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IFL Indoor Football League

Over a Cup of Coffee

by Jerry Hewitt
March 30, 2010 - Indoor Football League (IFL)


The NBA's LA Clippers and Lakers make it work as do the New York Giants and Jets in the NFL, but can the Richmond Bandits and Richmond Revolution make it work?

Under ordinary circumstances I might liken this situation to a double suicide looking to happen. I think having two teams play in the same market is a really dumb idea, but feel there is a way it could work and both enjoy success.

The population of the city itself was 200,123 in 2007, with an estimated population of 1,212,977 for the Richmond Metropolitan Area. There is certainly a large enough population base to support two minor league football teams, but numbers won't be enough.

This may come down to a number of things. First, who puts on the best show. Second, who wins on the field. Third, which team has the best marketing plan, and fourth maybe location and facilities.

The IFL's Richmond Revolution sold out its first game and stand 3-0 on the young season. They have taken up home in the Arthur Ashe Center this season with plans to move into their own venue which is under construction, next season. The Ashe Center is not a state of the art arena. For one thing it has ceilings of questionable height, but it's not the first time a successful team has played in less than desirable digs.

The Richmond Raiders of the AIFA play in the Richmond Coliseum, a far nicer facility than their competition across town. The team stands at 1-2 on the season. Their first game drew just under 3200 according to news reports, but 3200 fell far short of the venue's 11,000 capacity. I'm not saying they have to come anywhere close to selling out to make this work, just pointing out they fell far short.

As a comparison the old Richmond Speed of the af2 drew around 4000 a game.

I mention marketing. Marketing may be the number one consideration in which team wins out in Richmond. Going on press releases posted on the OSC website, the Raiders have not had one since October of 2009. On the other hand the Revolution have had seven since the beginning of the year. I found six local news articles on the Raiders and 13 for the Revolution. I didn't do a lot of digging, just took what OSC showed on each team's page. It appears obvious that the Revolution is more into getting their name out in the community than the Raiders which doesn't surprise me. The Raiders are headed up by Jack Bowman and going back to days when he was associated with the Fayetteville Guard, he was not big on getting news out. Keeping your name out there may be the number one key to why the Revolution may end up the winner in Richmond.

I can't speak for who put on the best show in their first home game, as I've heard no complaints from any fans, so I'll just assume they both entertained their 3000+ fans as expected. In their second head to head game at home, the IFL Richmond franchise drew over 3000, while the AIFA Richmond team only drew a reported 1200.

To some degree I find it odd that the team with the less desirable venue outdraws the team with the best facilties by almost three to one. Just a guess, but it appears at least early on facilities have little bearing on a team's popularity, at least in the city of Richmond.

Who ends up having the best team has yet to be determined, but the Revolution have an edge already at 3-0 and being a bit of a surprise since they are an expansion team. One can argue which league has the better competition, and the Raiders may be in a tougher division than the Revolution.

There may be room for both in the city of Richmond, but I feel competition to some degree between the teams has to end and a spirit of cooperation take over. I feel that if both want to make it, the first thing they need to do is not schedule home games when the other is playing at home. The season for both is already under way, so there is not much that can be done about the scheduling now. In their first home encounter they both drew well, but in the second the AIFA team did not. If the Raiders can pick up attendance and the Revolution maintain, both may do fine this season. Fans like to be entertained as well as watch a good competitive game. If both put on a good show and are competitive on the field, fans will keep coming.

I think the bottom line here is marketing, though. If the Revolution keep getting the word out and the Raiders continue not doing so, the winner will be the IFL's Revolution. I find it hard enough to believe that teams don't market better at times, but find it 100% beyond belief that a team wouldn't market itself when it has a rival in the same city.

I don't want anyone saying Richmond isn't LA or New York so it's not a fair comparison. The fact is the Lakers, Clippers, Giants and Jets have to draw more fans to make it work. There is no way Richmond could support two NFL or NBA teams, but given the scale of the game, it is possible it could support two indoor football teams. But I don't think it comes down to the city of Richmond or its great fans. It's up to the teams, up to them whether they want to make it and put in the effort to make it work.

In closing this opinion piece, someone whose opinion I highly respect describes the Richmond situation in a more global way and I quote, "Richmond shows everything that is wrong with the sport -- no cooperation, territorial and ego." One can read a lot into those few words in regards to the sport.

This article and more archived at The Indoor Football Report located at www.IndoorFootballNetwork.com Comments about this article or suggestions can be made to indoorbowl@yahoo.com



Indoor Football League Stories from March 30, 2010


The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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