Saskatoon Team?

[Geoff]

Word on the street has it that the team will petition the league to be allowed to play on a 55 yard field, with 16 yard end zones and the nets, and for goal posts to be hung above the goal lines.

[50 Yard Fan]

You forgot to mention, a team only gets 3 downs to make 10 yards.

[Shootmaster_44]

[quote=""50 Yard Fan""]I received an e-mail containing a petition to support a Bill that, I believe, was created to stop the NFL from moving into Toronto.

If passed, and if I have read it correctly, it would stop the AF2 from moving into Saskatoon.

http://www.larrycampbell.ca/articles/S-238_1.pdf[/quote]

Well I think there's a twofold problem with the bill. The first is the restriction on the CFL expanding outside of Canada, I don't see how that is beneficial to the league. Its like saying a certain company cannot open an office in the US, which violates NAFTA. This bill essentially would kill Canada's defense of NAFTA regarding the softwood lumber dispute about what defines free trade. Canada would essentially be the pot calling the kettle black on this one. The other problem is that it kills any economic benefits that an af2 team may have in Saskatoon. But the definition of what American football is could conceivably work in af2's favor. The bill doesn't state specifically what American football is, so perhaps since Arena Football is different it wouldn't apply.

The last problem with the bill is it was introduced in the Senate. Rarely do Senate bills ever become law, this is due to the Canadian Parliamentary system and how a bill becomes law. Senate bills are given three readings in the Senate before the bill is voted on. Once that is done it must land on the Order Paper in the House of Commons (which is hard to do for bills from the opposition party originating in the Senate). If it successfully ends up on the Order Paper, it will be given three readings in the House of Commons. Providing it does not get stalled in a Committee (which it likely would), it would be voted on after the three readings. Now in a weird move, it then moves back to the Senate where it receives a second round of three readings, which again have a second vote on it. Finally, if it is passed by both Houses, the Governor-General grants it Royal Assent and it becomes law. The timeframe on this would likely be close to two years. However, if it moves beyond the Senate, it is likely to die in the House of Commons. So its not something to worry about I don't think.

However, I did email all the Senators saying they should vote against it as a good measure. Sometimes my Political Studies degree and my abundance of free time come in handy.

[Shootmaster_44]

[quote=""Geoff""]Word on the street has it that the team will petition the league to be allowed to play on a 55 yard field, with 16 yard end zones and the nets, and for goal posts to be hung above the goal lines.[/quote]

Funny you should mention that, the NAIFL in 2005 was going to start a league that did just that among other things. What a mess that venture was.

Has anyone heard any more news regarding this? I haven't heard a peep since the Star-Phoenix initially reported it.

[Geoff]

I remember that. The had like 16 teams listed with all alliterative names and now websites. I think they website finally came down when they stopped paying for it.

[Shootmaster_44]

[quote=""Geoff""]I remember that. The had like 16 teams listed with all alliterative names and now websites. I think they website finally came down when they stopped paying for it.[/quote]

In fact I am pretty sure I was the only player the league had. I thought it would be cool to tryout and get a free t-shirt or whatever from the league. So I put my name is as a potential player, playing DL and I was only interested in Saskatoon. A week or so later, I received an email congratulating me on being added to the Ottawa roster as their QB. Then a few weeks later I received an email saying I had been traded to St. John's. All of this was done with it being sight unseen. That was the last I had heard about my playing career, but I was curious what I was worth in a trade.

I realized the league was a joke, when I turned down a sales job offer I had from them and my little brother applied. Five minutes after he applied, the owner of the league called and wanted to hire him, oh I should mention my little brother was 12 or 13 at the time. Joe Newman has nothing on this guy.

[Caballo Diablo]

[quote=""rams80""]He also seems to be taking on projects that were already in trouble, or are too recently removed from trouble. Perhaps picking a relatively pristine market like Saskatoon might work. Perhaps not, though, when you factor in travel and other costs, like passports.[/quote]

[quote=""phydeaux72""]I could be wrong, but I believe it could be a little bit of both. Not so much that MacGregor is a bad owner. I just think he has spread himself too thin. I don't think there's anything wrong with owning 9 teams. The problem I see is that he aquired those 9 teams in such a short period of time that he hasn't been able to accomplish his goal of finding suitable local owners to run the teams the way that they should be run. I think back in the day when he just owned the AFL Austin Wranglers and 1 or 2 af2 teams, things were going pretty well for him. But just over the past 2 seasons he has gone from that to owning 9 or more af2 teams. And that's where I see things start going south. I mean, I hope the guy can turn things around. But from what I can see, things aren't working out to well for the guy.[/quote]
It's been 3 months since these posts and things are looking up for the Texas af2 Holding Corp. and the other teams under the Macgregor umbrella. Typically a business plan is staged for a 5 year run, yes he started with some teams that were weak and in weak markets.

Since the AFL Wranglers lost 4 1/2 million in their last year and between 14 to 15 mil in the 3 years he owned the franchise it seems like a wise decision to leave the AFL and move to a more inexpensive league where teams can actually make money. Now he's making money instead of throwing it down the drain on a pipe dream.

His af2 teams are showing progress and he even has one in the ArenaCup Championship game. He's a GREAT owner and truly cares about the fans.
His main goal for acquiring these teams was to give ArenaBall a better chance of survival. He wants to put local owners and investors into a better situation. His company helps finance and train the franchises to help them become better on the field and in the P&L's.

[Shootmaster_44]

[quote=""Caballo Diablo""]It's been 3 months since these posts and things are looking up for the Texas af2 Holding Corp. and the other teams under the Macgregor umbrella. Typically a business plan is staged for a 5 year run, yes he started with some teams that were weak and in weak markets.

Since the AFL Wranglers lost 4 1/2 million in their last year and between 14 to 15 mil in the 3 years he owned the franchise it seems like a wise decision to leave the AFL and move to a more inexpensive league where teams can actually make money. Now he's making money instead of throwing it down the drain on a pipe dream.

His af2 teams are showing progress and he even has one in the ArenaCup Championship game. He's a GREAT owner and truly cares about the fans.
His main goal for acquiring these teams was to give ArenaBall a better chance of survival. He wants to put local owners and investors into a better situation. His company helps finance and train the franchises to help them become better on the field and in the P&L's.[/quote]

That sounds promising. However, does he have any teams that aren't doing so well that might be looking to move? I haven't heard anything regarding this here in Saskatoon.

[Caballo Diablo]

He did look into moving a team to canada but nothing has been worked out.
Some others have mentioned some problems with crossing into the two countries, but I think the biggest problem was in finding a local investor group that is interested and perceived to be a viable group.

There has been rumore of the possibility of a couple teams relocating but no final word on that either. He has looked into other teams to add to the portfolio.

Here's a list of the af2 teams he either owns or is in the ownership / investor groups.

Texas af2 Holdings Corp.
Amarillo Dusters
Austin Wranglers
Corpus Christi Sharks
Texas Copperheads
Lubbock Renagades

Laredo Lobo's relocated to become the Peoria Pirates.
Laredo was in this Corp, I'm not sure if Peoria still is part of the Texas af2 Holdings corp.


Tri-Cities Fever
Tennessee valley Vipers
Boise Burn