendance dropped...once the Slammers REALLY get their word out, expect attendance to rise again!

[ca]

how many team s actually get x into the park at face value ? now while a ball may not be as appealing as aa ball the travel sure has to be better . quite frankly i wonder about the validity of slammer mgmt for werent they the old owners of the t bolts and the fl east has some travel issues them selves that they imo best get solved . so while things may be better in joliet than from before they may still have a ways to go . salvi might hire a president to run the schaumburg club for him and the railcats may hopping on the fl ship as well

[J.J. Smith]

Oremus was invested in Schaumburg at one time and Joliet up until the end. Never heard he was involved with WC.

If Gary turns a profit being in the AA, and I think they do, I would expect them to stay there. If or when they don't, the FL will be there for them. The city of Gary is on the verge of bankruptcy right now, and that will call into question the disposition of the Steel Yard. I think Salvi enjoys being an owner, and Schuamburg might be a good alternative position for him if things turn sour in Gary. Gives him leverage-something any attorney can appreciate. And besides, Schaumburg could become a solid money maker if run properly. His track record in Gary indicates he knows what he's doing.

[Jerry Garland]

I'd sure like a challenge and I can help a FL franchise draw under a few conditions:

1. Promotions/promotional execution are a MUST - even if, with time constraints, filling every conceived promotion with a sponsor just doesn't happen. This is a spend-money-to-make-money business.

2. Ownership is PROPERLY marketing to its community. This means Constant Contact. This means door hangers. This means Val-Pak coupons. This means COC memberships with active sales reps making connections. This means 55-65 new contacts a day. This means radio spots. This means local cable/TV spots. This means possibly billboards. This is a spend-money-to-make-money business.

3. Ownership has reasonably taken the steps to hire enough people to make it all run well. This means sales reps. This means PR. This means marketers. This means parking staff. This means ticket-takers, etc. "Two full-time people and 20 interns" are great for game-day execution, but you need a proper amount of full-time staff to prospect properly and to build your corporate and community bases. This is a spend-money-to-make-money business.

If any owner has trouble with any of these three things, they need to sell and get out. Period. Indy ball, and MiLB in general is a tough business.

[alkalinefan]

Is this the same Jerry Garland that told me to wait it out with the Cruisers.I've been waiting it out since April of '07.And I'm still waiting it out to get back my deposit on 2 season tickets(the persons holding my money don't seem to want to return my call).However with this being said, I wish you well in the future and hope your next challenge is more successful.

[Minor League Man]

Is this the same Jerry Garland that told me to wait it out with the Cruisers.I've been waiting it out since April of '07.And I'm still waiting it out to get back my deposit on 2 season tickets(the persons holding my money don't seem to want to return my call).However with this being said, I wish you well in the future and hope your next challenge is more successful.
They're planning to move to London, Ontario, Canada for 2012...(PLEASE be the London Werewolves again...a-WOOOOOOOOO!)

[bengalbill]

a-WOOOOOOOO!

[ca]

well act with consistency that you want to be in a community n akf that effort wasnt even close here

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

It does look as if disappointment in the financial success of Joliet had a lot to do with the decision to sell the Schaumburg franchise.

From an article in the Southtown Star...

“I just made a decision to sell the team and concentrate on the Joliet ballclub,” Oremus said Wednesday.
He remains committed to Joliet, Oremus said when asked if he plans to retain ownership of the local professional baseball team.

“I have no reason to doubt that we’ll be in Joliet in 2012,” he said. But, he added, “I’d like to see more people in 2012.”

Attendance at Silver Cross Field in Joliet has not met management’s expectations despite the team’s success on the field. The Slammers are in first place in the East Division of the Frontier League.

The Slammers are in the middle of the pack in Frontier League attendance, ranked fifth in the 12-team league. Average attendance at Silver Cross Field is 2,377, while management has said it needs to build average attendance to better than 2,500.

http://southtownstar.suntimes.com/news/7253744-418/slammers-owner-sells-interest-in-schaumburg-team.html


...If they really need to sell an average of 2,500 tickets at Silver Cross to make it worthwhile to operate there, I'd say they are in for some disappointment. From what I've heard about attendance this year from people who have been out there, the 2,377 figure is way inflated (as usual). Very few indy teams can sell 2,500 tickets consistently, and I don't see Joliet becoming one of them.

They are following an organization that absolutely ran everything into the ground and ripped off a lot of local people. Maybe they thought that running everything on the up up would bring people back. But really, attendance at Joliet had been on a downward spiral for years. They are playing in a beautiful stadium in a stable, geographically sane league. If they can't do well under these conditions, it might point to more fundumental problems with the indy baseball business model, circa 2011.

I can't emphasize it enough. The economy is bad. Times aren't much better in the Schaumburg area with all the empty shops and empty office space.

[Greg22]

So most teams in the Frontier want at least 2,500+ fans a game.

This is where London will have trouble. I think the Werewolves got 1,000-1,500 back in '99 and that was when the economy was okay and that was a championhip team.

Now, London has the highest unemployment rate in Canada and this town has already seen the Frontier League come and go.

I wouldn't expect anything more than 1,000 a game in London.

[ca]

while im not so sure how sound the fl is due to travel in the east it may take a while for joliet to be a success in the fl . as for london it could get ugly due to their locale on lake erie's northern shore and the fact they werent exactly the 1st choice of the club that wants in