Fate of Albany Panthers remains uncertain
-
coachingubigr
- Site Admin
- Posts: 824
- Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2010 4:16 am
- Location: Charlotte NC
-
VinnyTheViper
- Site Admin
- Posts: 761
- Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 5:09 am
I will attempt to get confirmation of the info on Rome within the next couple of hours from my sources. What Ruben is suggesting makes some degree of sense, there can not be that many available arenas around with the right number of available dates, that said, I just do not see Rome being a long term solution. What I do know is that there was an owner's meeting/conference call last night where mutliple scenarios as how to move forward were discussed.
Last edited by VinnyTheViper on Wed Feb 19, 2014 4:20 pm, edited 2 times in total.
-
VinnyTheViper
- Site Admin
- Posts: 761
- Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 5:09 am
Here is the latest as I have it:
1. The PIFL's preference is to play with 8 teams in 2014.
2. One of the options is to move the Albany Panthers to Rome, Georgia. While this might be the most attractive option for the league, a move to Rome has NOT been finalized at this point. Several other arena options are also being looked at although I do not know what those arena options are. I would have to presume that they could be some of the arenas the league was looking at when they were courting teams for the 2014 season last fall.
3. Worst case scenario for the league is that they play with only seven teams which means that the schedule likely get dumped upside down. If the league can relocate the 8th team into a building with available dates, then the current schedule will largely go unchanged.
4. The PIFL wants no part of running this 8th team as a travel team, if the team is relocated, the league wants it to be run in a manner where the team has a legitimate chance to win.
5. No idea how soon any official annoucement will be forthcoming, it will largely be dependent on how soon one of the options is selected and finalized by the league.
1. The PIFL's preference is to play with 8 teams in 2014.
2. One of the options is to move the Albany Panthers to Rome, Georgia. While this might be the most attractive option for the league, a move to Rome has NOT been finalized at this point. Several other arena options are also being looked at although I do not know what those arena options are. I would have to presume that they could be some of the arenas the league was looking at when they were courting teams for the 2014 season last fall.
3. Worst case scenario for the league is that they play with only seven teams which means that the schedule likely get dumped upside down. If the league can relocate the 8th team into a building with available dates, then the current schedule will largely go unchanged.
4. The PIFL wants no part of running this 8th team as a travel team, if the team is relocated, the league wants it to be run in a manner where the team has a legitimate chance to win.
5. No idea how soon any official annoucement will be forthcoming, it will largely be dependent on how soon one of the options is selected and finalized by the league.
Last edited by VinnyTheViper on Wed Feb 19, 2014 6:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
VinnyTheViper
- Site Admin
- Posts: 761
- Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 5:09 am
[quote=""wasteland""]In the end, all the alphabet leagues are created equal.[/quote]
I get the spirit of your post but within the ABC leagues I think that they are not all created equal, there is one clear distinction that can be made. When issues related to team operations have arisen, some leagues seem to make decisions based upon how the quality of the product will be affected, the AFL, IFL, and PIFL come to mind. Other leagues, when put in the same circumstances, do not seem to give much regard to the quality of the product, just slap something together and see what you can get away with, the fan is stupid, and they will never know the difference. We all known which leagues are guilty of this sort of behavior. Most minor leagues have one thing in common, they are operating on razor thin margins, and because of this, no league is immune from having to deal with these type of issues from time to time.
I get the spirit of your post but within the ABC leagues I think that they are not all created equal, there is one clear distinction that can be made. When issues related to team operations have arisen, some leagues seem to make decisions based upon how the quality of the product will be affected, the AFL, IFL, and PIFL come to mind. Other leagues, when put in the same circumstances, do not seem to give much regard to the quality of the product, just slap something together and see what you can get away with, the fan is stupid, and they will never know the difference. We all known which leagues are guilty of this sort of behavior. Most minor leagues have one thing in common, they are operating on razor thin margins, and because of this, no league is immune from having to deal with these type of issues from time to time.
-
VinnyTheViper
- Site Admin
- Posts: 761
- Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 5:09 am
I fully expect that the league's decision on the 8th team will be finalized within a week, and possibly, a few days sooner. I expect that the current roster of players for this 8th team will be retained largely intact, and the team will be rebranded to a new name and color scheme once the new location is announced.
How is the league able to take over the Panthers exactly?
- Did the owner just hand the team over to them?
- Was there a rule provision in the league (that they signed off on in order to participate in the league) that allowed for the league to take them over in an event such as this?
- Or is what the league doing just really a whole new team, but with some of the same staff and players?
- Did the owner just hand the team over to them?
- Was there a rule provision in the league (that they signed off on in order to participate in the league) that allowed for the league to take them over in an event such as this?
- Or is what the league doing just really a whole new team, but with some of the same staff and players?
.
Indoor Football Forum .com
Indoor Football Forum on Facebook and Twitter
Live Scores on Twitter and Facebook
Indoor Football Forum .com
Indoor Football Forum on Facebook and Twitter
Live Scores on Twitter and Facebook
-
VinnyTheViper
- Site Admin
- Posts: 761
- Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 5:09 am
From the PIFL Facebook Page:
"Attention players that have signed with the Albany Panthers for the 2014 season, please contact PIFL Director of Compliance Jeff Gonos for any questions you may have regarding your status for upcoming season."
"Attention players that have signed with the Albany Panthers for the 2014 season, please contact PIFL Director of Compliance Jeff Gonos for any questions you may have regarding your status for upcoming season."
Last edited by VinnyTheViper on Sun Feb 23, 2014 8:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
VinnyTheViper
- Site Admin
- Posts: 761
- Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 5:09 am
[quote=""BananaCat""]How is the league able to take over the Panthers exactly?
- Or is what the league doing just really a whole new team, but with some of the same staff and players?[/quote]
Historically, the team is rebranded under a new LLC, granted this would only be the second instance of this in league history, so it is not much of a history. The first instance happened during the season so the only logical outcome was to try to use the same players and coaching staff. Since this one happened in the off season, not so sure that all of the players and staff would automatically transfer, that said, I believe that the players are more likely to transfer than the coaching staff would, note that my previous post, from the PIFL compliance officer, which only references the Albany players but does not address the coaching staff. There is no way the league would take over the Albany Panthers, LLC, the league or any new owner would definitely want a totally new legal entity to ensure seperation from any debt or legal issues that might be tied to a defunct team's LLC. The Louisianna Swashbucklers were rebranded last season to the Louisiana Buccaneers for the final four games of the season. I expect that as soon as the rebranding process has been completed, then we will see an announcement of the new team.
- Or is what the league doing just really a whole new team, but with some of the same staff and players?[/quote]
Historically, the team is rebranded under a new LLC, granted this would only be the second instance of this in league history, so it is not much of a history. The first instance happened during the season so the only logical outcome was to try to use the same players and coaching staff. Since this one happened in the off season, not so sure that all of the players and staff would automatically transfer, that said, I believe that the players are more likely to transfer than the coaching staff would, note that my previous post, from the PIFL compliance officer, which only references the Albany players but does not address the coaching staff. There is no way the league would take over the Albany Panthers, LLC, the league or any new owner would definitely want a totally new legal entity to ensure seperation from any debt or legal issues that might be tied to a defunct team's LLC. The Louisianna Swashbucklers were rebranded last season to the Louisiana Buccaneers for the final four games of the season. I expect that as soon as the rebranding process has been completed, then we will see an announcement of the new team.
Last edited by VinnyTheViper on Sun Feb 23, 2014 9:04 pm, edited 4 times in total.
-
50 Yard Fan
- Site Admin
- Posts: 541
- Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2006 11:31 pm
- Location: Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
