Commentary: NIFL daily buzz

by Chris Simpson
Published on May 24, 2006 under National Indoor Football League (NIFL)


I spoke of leadership yesterday, and I will continue to do so as we look at the promise of a new league. I'm not sure anything can be done to fix what's wrong with some of the existing indoor leagues today. Even if there were changes in the leadership of those leagues, the focus of taking out the garbage will overwhelm the efforts to actually rebuild. Probably just best to let them die their own deaths. It's time to turn the page on all the problems of the indoor game and focus on a new future in indoor football.

Monkeys

People go around with a lot of monkeys on their backs. Whether it be problems, complaints or issues, they are all "monkeys" to me. I don't like monkeys nor do I care for them being transferred to me by others. Working as a sales manager, I would tell my employees not to come to me with just their problems, complaints or issues. But, they were required to provide one or two solutions to their problems, complaints or issues. This is called "getting the monkey off your back." It is simply people working together to find a solution. Try it. It works every time. I'm not going to talk about the problem anymore. I'm going to focus on looking at the solution.

It Starts At the Top

I'm going to premise the rest of this article with this: A league must exist for its member teams. The teams do not exist for their league.

Should a new league be established, it should be built from the top. First and foremost, this league will be built one of integrity and character. Second, the league must have an infrastructure that is conducive to the success of its teams. The more people the league helps become successful, the more the league becomes successful. Leagues do their teams an injustice when they do not have the proper support staff to assist their teams. This new league should be staffed with personnel who think of their member teams first and have a passion to see them succeed. Part of that structure is to allow its member teams to have a voice in the operations of the league that affect them most such as business/football operations, rules, marketing, expansion and accountability.

Accountability is the key. There should be a series of checks and balances to insure that not just one person controls all the action. We've seen the failures of the "one man/woman" show. It does not work. It should be a three-tier management style; an Executive Board, the Board of Governors (Team Owners) and a Commissioner. The Commissioner should be the task master. This individual would have no ties to any team and will work independently within the league structure to insure that there is no conflict of interest. It would be their job to insure that each team is held accountable for their operations within the league structure. It would also be this individual's job to insure that the Executive Board and the Board of Governors are held accountable for their decisions.

The league should also employ individuals to oversee these key areas: marketing, media relations, expansion, game day pperations, quality control, officials and player personnel. All these areas are keys to the success of the teams and the league. All require individuals who are solely focused on those specialized tasks.

National Partnerships

This league should not be financed primarily on new franchise fees and team dues. It must be cost effective for its member teams to operate, and each team must have the autonomy to focus on its market. They should be allowed to work hard to build their local sponsor and fan base in order to support themselves. It is unreasonable to ask them to completely support the league and/or member teams that may struggle. Again, I'll repeat, the league must exist for its member teams.

I am amazed at the lack of effort being put forth to secure national partnerships. A league office should be self-supportive financially. The funds are there if individuals are willing to make the effort to sell their league and their member teams. I believe it will take time to build the league offices to the support staff mentioned previously, but it should be the goal of the new league.

Once the league builds its national partners, it will allow them to help support their member teams financially instead of the other way around. In addition, it creates a tremendous incentive for member teams to operate properly. If they do not, they could lose all or a portion of the league's national partnership moneys.

The NFL is one of the largest non-profits in the world. They hold back their budget for the next year and disperse the other revenues to their teams. The CFL is set up the same way. The vision of this new league should be geared towards that goal. Getting the NFL on board would be another goal, but that's for another day.

Expansion

I'm going to close with expansion. There are several issues the new league should address regarding player personnel issues and such. But, I believe that leadership, management structure, national partnerships and expansion are the foundation on which this new league should be built.

The art of expansion is not to tape a map of the U.S. on the wall, grab a bunch of darts and throw them all at the same time. Where the darts land is where you expand. Expansion should be pursued deliberately and with purpose. The league should do its due diligence when researching ownership, markets and venues.

The league should split the U.S. into eight regions. Each region must have a minimum of six approved franchises before that region can become a part of the league. The reasons are two-fold. First, it creates more of a bus league within the structure of the league. Reduced travel saves member team's operational expenses. Second, it creates a cooperative effort in the development of the different regions.

I could go on concerning a lot of issues but, I believe that this lays the foundation for a new league. Will this league happen in 2007 or 2008? Let's hope, for the future of indoor football, it happens and it happens soon.

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National Indoor Football League Stories from May 24, 2006


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