Post by lionsroar on Jul 5, 2009 7:19:12 GMT -5
www.ledger-enquirer.com/293/story/768445.html
Playoffs can be too costly for Columbus Lions, other AIFA teams
By Chris White - cwhite@ledger-enquirer.com
With a winning field goal lined up, the Columbus Lions fumbled the snap. It was the first and only time last season they had bumbled the play. It cost the team its first-round playoff game against the Mississippi Mudcats — but saved it $35,000.
“I didn’t want to lose that game, and I felt just sick about it,” Lions co-owner John Hargrove said. “Then my wife told me, ‘John, that just saved the team thousands of dollars.’“
Had the Lions won that game, won the next week at Wyoming and reached the title game in Florence, S.C., the team might not be here this season to defend a championship.
Without a chance to profit from a home playoff game and instead burdened with the cost of traveling, reaching the postseason was becoming something of a curse in the American Indoor Football Association. Even last year’s winners and title-game hosts, the Florence Phantoms, reportedly still are having financial trouble rooted in money lost in last season’s playoffs, according to Hargrove.
“It might have been close for us, too, had we won,” Hargrove said. “If you look at the Mississippi team that won that game, they went dark. They’re not a team this season. They just couldn’t afford it. Florence is having problems right now. A big part of that might have been the money they lost in the playoffs. You can’t replace that money.”
This year, for the first time in the AIFA’s history, the teams have entered into an agreement that will give teams a chance — just an opportunity, not a guarantee — to break even if they reached the postseason. It’s a refreshing change for owners and one they readily supported when it was proposed at preseason meetings.
“It’s nice for once not to worry about the cost of being in the playoffs,” said Hargrove, whose Lions host Fayetteville on Monday night at the Columbus Civic Center. “It’s something that you’re always looking at all season, and you hope to make the playoffs, but you don’t want to have to lose so much money.”
The pact required each of the league’s 14 teams to deposit half of their annual dues, a total of about $110,000, into an escrow account. The league would have used much of that money for recruiting new teams. Instead, the money sat in that account until this week, when six of the league’s teams finally will see some of it again, according to the terms of the deal.
The agreement provides host teams with $1,000 to pay for the visiting team’s hotel arrangements (maximum two nights) through the first two rounds of the playoffs and $2,000 for visiting team hotel (maximum three nights). Visiting teams will be provided with $5,000 (or $6,000 if they win) for travel and as much as $15 per diem for as many as 25 people through the postseason. The champion receives $7,500 for rings.
Modest goals
Hargrove has modest goals for the Lions. He would like to win; he would love to make some money; but he would be content if he just broke even.
Playoffs can be too costly for Columbus Lions, other AIFA teams
By Chris White - cwhite@ledger-enquirer.com
With a winning field goal lined up, the Columbus Lions fumbled the snap. It was the first and only time last season they had bumbled the play. It cost the team its first-round playoff game against the Mississippi Mudcats — but saved it $35,000.
“I didn’t want to lose that game, and I felt just sick about it,” Lions co-owner John Hargrove said. “Then my wife told me, ‘John, that just saved the team thousands of dollars.’“
Had the Lions won that game, won the next week at Wyoming and reached the title game in Florence, S.C., the team might not be here this season to defend a championship.
Without a chance to profit from a home playoff game and instead burdened with the cost of traveling, reaching the postseason was becoming something of a curse in the American Indoor Football Association. Even last year’s winners and title-game hosts, the Florence Phantoms, reportedly still are having financial trouble rooted in money lost in last season’s playoffs, according to Hargrove.
“It might have been close for us, too, had we won,” Hargrove said. “If you look at the Mississippi team that won that game, they went dark. They’re not a team this season. They just couldn’t afford it. Florence is having problems right now. A big part of that might have been the money they lost in the playoffs. You can’t replace that money.”
This year, for the first time in the AIFA’s history, the teams have entered into an agreement that will give teams a chance — just an opportunity, not a guarantee — to break even if they reached the postseason. It’s a refreshing change for owners and one they readily supported when it was proposed at preseason meetings.
“It’s nice for once not to worry about the cost of being in the playoffs,” said Hargrove, whose Lions host Fayetteville on Monday night at the Columbus Civic Center. “It’s something that you’re always looking at all season, and you hope to make the playoffs, but you don’t want to have to lose so much money.”
The pact required each of the league’s 14 teams to deposit half of their annual dues, a total of about $110,000, into an escrow account. The league would have used much of that money for recruiting new teams. Instead, the money sat in that account until this week, when six of the league’s teams finally will see some of it again, according to the terms of the deal.
The agreement provides host teams with $1,000 to pay for the visiting team’s hotel arrangements (maximum two nights) through the first two rounds of the playoffs and $2,000 for visiting team hotel (maximum three nights). Visiting teams will be provided with $5,000 (or $6,000 if they win) for travel and as much as $15 per diem for as many as 25 people through the postseason. The champion receives $7,500 for rings.
Modest goals
Hargrove has modest goals for the Lions. He would like to win; he would love to make some money; but he would be content if he just broke even.
