Over a Cup of Coffee

by Jerry Hewitt
October 18, 2010 - American Indoor Football Association (AIFA)

In Saturday's Coffee, we explained a scenario in which one or more indoor football leagues might become the next edition of arenafootball2, the Arena Football League's official minor league. Yesterday I had someone from inside one of the leagues involved explain more of the details.

The basic story is that the Southern Indoor Football League is dealing on two fronts: first, acquiring the American Indoor Football Association's East Division and at the same time trying to broker a deal with the AFL to become the next af2. I don't want to get a head of things, so first some history on the SIFL itself and its immediate plans for the AIFA East.

Thom Hager started the SIFL as a regional Texas-based alternative to the more expensive Indoor Football League. The teams which belong to the SIFL have had no say as to which ownerships were brought into the league as Mr. Hager, I'm told, made those decisions. The teams also have had little to no say in their destiny since it was Mr. Hager's league and his to do with as he wanted, even selling it without the member teams input and it appears that is exactly what has happened. Teams in the AIFA East can relate to their plight.

Hager informed the teams and SIFL staff at the recent SIFL league meetings that he had sold the league to an attorney out of New Jersey, and this attorney is now brokering the deals mentioned. Now I'm also told that new SIFL Commissioner Gary Tufford and this New Jersey attorney are the ones behind the move, their intent since Tufford was tabbed to lead the SIFL.

To further the story, I'm told Columbus and Albany were promised teams closer to them for 2011 and were told negotiations were under way with Augusta, Macon, Rome, Savannah and Mobile. When teams recently asked how that was going, they were told Commissioner Tufford was close to closing deals with Macon, Savannah and Rome, but in reality Tufford may not have even seriously looked at those markets and instead was spending the majority of his time trying to get the AIFA East out from under John Morris. The league went so far as to issue a press release stating that Rome would not get an SIFL team.

None of these moves fit into what Hager promised fans from the start. The SIFL was supposed to be a regional league, kept small by design in order to control travel costs, so that teams weren't burdened with large budgets and fans could easily follow their teams on the road. I have to question how Harrisburg and Erie of the AIFA might fit into a travel-friendly schedule in the SIFL. I might also question how adding AIFA teams benefits Augusta and Columbus who appear now to have drives of over eight hours to most of their away games.

Recently I asked all the leagues for a quote on what they were doing to further stabilize their leagues. Commissioner Tufford replied, "The SIFL has bolstered its regional footprint to include additional markets within defined areas. In order to implement growth that makes sense it is necessary to build bridges across those areas that reach playing partners. The long term affect on teams is reduced travel and reduced bottom line costs. With the addition of more teams the reality of divisional play is more likely."

I'm guessing now that "defined areas" include those outside the current SIFL regional footprint. Heading towards the 2011 season I can not see where any actions by the SIFL now point to anything but increased operating costs to teams and increased travel, probably both in the short and long terms. I can certainly understand why teams in the SIFL have reason to be concerned.

I have always had the upmost respect for Hager. While with the National Indoor Football League, he was one owner whom I could count on to make sure everything regarding his team, the Louisiana Swashbucklers, was done right. It's difficult for back room private dealings such as these not to leave a very sour taste in my mouth. He most likely had good intentions when he started the SIFL, and he surrounded himself with a league staff that shared the original dream, but it appears he ignored their advice on a number of occasions that led to trouble. I'm told his staff warned him of last year's Houston debacle and Greenville being a problem as well, yet he ignored those warnings. Even though I have had reports of Hager telling others he was making big money off his team I'm guessing the SIFL has financially and even emotionally drained him to the point that he badly wanted to get out.

As I speculated Saturday, I believe the AFL hopes to destroy all indoor football competition, and my source agrees that part of the goal of any new af2, if that's what it ends up being called, is taking down the Indoor Football League and possibly consuming the Continental Indoor Football League and UIFL along the way. In my opinion, Jerry Kurz, the AFL Commissioner who refers to the indoor leagues as "ankle biters," has long felt the indoor football leagues were trespassing on AFL turf, keeping Arena football out of markets he'd love to have.

The big question might be if this new SIFL or af2 could take down the CIFL, IFL and/or UIFL. It may be unlikely, and their attempts to do so may end in further disaster and more spoiled markets. I'm concerned that Gary Tufford and friends may very well be on the way to destroying yet another league. He has two failures, the AIFL and WIFL, to his credit already.

Let's look at the plan I'm told Tufford and his partner have laid out for the SIFL over the next two seasons. First I'm told by another source that Thom Hager has been heard to have told others he has lost $90,000 over the first two years. I've also heard that the SIFL has not collected any fees, or maybe just partial fees, from new teams coming on board for 2011. Tufford, according to my sources, says he has successfully taken away the AIFA East from owners Mike Mink and John Morris and all that's left is to announce it. Those moves set the stage for what Tufford laid out at the recent SIFL league meetings. His plan calls for two Directors of Operation, one for the South and one for the East. There will also be two Directors of Officials set up the same way, a Director of Communications and another position, filled by his son, to handle player transactions. In all, his plan calls for eight or nine at the league level.

If it's true that Hager has lost money on the league and also true that little or no money has been collected from franchise fees, how can the SIFL afford the increase in personnel? That is the first question. The second challenge is to bring the SIFL's rules closer to those of the AFL for the 2011 season, with nets required for 2012 and the AFL governing or overseeing the league, and no doubt being paid to do so. I have no problem with the number of people at the league level, but this appears to be overkill at the least. My problem is this league is too small and can not afford this number of paid employees, nor can teams afford any large increases in fees to cover this unneeded luxury. Teams will also have to purchase the net systems, and more than a few will probably have to buy new turf to conform to AFL standards. Teams should start seeing the increase in operating budgets quickly as they may be under the AFL umbrella during the 2011 season. If teams thought the IFL was expensive, wait until they see their new budgets.

I find it difficult to see how any of this plan makes sense or will work. I can easily see the SIFL burying itself in debt and possibly leaving employees unpaid at some point, which I'm told already happened this past season. According to my source, league employees finally received at least part of what was owed at the league meetings. The SIFL was built to be a smaller regional league, but apparently its model has failed. Whatever the case, it was designed to operate with a minimum of personnel. Smaller leagues can not afford large league staffs, and six-figure expenditures for additional turf and equipment are not in the budgets of any existing teams.

There are, or perhaps were, those within the SIFL who wanted to make a difference, who wanted to do things right so that the SIFL could be pointed at as being the best indoor football league in the country for its teams and their fans, but once again we find one person at the top destroying it all. Carolyn Shiver, NIFL founder and destroyer, would be so proud that others have followed in her footsteps.

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American Indoor Football Association Stories from October 18, 2010

• Over a Cup of Coffee - OSC Original by Jerry Hewitt
• Harrisburg Stampede Name Nowotarski Head Coach/GM - Harrisburg Stampede

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