Can the AFL take advantage of the NHL?
Jason Moyer
Sunday February 20, 2005
The NHL will be out of sight out of mind until… if… they reach an agreement for their season to begin next year. Hockey fans are sports fans and attend other events too. The AFL should push hard for promotions to bring those fans to Arena Football games.
Cross promotions could be concentrated in arenas that are shared with the NBA.
Philadelphia, Colorado, Los Angeles, Dallas, Georgia, and Arizona all share venues with NBA franchises. Several other AFL teams share their arenas with minor league sports and could have similar promotions, including ticket giveaways to bring more fans to games.
Speaking on Philadelphia’s Daily News Live, former NHL player Nick Kypreos made the statement that the NHL, "needs to be careful that hockey does not turn into Arena Football or Major Indoor Lacrosse". Perhaps that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
Arena Football is an exciting product; hockey has become boring.
Arena Football is an affordable family event; hockey is an overpriced corporate event.
Arena Football has autograph signings after each game; hockey players are mostly off limit to fans.
Kypreos also stated, "When you cheapen your product…you can’t deliver premium players." What he is forgetting is that the product is what brings people to sporting events. Players come and go, but the product is constant.
Arena League fans understand that we do not have the best football players available; they play in the NFL. What brings us to the game is the action on the field. If the NHL owners are not careful, their product can be replaced in the landscape of sports.
Arena Football League Commissioner David Baker has already made great strides in bringing his product to the public. The League has national television coverage from NBC, larger markets have entered the league, and more athletes have made the AFL a viable place to apply their skill.
Now the league must promote their athletes to the public even more. AFL rosters should include local college players or players cut by NFL teams in their market; such as Clint Stoerner in Dallas and Sean Scott in Philadelphia. These players bring a sense of ownership to the fans.
The creation of an Arena Football video game by EA Sports for the beginning of next season will help familiarize players to the fans. Young kids know who Donavan McNabb and Terrell Owens are by playing these video games. Imagine being able to control players in a game, and then get their autographs at the arena.
One thing that the AFL needs to avoid is expanding too quickly. The League should remain around 20 teams, so the product remains at a lofty level. The creation of the af2 already provides smaller markets an opportunity to present the game in their area. af2 also serves as a feeder system for the larger league.
In my opinion, one of the best things the AFL has incorporated comes from their collective bargaining agreement. AFL players share revenue from the league (i.e., the more the league grows, the more players salaries will increase). To say it in other words, the players actually care what happens in their sport.
So, if you know a depressed hockey fan looking for something to do, offer to bring them to an Arena Football League game. Perhaps the scenery of sports has an air of change in the future.
Jason Moyer is an elementary school teacher in the western New Jersey area. He is an avid follower of the Arena Football League and has been covering the Philadelphia Soul with ArenaFan.com since 2005. Jason resides in Whitehall, PA with his wife and daughter.
