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IFL Indoor Football League

Over a Cup of Coffee

by Jerry Hewitt
October 8, 2010 - Indoor Football League (IFL)


This morning I have good reason to believe the dust is all settled in the AIFA, IFL, and SIFL. It appears all the back room drama has now ended and everybody inside knows where their teams will be for 2011. That is not to say there may not be more new teams announced along with some departing that have yet to be officially noted. It also doesn't mean there may not be more expansion in the SIFL or the AIFA. What I am saying is that for the most part the drama of teams jumping to other leagues should be all over with. We now just have to wait for official announcements.

The big news came out of Billings yesterday as the two-year IFL champs called it quits, citing an impasse over operational costs with the Metra where the Outlaws play. It would be nothing short of a crime for the Billings community and indoor football to lose this quality team. One can only hope that something changes so we see the Outlaws in play for 2011.

On to today's matters. My introduction to the dark side of the indoor football business came in watching a friend lose his house, his business, and more because someone who knew the truth about the real costs of this business put out a business model that was painted as far lower than the truth. This problem was compounded when this start-up league merged with another and the leadership of the new league also painted an unrealistic picture.

My friend was pretty intelligent, had worked his way up through a business to get half ownership, so I'd say he was fairly business savvy. This came at a time when the true story of indoor football ownership wasn't as evident as it is today, yet some still try to paint this picture that owning a team isn't a large financial risk. They'll tell investors they can make it on ticket and sponsorship sales. What's worse is there are those who still buy into this fantasy.

Over the years I've seen many teams come and go, with the usual reasons being financial. Owners are presented with an unrealistic model and no real help in how to achieve any level of success. This sport requires upfront money and lots of it, yet the myth that it doesn't persists.

Ownerships buy into the myth without researching things, without looking at the past and why teams failed. They buy into a league's model even though they can look at that league's track record and easily see there are problems. And why? In a word: ego.

I'm not saying ego is a wrong reason to get into this sport, not at all, but it is wrong to get into it thinking you are going to make money right out of the gate, in a team's first year. There have been a few teams that have made money in their first year, but that isn't the norm, and certainly isn't the case for most.

I've seen teams do everything right with their marketing and business decisions and still fail after a year or two. I've seen others do nothing or do it all wrong and have early success. There are some things to be done that normally give a team a fighting chance, yet that roadmap continues to go unread and not used as a tool by leagues enticing new ownership in as part of the business model.

After my friend went down, found himself without his business, in a small two bedroom apartment as opposed to his old home on the golf course, I still didn't get it and it was a couple years before I saw the light. Once I did, I tried to tell new ownerships the truth of the matter, yet my words were largely ignored as they got caught up in the whole thing, buying into the program the league they joined spouted, and I've watched many of them fall much like my friend did.

Leagues that don't offer new ownerships a real world view of things don't do the sport any favors. Leagues that don't do their due diligence in qualifying ownerships don't do the sport any favors, either. Leagues that seem to think that cheap franchise fees are a key to getting teams in without any real money in the bank to back that up are simply asking for teams to fail.

I have no idea why this practice of selling the blue sky persists unless it's all about just getting franchise fees and caring less about the success of their teams. That has to be the answer or they are just plain dumb.

There is no substitute for having real money when starting a team, money that can be used to pay the bills when ticket sales and sponsor sales aren't enough. There needs to be enough cash on hand to meet expenses for at least two years of operation.

Currently, I can only point to one league as maybe looking to bring in only financially solid teams and even looking at current membership and cutting loose those already in the game that don't measure up. I see another that is near failure because they just set up teams with no real money or plan behind them to even have a chance at long term success. Another operates under very low franchise fees, and they make things work, although most of their teams have not shown much long term stability. Another I see touting that making a profit is the only reason to own a team and compounding it with the idea a team can succeed on only ticket and sponsor sales.

I can't count the number of teams that have failed since 1999, rather I don't want to as doing so would only leave me further jaded. But without counting, I know for a fact that most failures have come as a result of poor financial viability and a lack of a realistic plan to succeed. Some of this failure I can put squarely on team ownership, but I can also put much of it on the leagues they joined and that league's poor and unrealistic model for long term success.

Leagues need to wake up, present new teams with the truth, let them know that success, even a profit, can be achieved, but not without a solid plan and money in the bank, big money in the bank. Ownerships can not go into this game with a weak bank account, nor to make money. To get into this sport there has to be a passion for the game, for the pure satisfaction of building something from nothing or to give their community another entertainment option. It may not be the sport of kings, but in most cases a king's ransom is required.

It's time to just get real people and getting real means real money. Communities and fans are the ones that ultimately pay the price for a failed team, so it is time potential ownerships looked at the big picture and understood there is no excuse, no substitute for upfront cash and lots of it!

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Indoor Football League Stories from October 8, 2010


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