Possible Merger

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Caballo Diablo
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Possible Merger

Post by Caballo Diablo » Sat Jul 25, 2009 6:35 pm

This "journalist" has a reputaion of bad info, can anyone shed some light or insight on the subject?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


http://www.pjstar.com/sports/x...we-ll-know-more-Monday

The following is not the entire article.

LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN? Peoria Pirates majority owner Doug MacGregor is spearheading a group of af2 owners meeting this week with counterparts from the rival IFL in Oklahoma City to examine the possibility of a new league for 2010.

It would essentially be a merger, although a few teams would not be invited.

MacGregor’s vision, according to sources, is for a 32-team league, set up in four eight-team divisions.

“In the scenario that is being investigated, rebound nets and (af2) rules will be used,” said MacGregor, when asked about the source reports. “I can promise that we’ll be playing some version of arena football. It will not be indoor football, but arena football, like the AFL/af2 plays. The arena game that fans love and support will be preserved.”

Known to be on the invite list, from the af2, are Peoria, Quad City, Arkansas, Bossier-Shreveport, Rio Grande, Corpus Christi, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Boise, Tennessee Valley and Tulsa. Among the IFL invites are Bloomington, St. Louis, Wichita, San Angelo (Texas), Omaha, Odessa, El Paso, Colorado (Loveland), Sioux City (Iowa) and Richmond (Va.).

The Pirates would operate in a division with Quad City, Bloomington, St. Louis, Sioux City, Omaha and a seventh member as yet unknown.

A 14-game schedule would be played, entirely within the division, to limit travel costs. Head coaches would be capped at $35,000 and be declared seasonal employees, which means no insurance benefits or unemployment checks in the offseason.

Coaching salary caps likely won’t fly. A guy like Mike Hohensee isn’t going to work for that.

Owners also want to create an “AFL Light” in which current af2 teams Tulsa, Spokane, Iowa and maybe defunct Louisville, would move up and join some of the original AFL clubs — remember, that senior league ceased operations over the winter — in a rebirth.

The new AFL would cap player salaries at $500 per week.

The new af2 — or whatever it ends up being called — would maintain its current $250 per week pay rate.

Rebound nets will be a major argument between the af2 and IFL owners. The IFL is 8-man football without nets. The af2, of course, uses the rebound nets and uniform field kits. It has proven to be a better product.

The patents on the arena football rebound nets and concepts — held by the AFL and af2 for 19 years — have expired this summer.

That means a newly-formed, or reforming league, like MacGregor envisions, could use the nets, too.

“I am a fully participating owner in the af2,” MacGregor said. “My focus is on making the af2 stronger. But it’s just good business to examine options, investigate things.

“I’m not saying another league would happen. The AFL (which suspended operations in 2009) is such an unknown as to whether it comes back in 2010, and that is going to impact things.

“If the AFL does not come back, I am fairly certain some of those teams will want to join a new league and operate.

“Right now, it’s all exploration for us. I don’t even know what such a league would be called. But I think everything will be clarified one way or another by the end of August.”

exit322
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Post by exit322 » Sun Jul 26, 2009 1:59 am

This jives with information I've been given throughout the summer.
What are you doing here?

Caballo Diablo
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Post by Caballo Diablo » Sun Jul 26, 2009 2:25 pm

Addressing the subject of their future, the Florida Firecats put out this press release which also refers to a new league:
http://www.floridafirecats.com/news.php?id=197
......................................

2009-07-26

Florida Firecats Issue Statement On The Future Of The Organization

Estero, FL- The arenafootball2 (af2) Florida Firecats issued the following statement today in response to questions about the future of the team and the af2.

During the early months of the 2009 season a few renegade owners of the af2 began taking actions that we felt were highly inappropriate. Those owners began having meetings that we feel were not in the best interest of the Arena Football League (AFL) or af2, and may have legal ramifications. To protect the integrity of the league, our fans and organization we worked out an arrangement with the league to finish this season.

These few owners have continued their course of action with the intent of starting a new league that would contain current members of the af2 while the 2009 season is still underway. We feel that their actions undermined the integrity of the AFL and af2 solely for their own benefit.

At this time we feel we must step back and see what's in the best interest of the game, the fans, and our organization. As one of the oldest ownership groups in arena football history we cannot be part of any actions to destroy the credibility of the AFL or the af2. We look forward to seeing what the AFL does in their efforts to reorganize and see which existing leagues continue to play or new leagues emerge. At that time we will be able to evaluate what is best option for our organization.

We thank our fans for their loyal support.

Florida Firecats Organization

mshaw2715
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Post by mshaw2715 » Mon Jul 27, 2009 3:44 am

This goes along with everything that seems to be coming out right now.
Also the AFL will fold because it's no longer profitable and it's no longer a matter of if, but when now. AF2 has several teams that are going to disapear this Fall. The fact that the teams from both leagues that will likely be the most profitable combining is the only reason you might see and AFL light league. The other teams that seem to bee on a list of possible IFL invities fits with types of markets the IFL now serves. The article that you have linked no longer appears to be on that site any longer.
[quote=""Caballo Diablo""]This "journalist" has a reputaion of bad info, can anyone shed some light or insight on the subject?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


http://www.pjstar.com/sports/x...we-ll-know-more-Monday

The following is not the entire article.

LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN? Peoria Pirates majority owner Doug MacGregor is spearheading a group of af2 owners meeting this week with counterparts from the rival IFL in Oklahoma City to examine the possibility of a new league for 2010.

It would essentially be a merger, although a few teams would not be invited.

MacGregor’s vision, according to sources, is for a 32-team league, set up in four eight-team divisions.

“In the scenario that is being investigated, rebound nets and (af2) rules will be used,” said MacGregor, when asked about the source reports. “I can promise that we’ll be playing some version of arena football. It will not be indoor football, but arena football, like the AFL/af2 plays. The arena game that fans love and support will be preserved.”

Known to be on the invite list, from the af2, are Peoria, Quad City, Arkansas, Bossier-Shreveport, Rio Grande, Corpus Christi, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Boise, Tennessee Valley and Tulsa. Among the IFL invites are Bloomington, St. Louis, Wichita, San Angelo (Texas), Omaha, Odessa, El Paso, Colorado (Loveland), Sioux City (Iowa) and Richmond (Va.).

The Pirates would operate in a division with Quad City, Bloomington, St. Louis, Sioux City, Omaha and a seventh member as yet unknown.

A 14-game schedule would be played, entirely within the division, to limit travel costs. Head coaches would be capped at $35,000 and be declared seasonal employees, which means no insurance benefits or unemployment checks in the offseason.

Coaching salary caps likely won’t fly. A guy like Mike Hohensee isn’t going to work for that.

Owners also want to create an “AFL Light” in which current af2 teams Tulsa, Spokane, Iowa and maybe defunct Louisville, would move up and join some of the original AFL clubs — remember, that senior league ceased operations over the winter — in a rebirth.

The new AFL would cap player salaries at $500 per week.

The new af2 — or whatever it ends up being called — would maintain its current $250 per week pay rate.

Rebound nets will be a major argument between the af2 and IFL owners. The IFL is 8-man football without nets. The af2, of course, uses the rebound nets and uniform field kits. It has proven to be a better product.

The patents on the arena football rebound nets and concepts — held by the AFL and af2 for 19 years — have expired this summer.

That means a newly-formed, or reforming league, like MacGregor envisions, could use the nets, too.

“I am a fully participating owner in the af2,” MacGregor said. “My focus is on making the af2 stronger. But it’s just good business to examine options, investigate things.

“I’m not saying another league would happen. The AFL (which suspended operations in 2009) is such an unknown as to whether it comes back in 2010, and that is going to impact things.

“If the AFL does not come back, I am fairly certain some of those teams will want to join a new league and operate.

“Right now, it’s all exploration for us. I don’t even know what such a league would be called. But I think everything will be clarified one way or another by the end of August.”[/quote]
Last edited by mshaw2715 on Mon Jul 27, 2009 3:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

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