Horsemen Forced to Fold

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phydeaux72
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Horsemen Forced to Fold

Post by phydeaux72 » Tue Oct 27, 2009 2:46 pm

http://www.kentucky.com/298/story/993457.html

INDOOR FOOTBALL TEAM CAN'T AFFORD NEW LEAGUE
By Karla Ward - kward1@herald-leader.com

It looks as if the Kentucky Horsemen have taken their last ride. The indoor football team announced Monday night that it will not play in 2010, and a press release said Horsemen board chairman Brett Kincaid has decided to "stop all operations."

"Every year during this time, people are wondering whether the Horsemen will be around," said Matt DiLorenzo, general manager. "It's just unfortunate, but when you look at a business decision ... nobody has made money on this."

The team, which was created in 2003 and played in Rupp Arena, has not broken even in at least the past four or five years, DiLorenzo said.

More stories about the Kentucky Horsemen
Horsemen's Web site
Late last year, after years of subsidizing the team from his own pocket, the Horsemen's owner, Lennie House, turned it into a non-profit community team by effectively donating it to the Horsemen Charitable Foundation.

Kincaid has put up his own money for the team since then, and "he can no longer financially keep the team going by himself," DiLorenzo said.

Former University of Kentucky quarterback Jared Lorenzen played for the team during its most recent season. He said he had been looking forward to playing again next summer.

"It's tough because that kind of brought me back to Lexington," said Lorenzen, who lives in Fort Thomas.

If another opportunity to play indoor football presented itself, Lorenzen said, he'd be interested.

"The cleats are tough to hang up," he said. "Because once you do, you're done."

Less than a month ago, it was announced that the Horsemen would be part of a new league, Arena Football 1, next season.

DiLorenzo said part of the decision to fold stemmed from that. The new league wanted a $100,000 letter of credit for workers' compensation, plus another $100,000 letter of credit for operations, as well as a $50,000 payment to buy in, he said.

"They wanted us to have this money in like a month and a half," DiLorenzo said.

He said ticket sales and sponsorships were the only sources of income for the team, which averaged 3,600 people per game last year. Because the team does not have its own facility, it did not collect money from parking or concessions. He said it's a problem many indoor teams face.

"We made it a lot longer than a lot of other teams," DiLorenzo said.

He said he had notified the players that the team was folding via conference call Monday.

Most of the 28 players on the Horsemen's roster also worked full-time jobs, in addition to the time they put in practicing, traveling and doing community service.

By way of compensation, the league paid them $200 per game, plus a $50 bonus if they won, DiLorenzo said; during the season, which ran from March to August, team members were given housing and one meal a day.

"You're not doing it for the money," Lorenzen said. "You're doing it for the love. That's the part we'll miss the most."

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Bruiser
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Post by Bruiser » Tue Oct 27, 2009 6:27 pm

What are you guys asking nowadays Phy?
Less than $250K get you in the IFL door?
Need some more midwest presence to
take up the River City slack and give
Bloom some incentive for not closing their
doors too.

Think y'all can sway KY to hop on board?

phydeaux72
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Post by phydeaux72 » Tue Oct 27, 2009 8:38 pm

[quote=""Bruiser""]What are you guys asking nowadays Phy?
Less than $250K get you in the IFL door?
Need some more midwest presence to
take up the River City slack and give
Bloom some incentive for not closing their
doors too.

Think y'all can sway KY to hop on board?[/quote]

First off, I'm sure you remember that Kentucky (Lexington) made the stupid mistake of leaving the UIF to join the af2 several years back. Why? I don't know.

In any case, the IFL was offering memberships to existing franchises in other leagues to join for fraction of the normal league fees. Kentucky had their chance just like everyone else, but chose not to take it.

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Bruiser
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Post by Bruiser » Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:01 am

[quote=""phydeaux72""]First off, I'm sure you remember that Kentucky (Lexington) made the stupid mistake of leaving the UIF to join the af2 several years back. Why? I don't know.

In any case, the IFL was offering memberships to existing franchises in other leagues to join for fraction of the normal league fees. Kentucky had their chance just like everyone else, but chose not to take it.[/quote]
I recall KY rumored to be moving UP to the AFL not too long ago. So I can only suppose they wanted to play with the big boys. But that was then...

Obviously the current KY ownership doesnt want anything to do with indoor/arena anymore period. I was more interested in knowing if anyone approached NEW potential ownership in KY as I assume the start up costs ~$250-300K are similar with the IFL - so at half the price it would seem a bargain.

phydeaux72
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Post by phydeaux72 » Wed Oct 28, 2009 5:31 am

[quote=""Bruiser""]I was more interested in knowing if anyone approached NEW potential ownership in KY as I assume the start up costs ~$250-300K are similar with the IFL - so at half the price it would seem a bargain.[/quote]

I would like to know the answer to that question myself Bruiser. For both Lexington and RiverCity.

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Post by Geoff » Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:02 pm

[quote=""Bruiser""]I recall KY rumored to be moving UP to the AFL not too long ago. So I can only suppose they wanted to play with the big boys. But that was then...[/quote]

That was Louisville.

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Bruiser
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Post by Bruiser » Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:34 pm

[quote=""Geoff""]That was Louisville.[/quote]
There's a difference? ;)

Anyway, it seems that teams in KY dream big but when it comes time for action they're nowhere to be found.

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