Filling a void, AFOnline seeks to keep fantasy players in the know
Sean Chaffin
Wednesday February 14, 2007
Sean Chaffin: What is your complete name and title? What is your regular job and where are you from?
Rich Giorgi: ArenaFootballOnline was conceived by four talents, also including Paul Celmer, Simon McGrother, and Scott Lange, with great enthusiasm for arena football. We have no official titles (we're all owners) and work together on all tasks (writing, marketing, promotion, public relations).
I grew up in New Jersey and currently work as a technical writer.
SC: How long have you been a fan of Arena Football?
RG: I have been a fan for the last six years, but some of our experiences with the league go back 10 years.
SC: When did you start your site and why?
RG: AFO was started in February 2006 for a number of reasons, chief among them was that we had been unhappy for years with the effort it took to uncover fantasy information (or any information) on the great game of arena football. Players would miss games with no advance warning and no explanation. Unfortunately, by the time we compiled the information and designed the site, it was Week 6 of the 2006 season.
In fact, when we first started playing arena fantasy football, there were exactly ZERO sites that had online leagues, so we did all scoring by hand, and posted results to a website one of us maintained. Back then, even scoring results and game winners weren't always posted to the web. Sometimes we had to wait a full day for game scores and sometimes longer (two or three days) for actual box scores.
We feel that arena football will continue to attract player talent and fan base, and that it will continue to expand the number of teams in the league. With more fans, more people will play arena fantasy football. Through arena fantasy football, more casual fans will learn to love the game and the players. Being involved in a fantasy league builds a devotion to a sport that merely watching can't build.
Arena fantasy football fills a void for many devoted football fans who want to continue their fantasy play beyond the NFL. Arena football is an accessible, fan-friendly, exciting, offense-driven game, which attracts many fantasy players, since most fantasy leagues are focused on offense (the majority of statistics and players are of the offensive variety). We, AFO, want to provide information to help people be competitive in arena fantasy play, because being competitive makes it more fun and more likely they'll play again.
So our goal was to step into the opening provided by the lack of any consistent fantasy information on the web about arena football. There was a need for what we could provide. We felt we had the expertise, the drive, the talent and the contacts to provide good information for fans that were being ignored by the informational sources.
SC: What are some changes added for 2007?
RG: In 2007, AFO got off to a good start, providing pre-draft information that we didn't have a chance to supply in 2006. New this year are Draft Previews by Division, pre-draft Player Rankings by position, the Fantasy Top 100, articles on Draft Strategy, an article welcoming back the New Orleans Voodoo, an article on free agent movement in the AFL, and an article on players to watch coming up from af2.
We'll also be featuring our Player Updates exclusively on Goal Line Software leagues. And we've entered into a partnership with the Arena Football Network website as the exclusive provider of fantasy information for their readers.
We're also bringing in at least one guest writer, a first year arena fantasy player with many years of experience in the NFL leagues. He'll be providing articles on his rookie season, how he prepared for the AFL draft, how he learned about players, etc.
We revamped the website to make it easier to find information, included archive pages of all our articles so people can check back and see how we did last year and cut down the number of advertisements on the page so it would be more pleasant to look at.
SC: What sets your site apart from others? What are some key features?
RG: As far as we can tell, we're the only site on the web that focuses completely on providing fantasy information for players involved in arena leagues. What sets our site apart from others is the depth and breadth of our information, from Player Rankings to Waiver Pickup suggestions to Studs and Duds to Sit and Start suggestions. We have exclusive articles, like the Muse's Corner, Juice of the Lime and Ask ArenaBoy, which provide a unique focus on the fantasy aspect of Arena Football.
As owner-operators, we are there for our fans through email when they need us. There is nothing anonymous about our opinions and while we would never insult the great game of arena football, we report what we see and feel, good or bad. We answer each email in detail.
As close friends, we have a level of cooperation and coordination that comes from knowing the people you work with extremely well. We're not a big conglomerate out to make profits. We're here to provide a service to people who need that service. This site is dedicated to our love of the game (although this would be a wonderful way to make a living, eventually).
We know there are many talented writers out there and we'd love to attract them to write for our site.
We also provide information on how to continue the Arena fantasy after the season ends through an arena playoff fantasy league. It's a simple format that keeps the fantasy player interested in the games right up through the ArenaBowl.
SC: What do you expect for 2008? Do you plan on adding features each year? If so, what do you have in mind?
RG: A lot of ideas are already being bandied about for 2008, including implementing a search engine so Player Updates can be sorted easily. We'd also like to provide a newsletter to our loyal customers through an email signup. We'd like to provide an open enrollment season-long Pick 'em league, with prizes ranging from ArenaBowl tickets to premium prizes (jerseys, hats, balls, etc.) contributed by the AFL.
One grand idea is to solicit eight to 10 former arena players to participate in an Ex-Players Fantasy League and have their competition covered on the website. It would be interesting to get former players and their perspectives on playing fantasy Arena football.
We're also exploring podcasts, a satellite radio program, a weekly Live Chat where people can ask their fantasy football questions, and eventually a weekly television show discussing arena fantasy football. Some of those may find their way onto the site in 2007 but most seem destined for 2008 or beyond.
We listen to our fan suggestions and try to accommodate every suggestion within reason. We love to hear what our fans have to say about our site and what they think should improve. Without those comments, we'd be producing in an intellectual vacuum, so we encourage it.
We'd love to work with the Arena Football League, ArenaFan.com, Yahoo Sports, ESPN, or anyone interested in providing their fans with fantasy information concerning Arena Football.
SC: What is your business plan? Do you the site making a profit as the sport's growth continues.
RG: For now, AFO wants to provide accurate, timely information to the Arena fantasy fan. AFO's goal is to continue to be the premier provider of arena fantasy information on the Internet and to continue to expand what we offer to our customers. We'd love to expand our coverage to af2, if the opportunity presents itself.
Also, we'd be looking to eventually offer premium content to subscribers – when that would happen, we don't know but it's an idea.
We aim to double our hit count every season and continue to build up a base of fans, promoting arena football while we promote our fantasy opinions. We're of the opinion that through hard work, good relations, fair reporting, and sharing our knowledge, that profits will come in the future.
Sean Chaffin is a graduate of Texas A&M University and an AFL, NFL, and fantasy football fan living in Rockwall, Texas. He owned The Rockwall Express newspaper for five years and worked for several other newspapers in the Dallas area. He is now an English as a Second Language teacher in the Dallas area.
