ADRENALINE SUSPEND 2009 SEASON

[Gene]

www.adrenalinefootball.com/team/news/index.html?article_id=57

The ownership members of the Arizona Adrenaline Football Club, LLC (“The Adrenaline”) have voted to suspend team operations for the upcoming 2009 season, and are pursuing options that will allow the Adrenaline to come back for the 2010 season and beyond.
The Adrenaline completed their 2008 inaugural season July of 2008, and played all their home games at Tim’s Toyota Center in Prescott Valley, AZ. The Adrenaline competed in the American Indoor Football Association (“AIFA”), and under the leadership of head coach Andrew Moore, finished the 2008 regular season with an 11-3 record and a co-west division championship, and secured a first round playoff appearance.
Team Co-Owner Wade Cunningham cited the current economic downturn as a major stumbling block for the upcoming season. “In the current environment, businesses are struggling to stay open and corporate sponsor dollars are difficult to secure. In addition, an unusually large number of people locally are loosing their jobs and facing home foreclosure. As a result, many families are unable to afford tickets or attend our games” Cunningham stated.
Also, in an effort to recapitalize the team so that it may return for the 2010 season, the Adrenaline have had conversations with possible new partners, and have also considered selling the team to new ownership. “Our efforts have always been to keep the Adrenaline playing in the AIFA and at Tim’s Toyota Center in Prescott Valley for all of our great football fans throughout Northern Arizona that supported us in our first season. We are hopeful that the economy will improve and our efforts to re-capitalize or sell the team will allow the Adrenaline to return for the 2010 football season and beyond.” Cunningham said.
The AIFA and the Adrenaline are continuing to work together for a possible return of the team for the 2010 season. John Morris, AIFA President and Co-Owner stated, “The AIFA will continue to support the Adrenaline in every way that we can. We understand the owners had to make a difficult decision in light of the challenging economic circumstances not only throughout the country, but also in the state of Arizona in particular. We are hopeful that the Adrenaline will be back and would welcome them for league play for the 2010 season.”

[oipheroes]

Wow, that sucks for the South division.

[Gene]

Jan 23, 2009 16:39:31 GMT -5 oipheroes said:

Wow, that sucks for the South division.

Another team in the East Conference has folded too. Looks like there may be some re-alignment...

[lionsroar]

Damn!! now I see why we couldn't get a schedule and now it will have to be re-done.

Why the South division? We never saw them

[The Stable Master]

sorry for you guys

[scuzzlebutt]

Really? So two teams are dropping? Legends and Arizona? Ah well... Economy and nuts sucks.

[oipheroes]

Jan 23, 2009 17:47:31 GMT -5 lionsroar said:

Damn!! now I see why we couldn't get a schedule and now it will have to be re-done.

Why the South division? We never saw them

Doh! I mean West, sorry about that. This league is falling apart.

[lionsroar]

Yes I agree with you. We might as well have a division at large.

Oh well til next time on "as the indoor world turns"

[cavfan]

MAN that sucks we were building a good rivaly with them We didn't like them and they Didn't like us Damn !!!!

[AZ Indoor Fan]

Adrenaline cancel 2009 season
By Steve Stockmar, The Daily Courier

Friday, January 23, 2009

PRESCOTT VALLEY - Indoor football fans will be without the Arizona Adrenaline this spring.

The team announced late Friday night that they are suspending play for the 2009 season, one year after the Prescott Valley franchise debuted in the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA).

"It was a combination of factors but the biggest one is really the state of the economy," Adrenaline co-owner Wade Cunningham said. "The ability to secure sponsor dollars in this environment has been very, very challenging."

The announcement comes one month after the Arena Football League, which includes the Arizona Rattlers, announced that the entire league will go dark in '09. And it comes in the same week that another Prescott Valley-based pro team, the Arizona Rhinos, announced that it, too, is suspending games for the remainder of the 2008-09 season. The Rhinos issued a second statement Friday night saying future games would resume but in Phoenix.

The Adrenaline finished 11-3 in their first season under head coach Andrew Moore and advanced to the AIFA's playoffs.

The decision to cancel the Adrenaline's upcoming season, which would have kicked off in March, was a matter of pure economics, according to Cunningham.

"It's very difficult for people when they're out of work or concerned about losing their job and they're in foreclosure or struggling to make their home payment," he said, "season tickets to a football game kind of fall down on the priority list pretty quickly."

The league itself will open its third season of operation in 2009. Two expansion franchises (Richmond, Va., and Trenton, N.J.) have been added to the league's lineup for the 2010 season, according to the AIFA website.

"The AIFA will continue to support the Adrenaline in every way that we can," AIFA President and Co-Owner John Morris said in a statement. "We understand the owners had to make a difficult decision in light of the challenging economic circumstances not only throughout the country but also in the state of Arizona in particular."

And 2010 is when Cunningham hopes that, with new partners and some recapitalization, the Adrenaline can resume playing in Prescott Valley.

"That's the goal," he said Friday. "We really want to come back and I'm hopeful that we can achieve it. We had to make a hard decision given the realities of the economy right now."

Cunningham also reflected on the Adrenaline's highlights from 2008.

"Probably that home opening game that was nearly sold out. Securing a tie for the AIFA West Division and attending our first playoff game was definitely a highlight. Just the enthusiasm of the fans that we had, how excited they were to have football," he said. "Just bringing football here and having a very successful team that finished 11-3 and tied for the division and made the playoffs. For me that was the highlight."

[AZ Adrenaline Fan]

Column: From Local Pro Sports' blues to the Cardinals
By Steve Stockmar, The Daily Courier

Saturday, January 24, 2009
There wasn't a whole lot of fun for the area's pro sports circuit this week.

Two of our organizations, the Arizona Adrenaline and Arizona Rhinos, made the kinds of tough calls that are never easy on a bottom line. The Rhinos first announced that their future games would be suspended, and then followed up with a statement saying games will resume but in Phoenix rather than Prescott Valley. The Adrenaline also announced that they would suspend games for 2009.

Say what you will about minor league sports but keep a fair perspective. It's easy for fans to lose sight of indoor football while the Arizona Cardinals are going nuclear. It's tough for fans to get too charged up for semi-pro basketball when the NBA All-Star Game is about to bring the world's best showcase to Phoenix next month.

Both the AIFA and ABA have a spirit that's undeniable, though. What they lack in superhuman ability they make up for with a passionate ethic in minor leagues that provide the opportunity for players and coaches to do what they do because that's what they do. And if they can earn some scratch while fans get an entertaining game in the stands, all the better.

But even noble ideas can fall victim to fickle financial futures. The Rhinos encountered problems getting a floor for Tim's Toyota Center that has apparently forced them to play home games in Phoenix, at the Longview Rec Center at 14th Street and Indian School. And maybe the tea leaves showed a waning interest in indoor football when economics forced the Arena Football League to close up shop in 2009.

"It didn't really come into play in terms of a factor for our decision," Adrenaline co-owner Wade Cunningham told me Friday. "But I think the realities of the economic environment that the AFL had to face are the realities that we have to face."

Here's to better days ahead in 2009.

***

Speaking of the economy and local sports, this from Arizona Sundogs Team President Steve Cherwonak, after Thursday's press conference announcing the new ownership:

"This recession is not going to last forever. (The new owners) see the big picture. So like everybody else, we'll tighten our belt a little bit until Obama leads the charge back for the nation."

How about that? An executive from British Columbia giving a shout-out to a U.S. President from Hawaii about an historic recession's impact on a pro hockey team from Prescott Valley.

You live long enough ...