Can Port Huron work as an indoor market?

[exit322]

http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs ... 5/70814012

There'll be more about the viability of the Port Huron market in tomorrow's paper.

But I'll note this: Do I think they'd be profitable in an expensive league like the UIF? No. It's too small. But I do think the sport could work there.

It's quite feasible that the best business model for a lot of these cities hasn't really been discovered yet. If the APFL can darn near find a profitable team in a 1200-capacity arena in Springfield, Missouri...maybe no one's gotten the business model right yet.

I guess it's one of those "If I had the money" things.

[bluecatsguy]

It sounds to me like Port Huron is a lot like the Evansville market. Nobody seemed to care about the team until they left, now everyone is up in arms about them leaving. I think PH can be a successful indoor market in, as you said, the right situation. Maybe there is something to the APFL model.

[tony-o]

The CIFL seemed to have the same small-town mindset the APFL has when the GLIFL started. Teams in places like Marion, OH and Bethlehem, PA. Now they have teams in Chicago and Milwaukee so they have pretty much lost that mindset.

In minor league sports, their are three types of markets. There's "AAA"(small metropolitan areas), "AA"(mid-sized cities), and "A". There is a big difference between baseball A markets and hockey A markets, but I'm going by the hockey definition: small cities that no one has ever heard of. Marion, Danville, St. Joseph, etc.

So what do city "classifications" have to do with anything? That is where Port Huron's problem is. They think they are a AA market. However, it's been proven time and time again that they aren't. They are not a huge sports market. They currently have a team in the IHL, generally refered to as a AA league. Their last team folded, and they had two fold before that. Basically they need a league like the NEHL or MAHL: a self-designated A league that plays in small markets where they don't need large crowds to survive. The New England Stars were the most dominant team in the MAHL last season, however no one really came to see the team become the first ever undefeated, untied team in hockey history(They were only beat once, in the All-Star Game. The league's founder was on the all-star team, so that should tell you something about the league). Ever heard of Findlay, Ohio? I don't even think the people that live in Findlay have ever heard of it, that's how small the market is. However, they were able to have a hockey team play there. It folded after one season, but probably would have folded mid-season in any other league.

The basic point of this rant is that Port Huron needs an A level league. The CIFL didn't do it for them. An APFL clone that operates east of the Mississippi River is what is needed for Port Huron to operate as an indoor football market. When that happens, you may see other small-town teams making the jump as well.

[exit322]

That's a good point, Tony. I think the sport can work, but the cost structure's off.

[cRUSHer]

[quote=""exit322""]
But I'll note this: Do I think they'd be profitable in an expensive league like the UIF? No. It's too small. But I do think the sport could work there.
.[/quote]



If United Indoor Football is too expensive maybe Port
Huron should go af2 . I notice the deuche wasn't brought up
as "an expensive league" , so are they suddenly more affordable than UIF.

[exit322]

AF2 doesn't play indoor football. If they did, they wouldn't be playing under a trademarked name like "arena football."

The UIF is far too expensive for Port Huron.