They All Want in to the Frontier League

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J.J. Smith
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They All Want in to the Frontier League

Post by J.J. Smith » Sat Nov 06, 2010 2:06 pm

According to this story in the Tribune, all four remaining Northern League teams have applied to be accepted into the Frontier League...

http://triblocal.com/joliet/2010/11/05/ ... ew-league/

"Frontier League Commissioner Bill Lee confirmed Thursday that each team — the JackHammers, the Schaumburg Flyers, Rockford RiverHawks and the Lake County Fields — applied individually to his 12-team league.

Lee declined further comment and would not speculate on how long a decision will take.

“I just think you’ve got to move in a prudent fashion, but sometimes that prudent fashion is not fast enough for some people,” Lee said."


...I'm going to speculate that the 2011 FL is going to lose OC and Kazoo, and add at least two of the remaining Northern League teams, most likely Joliet and Rockford. I think the Joliet deal will be under the agreement that new ownership will be in place for the start of the 2011 season. A league affiliation would give at least some value back to the franchise, and allow a sale to take place. As it stands now, it's value is the same as it's standing in the community-zero.

It will be interesting to see how the two Ehrenriech clubs are handled. Does Lee wish to bring into his league the very people who brought down the Northern League for a speculative short term gain? If he shuts them out, both are finished, and that would insure new ownership and maybe a new start for 2012 in the Frontier League.

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Post by Ken, Steelheads fan » Sat Nov 06, 2010 3:41 pm

...and I speculate that ALL four teams will merge. As a matter of fact, the Lake County Fielders are the strongest of the four teams in my opinion...but our opinions have always been on opposite ends of the spectrum concerning the Fielders.
[quote=""J.J. Smith""]
...
It will be interesting to see how the two Ehrenriech clubs are handled. Does Lee wish to bring into his league the very people who brought down the Northern League for a speculative short term gain? If he shuts them out, both are finished, and that would insure new ownership and maybe a new start for 2012 in the Frontier League.[/quote]
You make it seem like the Frontier League is picky or something. Have you taken a good look at the Frontier League? Also, you think Ehrenriech brought down the Northern League?!? You give Mr. Ehrenriech far too much credit. There is a little thing called the state of the economy that is bringing down teams and leagues throughout the country. As long as this over supply of housing continues and as long as people don't have money to purchase this housing then don't expect people to buy tickets when they can't buy a roof over their heads. There is going to be a lot more movement with teams in the immediate future. There isn't enough disposable income out there.

J.J. Smith
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Post by J.J. Smith » Sat Nov 06, 2010 4:03 pm

The Frontier League has it's own issues, no doubt about it. They may very well roll the dice and bring in all four teams, but they are going to want two at the very least to make up for, what I believe, will be the loss of two current franchises.

The economy is in way worse shape than what the MSM and government statistics lead us to believe. I see it more and more every day. There really isn't enough disposable income out there, especially among the target demographics of indy baseball leagues. I agree there is going to be a lot of team movement in the future. That is going to be the new normal.

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reality may have arrived !

Post by ca » Sat Nov 06, 2010 9:11 pm

lee has imo brought in some dodoo's for owners in the past (aka kzo n oc who may have played their last fl slate ) so why wouldnt he bring in s/burg n lc ? the fl needs at least 2 of these clubs and this maybe more of an alliance than an absorbing since the remaining nol nines at least dont have the travel woes of the past that the aa will soon have . as for the economic side of it the last thing towns want right now is to be the front man or safety net for a pk that in markets like se mi arent needed . btw if oc n kzo leave the fl it might suck to be lake erie and washington

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Post by J.J. Smith » Sun Nov 07, 2010 2:16 pm

The only way I see Ehrenreich's teams being brought into the league is if Lee gets a good amount of upfront money. And they may have to cough it up if they want to stay extant. Lake County (still no stadium being built, just more speculative talk, ala last year) and Schuamburg find themselves in a most disagreeable situation. Of course, they worked hard to get there.

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