Over a Cup of Coffee
by Jerry Hewitt
Published on September 2, 2010 under Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL)
With reported rumors of more teams joining the Indoor Football League after the bombshell addition of the Wyoming Cavalry this week, it appears the IFL will remain the leader in the indoor football world. What's next for the IFL? All will be unveiled at some point after the league meetings in Chicago next week.
Wyoming is a quality team that was faced with limited choices: they could have chosen to continue to the end with the AIFA, which might happen any day, or get out. Had they chosen to stay onboard the sinking ship, they might have found themselves with no league to play in for the 2011 season. I don't believe the Cavs had any option but to move to the only league available to them, the IFL, regardless of any personal issues they have towards some in that league. This jump just made the IFL stronger because of their location and the quality of the Wyoming operation. This may have been the only choice, but it is a good one and one they should have made before now. Attendance has fallen in Wyoming over the last few seasons, maybe because their fans got tired of watching sub-par competition, but their ticket sales should rise now with teams such as Sioux Falls, Sioux City, Omaha, Billings, and Tri-Cities coming to town.
This move is big for the AIFA as well, but in the negative sense. Not only do they lose a flagship team, but it severely weakens the West, leaving Yakima, Wenatchee, San Jose, and newly formed Reno as their only teams. Wenatchee is reportedly going to the IFL, and I personally don't feel all three of the remaining squads will see action in the AIFA in 2011. I feel at least one more will either jump to the IFL or fold. In either case, it leaves the AIFA with no viable division out west.
It is also rumored that Erie is in talks with the CIFL and, in a potential shocker, it's also rumored that 2010 league champion Baltimore may not return to play in any league. If the West scenario plays out as I expect along with the rumors in the East, those moves might put the final nails in the AIFA coffin.
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Leadership and league structure seem to be the biggest flaw in fans' eyes in all the leagues, although most realize problems don't just rest at the top. This morning I want to touch on a couple of things, expansion and leadership being two, but I also want to address league structure or to be more specific, league personnel.
A league needs to be set up to cover many areas of business, yet keep the cost of the league office down. I think this can be accomplished, but it does require hiring true professionals and paying them as such. There is a place for interns and those wanting to learn the ropes, but indoor football today is big business and big business requires those who actually have a clue and are capable of multitasking.
The biggest problem isn't finding qualified people, but finding qualified and dedicated ones willing to put in the time needed. Indoor football in season is a 24/7 job and even though new technologies such as PointStreak can ease the league workload, employees need to be on hand to get the news out and take care of other business in a timely and expected manner.
I feel league personnel need to consist of the following: commissioner, business manager, games manager, and media manager. The commissioner needs to oversee all departments, plus other duties as assigned to that position, including recruiting new teams. The business manager needs to handle all off field business for the league. The game manager can be your head referee and handle all game related responsibilities. The media manager has maybe the biggest multitasking responsibilities outside of the commissioner. They need to get the news out in a timely manner, handle the website, work with teams on public relations along with keep up with emerging new technologies that involve the distribution of news, such as Twitter.
I'm not saying a league can operate with just these four as the size of any league might dictate some departments having more than one person. What to pay these individuals is a sticky subject, but no matter the number those employed need to realize they may feel under paid at times. A commissioner, maybe in the 50K range, the other department heads, say 30K. Now if it were me I'd also hire a marketing specialist to bring in national sponsors. There are those that say that's been tried without success, but I can't remember any league outside of the old AFL being really dedicated to this avenue of additional revenue.
The CIFL, SIFL, and the new UIFL may be too small to take on the type of payroll I suggest. That is certainly open to argument, but the IFL is at the point that their number of teams dictate a big business attitude towards how they operate. I am leaving out the AIFA as I have no clue what they will look like in 2011. Good chance they will be only slightly larger than the CIFL and SIFL if they even take the field.
Expansion for 2011 is a tricky subject. All of the leagues will gain teams and lose teams. Once again the biggest winner here might very well be the IFL and the biggest loser the AIFA. You can count losses and gains in several ways. I look at them as value of those gains and losses. The AIFA has already lost Reading and Wyoming, two quality teams, and may still lose more in the way of Baltimore, Erie, San Jose, Yakima, and Wenatchee. These are big losses and the IFL picking up Reading and Wenatchee good solid gains. The IFL has lost Corpus Christi and Abilene. Abilene may have been a loss, but Corpus Christi was anything but a big loss considering their ownership. They were certainly not a good pick up for the SIFL.
In an earlier article I said the IFL would enter the 2011 season with 30+ teams and I still stand by that. I predicted the AIFA would not show its face in 2011, but I may have spoken too soon, not taking into account that ownership there may not be smart enough to recognize they are done. The SIFL will gain teams and enter 2011 with maybe as many as 10 franchises. I've read where the CIFL will consist of seven or eight, but my feeling is five or six may be more accurate. The UIFL should begin play with five or six as well.
Let's look at the "if's" for the AIFA for a moment. If Yakima, San Jose, and/or Wenatchee jump leagues it will destroy the Western division now, plain and simple. Reno has announced its intent to play in the AIFA, but if these other teams cut their AIFA ties they will be but a distant memory of what might have been unless the IFL re-enters their picture. If Erie and Baltimore also take steps to play in another league, that will all but end the AIFA. The ownership situation in Baltimore bears watching.
If's for the IFL look like this. First, they are proposing a Southwest division, with Tucson and Prescott both being onboard if you believe everything being said or rumored. Tucson is an unknown at this point, but Prescott has a poor track record while with the AIFA. In my opinion the IFL needs to rethink this proposed new division. The IFL needs to be smart and also take a hard look at the value of Maryland and West Michigan. Take a look and see if these teams aren't hurting the reputation of the league and keeping it from moving forward. If San Jose, Yakima, and Wenatchee jump onboard it will make a very strong Pacific division and secure their footprint in the West. Other reported pick ups such as Grand Island in Nebraska help secure that East, Midwest positioning as well. Texas as of this writing appears to still be a solid area for the IFL. With Arkansas possibly relocating to Allen, Texas, this sends us a message that rumored mass defections to the SIFL may be all but dead. Austin may still jump, but I believe they are still weighing their options.
The if's in the SIFL are complicated by several circumstances. First we have a league that in its two year history has made the same critical errors in what teams they bring in. That needs to change. They have hired a new commissioner in Gary Tufford. To further complicate things, they have brought Corpus Christi into the fold. I say further complicate since ownership there has showed time and again to not be a joiner or someone who cares the least bit about furthering the sport, but only looking after number one, himself. The SIFL could very well find itself with even bigger problems than what hit them in their first two years. I think they counted heavily on defections from the IFL which most likely are not going to happen, not in big numbers anyway. The likelihood of them picking up Baltimore out of the AIFA is very slim. I see 2011 as a make or break year for the SIFL.
I do not have enough information, either rumored or factual, to take a guess on the CIFL or UIFL at this point. Both will kick off, but as to numbers and quality of teams in anyone's guess at this time. The CIFL recently added a Port Huron franchise to its ranks.
Leadership seems to be of great concern to fans, maybe more so than to member teams. The leadership of the AIFA has the most improving to do since they also own the league and set the direction. They obviously can't see that their model is doomed to failure and it appears unlikely they will switch from the old NIFL-cloned ways. The CIFL has good people at the helm, but may not have the strength to ever get some of their better ideas going. The IFL has a leader that has proven he can sell the IFL program to new teams, but the league needs to avoid another Alaska situation. The SIFL leadership has failed in its two years, with the original commissioner seemingly non existent and league creator, Thom Hager, taking the lead and the heat. The UIFL has one leader that stands out and not in a good light to most. Their commissioner so far has not shown his face or taken any kind of visual lead.
So where does this leave us as fans when we assess league leadership? I personally feel leadership comes down to setting goals, laying out a road map to the future and then being able to sell it to all involved. I see no leadership in any of the leagues that I can say has those qualities going for them. I am not sitting here this morning calling for the resignation or firing of any, but am calling for team ownerships to understand they need to give their leadership the power to actually do something.
I'm not saying that the NFL may be the perfect model, but it is one that has been tested and proved to work. Indoor football leagues should use that model, especially where the power of the commissioner is concerned. The NFL commissioner has far more power than any indoor league commissioner, but if given that power, leagues need to be more selective in who they vote in to lead them. The more power a person has, the bigger the temptation to abuse it. I'm not sure a commissioner at this level needs to have all the power of the NFL commissioner, but maybe more than most have now. The exception being in the AIFA where the leadership has too much power and control.
League meetings are just a short time away now. It should be interesting to see the official word on expansion and other league news. Some of us will be happy with the news, others of us not so much, but it is the right of the fan to sit on the outside and point fingers. After all, don't we all have a better idea?
Southern Indoor Football League Stories from September 2, 2010
- Over a Cup of Coffee - OSC Original by Jerry Hewitt
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.
