Fans Deserve Return on Investments
Lee Zakow
Saturday September 9, 2000
The person initiating this lesson was me. The year was 1994 and the Las Vegas Posse was brought into the CFL fold. The Posse was playing in one of the fastest-growing markets in the U.S. – Las Vegas -- and they offered shares publicly. I bought into those shares. Not a lot mind you, but some. I figured the Posse had a chance to grow and prosper not unlike the opportunity the Arena Football Orlando Predators have.
While I had faith in the organization, the Posse was in trouble from the get-go. And I saw no commitment from the ownership group to improve the product and get the fans out. Ditto for the entire CFL which to this day continues to shoot itself in the foot (see the recently botched attempt to bring Ottawa back into the league).
At one point, seeing my money go down the tubes (even though it wasn’t much), I used my MBA, called a couple of professors for advice, and came up with a “game plan”. My analysis was a book about how to save the franchise and grow the team. I sent this to the ownership group and it got less of a reception than day-old, hard-as-rock donuts. In other words, the CFL and the Posse said in effect, “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.” Disillusioned and out my hard earned cash, I accepted the lesson with a semblance of grace, though not a little bitterness. And that puts an end to that story.
Now here’s the link to the Arena game. We have the sale of the New England Seawolves to Canadian interests who will move the team to the Air Canada Centre. (I watched the Leafs play the Sabres in the Centre and it’s a great building.) The important lesson to take away from this is do not let a group like the people at MSG ever, ever touch an Arena project again. They have botched two teams, and if you didn’t actually hear about the New York CityHawks by word of mouth, you’d never know they existed. Hartford is getting panned because it didn’t support the ‘Wolves. Hey, but wasn’t there also a lack of support on the MSG side? So tell me who is the real guilty party? This one is so simple it requires no advanced reading. MSG management wanted nothing to do with fans or building both franchises. What a shame. Then why did they get them in the first place? A few words of advise, ‘Get owners who are committed to the market and fans and give them a reason to stay’.
The league needs to get owners who care and listen to the fans. This is what separates people like Casey Wasserman in Los Angeles apart from others. He is committed. He cares. What a concept. I wish all owners were like Mr. Wasserman, or the Orlando group, too, for that matter.
My last point, and this is for the club executives that read this column, when a fan takes the time to do something like I did for the Posse, don’t dismiss it. Have the courtesy to say thank you because it shows fans out there really care. And you know what? If you went to fans of any of the struggling teams – the Houston Thunderbears, or in the past the CityHawks and asked them for advice, they’d be more than happy to give it. Keep them involved because they are your lifeblood.
We all know sports is a business, but it is a unique business. As fans, we’re vested in what a club does and how it treats us. The ‘Wolves moving to Toronto set me off. These fans deserved much, much better. Let’s hope that the lessons learned will allow the league to grow.
Lee Zakow was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2000 to 2001.
