UF agrees to host 3 games in Swamp
By JACK STRIPLING
Sun staff writer
September 27. 2006 6:01AM
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This spring, the Swamp is up for rent.
The University of Florida has agreed to host three pro, minor league football games in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium this May if the All American Football League lures enough investors to start by spring.
The $1.5 million deal would make UF the host of three of a new team's six regular-season home games, but league officials say they're unsure of where the team would play the remainder of its home games or a potential playoff game.
Doug Dickey, a board member of the league, said he hopes the league will have contracts with host sites for eight teams by December and franchises sold to team owners by February. UF alumni may well be courted for ownership of the team that will play in Gainesville, Dickey said.
"Our inclination is to use local ownership if possible," said Dickey, who was UF's head football coach from 1970 to 1978.
The league sought a season-long deal with UF, but university officials said they didn't want to jeopardize spring practices and recruitment by leasing out the stadium for so many days.
League teams will play six "away" games in a 12-game season with a potential seventh playoff game, according to current proposals. UF has not agreed to host a playoff game, according to university officials, and May will be the only month of play in Gainesville.
The limited game contract with UF leaves the question open about where this team will practice and where it would be "housed." Dickey said the team's future owners would have to decide where to house the team, adding that owners would likely want to house teams in areas with a strong job market for players to tap into in the off season.
League players would have an average yearly compensation of $100,000, according to the league's Web site.
Future owners would also decide on team names, Dickey said.
"Obviously, it's not going to be the Florida Gators," he said. "It could be the Florida 'somethings.' "
The league is seeking similar host stadium deals with other established football universities, hoping to tap into a pre-existing college fan base in big football towns. Florida State University has agreed to its own season-long deal in "principle," according to Rob Wilson, spokesman for FSU's athletic department. Wilson could not confirm Tuesday whether FSU has entered into a contract.
The league has signed host contracts with North Carolina State University, Purdue University and the University of Tennessee, Dickey said. The league is also "finalizing documents" with the cities of Orlando, Birmingham, Ala., and San Antonio, Texas, which would function as host cities but not be affiliated with universities.
UF officials are quick to note that the future of the league is still up in the air. The team franchise will have to be sold to an owner, and Dickey concedes that investors would like to see the league nail down a television contract before putting up money. By the same token, television executives want to see the franchises sold before they enter into contracts. That presents a "chicken and the egg" dilemma, Dickey said, with both important parties waiting on the other to make the first move.
Under the model proposed by the league, eligible players would have to have completed bachelor's degrees, and Dickey said there will be an effort to put players on teams in the same region where they went to school.
City's concerns
UF's tentative deal with the league may come as good news to local business owners, but it was made without any apparent consultation with city officials and has already drawn the ire of neighborhood associations near the university. The games could draw as many as 35,000 fans to the area, according to league organizers, which stands to put a strain on city resources and flood neighborhoods near the university with congestion.
Steven Packard, a member of the University Park Neighborhood Association, said he envisions a booze-filled mass of rowdy fans with little or no connection to the city to attend these games in May. He articulated these concerns in letters to city officials, but says the university has made no effort to seek community input on the plan.
"I guess if you're the biggest gorilla in the jungle, you do whatever you want to do," he said.
Chip Howard, UF's associate athletic director, said the decision to enter the contract was made at the "highest levels" of both the athletic department and the university administration but that he didn't know of any consultation with the city.
Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan said Tuesday that she hadn't been contacted about the deal and didn't know of any other city official who had been informed of the contract. The city already incurs clean-up costs for home football games that exceed what UF pays out for the service, Hanrahan said. If the spring league goes forward, Hanrahan said the city will want a better deal.
"The primary thing to me is that we not be expected to take on excess cost for something that is a money-making operation to the university," she said. "We would expect it to be cost-neutral to the city."
AAFL article revealing other cities that are interested
TV people waiting for owners to be involved, while owners are waiting for TV contracts to be in place? Need I tell anyone where that's going to go?
If it somehow does get off the ground, I highly doubt the city of Gainesville has much to worry about. Pro teams that aren't in the big 3 or 4 or 5 might get a few stragglers from out of town, but not nearly enough to make a mess.
If it somehow does get off the ground, I highly doubt the city of Gainesville has much to worry about. Pro teams that aren't in the big 3 or 4 or 5 might get a few stragglers from out of town, but not nearly enough to make a mess.
