The AFL’s future
Tim Ball
Sunday October 15, 2006
Rule changes may be questioned, but that is not the biggest concern of the AFL.
As Arena Football looks forever forward, why not be a success where it truly counts?
People attending games are the way for the AFL to solidify success. There is no off-season in reality and league meetings should be held to discuss actual growth where it means the most.
Energize the fan base now.
The only enemy of the AFL is an empty seat. That holds for the start of the season through to the ArenaBowl.
Hopefully this spurred the recent changes in the AFL game itself. Most notably: changing the rules from Ironman football to dedicated position-players on each side of the ball.
It’s not going to be a popular rule change but someone probably thinks bringing outdoor rules to the indoor game is a good idea. Though they may have altered the game known as the AFL for no other reason than to placate some NFL guys now entrenched in ownership, let’s hope not.
But then again:
Watching great athletes dwindle as their energy faded as the game wore on was never fun. Teams should battle each other without wondering when a man may pass out. Exhaustion causing mistakes is not exciting football.
The biggest problem for the AFL may be the cronyism of the current sports media and valueless big business attitudes. (As if there’s a difference.)
What fan goes to Arena Football games to meet sports writers, executives or ex-NFL stars in a suit and tie? Ex-stars are only great in this league if they are for this league.
The AFL is not really in the hands of the "old-school" anyway. Losing NBC was nothing more than a footnote to this feisty league. And a short note at that. Look, ABC jettisoned Monday Night Football. How scary are the networks now?
Those that attend AFL games do so because it is great sport. It is exceptional football. Sooner or later the current sports writers will not be so prevalent. This too shall pass. I couldn’t name a single columnist from a major newspaper that has caused me to cheer about anything. Being unctuous is not a personality trait I want for my kids. I want my children to be fit and honest people.
History lesson for success
It is time for the league office to concentrate all energies on growing Arena Football by focusing efforts where they will work. On that they are woefully lacking. Maybe the daring changes to the game will pan-out, but they will not fill seats immediately.
Does the name "Glenn Warner" ring a bell? Anyone know offhand what this guy did for every football player in America?
(No, he is not Kurt Warner’s dad.)
The fate of the Arena Football League is in the feet and cleats of football player’s toddler and up. It’s in moms and dads that want their children to be involved in sports from diapers to College and beyond.
Glenn "Pop" Warner is far more instrumental for the success of football than the MVP of the last Super Bowl.
So where is the AFL’s version of Pop Warner football?
Rule changes come and go, and get changed again.
Youth football is as essential to professional football as vitamins are to the human body and those facts will never change.
Families are the place where people come from.
The Arena Football League is a valid and worthy version of football. If not the best version ever thought up.
And Jim Foster thought it up.
It is far past time for a youth league version of Arena Football.
Grouped together
How easy is it to get 22 guys together for a little game of two-hand touch?
Save your brain. If you are weekend warrior, you’re probably not using it well anymore anyway. And if you are a parent, you need what’s left of it.
How hard is it to find kids in a gym at the YMCA or a Boys and Girls Club?
The people involved in supporting a sport with their time and involvement is real security. That will never change for the success of any game. Losing a network deal that cost nothing just proved; you get what you pay for. You lose a fan and you are finished.
Hello?
Who are those people wearing suits and ties in the corporate office? Doesn’t anyone of them think about the real future and success of the AFL?
The league has squandered many opportunities to capitalize on the fleetingness of fame. They want to party in Vegas, while coaches, players and fans want teams to win championships.
Why not build a future?
You can’t do that without a vision for success.
Yet, some changes are bad.
The ArenaBowl in Vegas for example, is bad.
Looking ahead through fans and youth leagues . . . is good.
One more please
Rules will not make or break the Arena Football League.
Those that sell tickets need to realize just one more person at each game are the only true formula for success. One more fan at each game and there are overflow crowds. That is a good thing.
If seven to ten thousand fans are now attending each game – conservative numbers without doubt - then "one more person" actually means five thousand extra people per game. In venues that seat 12,000 to 16,500 fans it is reality to sellout every game in every market.
"A crowd draws a crowd."
Yeah, that’s my tag-line, but it is a good one.
It works from kindergarten to Wall Street.
I’m no promoter, but kids want to go to birthday parties, teenagers to proms and the successful seek other successful people. No one grows up they only grow old. And fun never goes out of style. No one wants to be left out from a good time.
In New York terms: Who wants to go to a play or movie that no one wants to see?
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. It’s as much fun to be with the happy people in the theatre, as it was to watch the artwork of Johnny Depp.
Arena Football is amazing sport, art and festival all in one place.
Fun is fun and everyone wants to be around happy people. The league needs to sit around and think about that. Depp and crew can now buy their own country.
The AFL is just one filled seat away from an unending future.
Arena Football is as much fun as watching swashbuckling privateers run for their lives.
Never "off" season
There should not be one empty seat for an Arena Football game.
Repeat: There should not be one empty seat in for an Arena Football game.
Why think up rules changes unless it means more fans? Hopefully that was the reason for the demise of Ironman football and not the NFL needing to replace their boring league in Europe.
This league office needs to wake up. What should be far more important to the front office than turning the AFL into mini- NFL, should be catering to their stoic and loyal fan base.
There are 190,000 potential salespeople "right now" for the league to employ. If they are successful with even one more fan attending each home game, the numbers are too big to ignore.
You know the old adage about a penny.
Take it and double it. And keep doubling each new total each day.
At the end of one month you’ll have $10,737,418.23.
Ever wonder how the rich and successful get that way? They also inherit good math skills.
As the NFL seasons is churning away and everyone is excited, it is now time to focus on what will make the 2006 AFL season better than ’05.
One more fan.
Rule changes may fill rosters with new players but they will not fill seats with new fans. The fans that turn away from looking at the AFL will look, if they see a crowd gathered to watch the AFL.
The only enemy of the AFL is an empty seat.
All of the best intentions, rule changes and great ideas mean nothing if no one is around to see them or hear them. It should not be difficult to fill Arena Football games with throngs of fans.
People attending games are the only way for the AFL to solidify success. Not in outdoor-izing the indoor game with rules to change the essence of Arena Football.
Looking forever forward for the AFL, means not over-looking, and indeed not ignoring, the solid fan base while bringing in new fans. Energizing those people, is mandatory for success.
Tim Ball is a writer in the Chicagoland area. Married and father of three, his opinions on Arena Football reflects the positive aspect of the game as a family event second to none in pro sports.
