Post by Free Agent Fan on Nov 25, 2008 14:48:42 GMT -5
www.aifaprofootball.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=220&Itemid=1
AIFA Awards Expansion Franchise to Greenville, South Carolina
GREENVILLE, South Carolina (November 25, 2008) – The American Indoor Football Association has awarded an expansion franchise to Greenville, South Carolina for the 2009 season. The franchise, to be known as the Carolina Force, was introduced at a press conference Monday afternoon in Greenville.
Located in the Northwest corner of the state, Greenville is the largest city in the Greenville-Spartansburg-Ashville regional marketing area. The combined population for this region is approximately 1.2 million people. The area is the 36th largest television market in the country, with 826,000 television homes (larger than San Antonio, Las Vegas and Memphis). The city is located approximately halfway between the cities of Atlanta and Charlotte along the I-85 corridor.
The franchise will play its home games at the BI-LO Center, a state-of-the-art arena constructed in 1998. Named for a local grocery store chain, the BI-LO Center is a Centerplate managed facility that can seat in excess of 13,000 fans for indoor football.
The Force will play in the AIFA's South Division, along with the AIFA defending champion Florence Phantoms, the Columbus Lions, the Fayetteville Guard and the Carolina Speed. Greenville has excellent travel access to all of these teams.
“This is another great event for our league,” said AIFA co-founder John Morris, who attended the press conference. “Greenville fits perfectly within our league footprint. And I don't have to tell you what a football-hungry area this is. This team will build some great rivalries!”
“The football should be outstanding,” said AIFA co-founder Michael Mink. “Last year some of the best matchups in the league occurred in the South Division. We expect this to continue in 2009.”
“This has been a process that's been going on for about two years,” said Roger Newton, General Manager of the BI-LO Center. “We really like John Morris and Micheal Mink, and over the past few months things started getting serious. That lead to the culmination with the press conference and the announcement.”
The franchise will feature a strong ownership group. Leading that group is Andre White, a native of Columbia, South Carolina, who owns an entertainment company in Atlanta. White was a high school and collegiate standout in South Carolina, who played professionally with the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League.
“I've been waiting on this day for a long time,” White told This Week in the AIFA. “It (the Greenville area) has always been a big football part of the state. You have a lot of major colleges with a lot of great athletes coming out of this area.”
Complete interviews with John Morris, Michael Mink, Roger Newton and Andre White will be featured on the next edition of This Week in the AIFA, which should be available for distribution near the end of this week.
AIFA Awards Expansion Franchise to Greenville, South Carolina
GREENVILLE, South Carolina (November 25, 2008) – The American Indoor Football Association has awarded an expansion franchise to Greenville, South Carolina for the 2009 season. The franchise, to be known as the Carolina Force, was introduced at a press conference Monday afternoon in Greenville.
Located in the Northwest corner of the state, Greenville is the largest city in the Greenville-Spartansburg-Ashville regional marketing area. The combined population for this region is approximately 1.2 million people. The area is the 36th largest television market in the country, with 826,000 television homes (larger than San Antonio, Las Vegas and Memphis). The city is located approximately halfway between the cities of Atlanta and Charlotte along the I-85 corridor.
The franchise will play its home games at the BI-LO Center, a state-of-the-art arena constructed in 1998. Named for a local grocery store chain, the BI-LO Center is a Centerplate managed facility that can seat in excess of 13,000 fans for indoor football.
The Force will play in the AIFA's South Division, along with the AIFA defending champion Florence Phantoms, the Columbus Lions, the Fayetteville Guard and the Carolina Speed. Greenville has excellent travel access to all of these teams.
“This is another great event for our league,” said AIFA co-founder John Morris, who attended the press conference. “Greenville fits perfectly within our league footprint. And I don't have to tell you what a football-hungry area this is. This team will build some great rivalries!”
“The football should be outstanding,” said AIFA co-founder Michael Mink. “Last year some of the best matchups in the league occurred in the South Division. We expect this to continue in 2009.”
“This has been a process that's been going on for about two years,” said Roger Newton, General Manager of the BI-LO Center. “We really like John Morris and Micheal Mink, and over the past few months things started getting serious. That lead to the culmination with the press conference and the announcement.”
The franchise will feature a strong ownership group. Leading that group is Andre White, a native of Columbia, South Carolina, who owns an entertainment company in Atlanta. White was a high school and collegiate standout in South Carolina, who played professionally with the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League.
“I've been waiting on this day for a long time,” White told This Week in the AIFA. “It (the Greenville area) has always been a big football part of the state. You have a lot of major colleges with a lot of great athletes coming out of this area.”
Complete interviews with John Morris, Michael Mink, Roger Newton and Andre White will be featured on the next edition of This Week in the AIFA, which should be available for distribution near the end of this week.
