Team Problems !

[PHXfan]

Looks as though the Phoenix Flame are facing some financial problems at the midpoint in their season.

First they had to downgrade their venue from a large arena to a D2 college gym.

Second, I've seen some of their road games this weekend canceled due to money problems (Battle Creek).

Any other problems occuring in the league?

[one way]

I checked the overall IBL on OSC and found that some games were not reported or they were not played. This goes against the selling point of the IBL stating that they played all of their games. Now you come up with this info. I also found out from a friend of a friend that the Chicago IBL team does not have a home venue. Can someone please verify that ?

[BreakersFan]

There are 7 games missing on OSC. Two of those were played (4/28 Marysville 131, Akron 99 and 5/13 Lewis County 143, Cent Oregon 126), but the other 5 must have been rescheduled.

Chicago Heights is in fact playing as a road team this season.

And Phoenix did not travel to Michigan for this weekend. Instead, according to the Battle Creek newspaper, the Lansing team will play the Flame's scheduled Michigan swing. So most importantly for the fans and sponsors, a game will be played. But it is a black eye for the league.

I think this goes to show once again that the IBL struggles in larger markets (Phoenix, Oakland, Chicago, Detroit), but thrives in smaller markets. They should stay in small markets where they are a bigger deal. Unless the are a road team with a big market name (like Seattle).

[CentralOregonFan]

This league has a handbook and policy guide. For a team to stay in financial stability it is wise to follow the recommendations that the commissioner has given. Phoenix brought in many names that I'm sure demand 3 or 4 times the normal player payment and that in turn creates turmoil. Just like all business, an owner has to know EXACTLY who they are and not try to emulate something else.

[one way]

what about this chicago road team. Is the league making any special concessions for them?? Just wondering because I figure, how is the team to recoup it's expenses without any gate or business advertising dollars? That team is doomed to fail after one year. Also, your arguement about the salary policies sounds allot like Joe Neuman and his McDonalds arguement. I give the franchise and the advice- now it is up to you to sink or swim. If that team folds in mid stream, then the rest of the league is hurt. And if that Chicago team does not come back, your league gets hurt again.

[CentralOregonFan]

It's not my league, but I've seen about 3-4 games in a small market and read the handbook (becaue i've never heard of the league and recently moved to Central Oregon). I believe the owner of the team here is the founder of the league (or maybe an acting manager or something like that) and maybe that's why its running fine...but I don't know the budget so possibly it's a sinking ship.

I'm just saying that the recommendations for the league say get mostly volunteers, don't quit your job, and pay only a few people and players minimally. So many people are trying to break into the sports industry and so its probably easy to get high quality volunteers. I've seen some websites and recruiting tactics and its easy to see why some teams drive themselves broke. From a business perspective its a good model...

[dmarli]

The schedule on the Flame's page on the IBL website has a different schedule than the Flame's homepage. The IBL website lists the next Flame game at Vegas on 6/1.

I remember just before the season started, a few teams dropped and the IBL re-worked their schedule a bit. Perhaps the Flame's website still has the old version for some reason?

[BruceB]

The Lewis County Raptors are having their troubles. The only promoting they do is a 10-second mention toward the end of a local radio commercial for a car dealership and a "Game Tonight" sandwich board propped up on a freeway off-ramp, they've alienated the local media to the point where the only exposure they get is on a low-rated radio station whose news director is the team's PA announcer (neither the daily newspaper nor the top-rated radio stations will have anything to do with them), and they bounce from gym to gym for home games...making it hard for their handful of fans to know where to show up. Can't imagine that's a good recipe for selling season tickets, either.

There was some local interest in this team when it was first announced, but at this point of the season, hardly anybody cares. It's safe to call the Raptors a "disaster."

[AConcernedCitizen]

Sounds like another same old story about a team that from the outside looks to be ruining a situation for itself. 75% of them seem to.

However, can someone explain (or answer the question before) of how a Road Team works? How do you run a team that has no home gate receipts? I have seen this happen in the ABA with the Beijing team, but can someone explain this?

[one way]

Hey douglas, where are you to answer some of these questions?? Also, answer this one- why is not required that IBL do not have insurance on their players. So, if a player who is not working a full-time job and is playing "for the love of the game" blows out a knee playing in an IBL game; he is not covered? Who pays for the expensive knee replacement? And the workmans comp? Please do not say the teams need insurance to play in their High School gyms, because it is not the same thing. Also, are there medical staff at every game in case of an emergency?