AFL success?
Tim Ball
Sunday May 6, 2007
When a football player doesn’t do their job week after week, they get waived.
They get released.
Who is being held responsible at the franchise level and league office when things are unsuccessful week after week in their world?
You know I admire Commissioner David Baker; I do not hide that fact.
But why are there empty seats at AFL games in 2007?
For teams, it is winning and getting to the championship.
For corporate professionals, filling seats and growing the AFL steadily forward is what they are paid to do.
A change in personnel seems to be in order. And I’m not talking about on the field.
OK, I’ve missed a few games, but I have my TV on for any televised game. Last Monday night “I” hosted a Monday Night Football party to watch the Rush play the Soul. I also “introduced” several new people to the game of Arena Football.
New fans are what it’s all about and even better than season ticket holders that do not show up at games. And there are far too many empty seats even these days.
So what in the @%$! is going on?
No criticism
The Chicago Rush is drawing more fans to Arena Football games than the NHL team (whatever they’re called) across town.
So, Chicago is not part of the ire of this article.
New Orleans is drawing the most fans in the AFL so we’ll leave them out the woodshed as well.
And Philadelphia, congrats on your sellout. Sorry about the loss.
So why isn’t attendance way up league-wide? Why are numbers of new viewers not skyrocketing on ESPN2?
Someone needs to be warned at the league office. It’s time for better personnel to be hired.
Pink slips and walking papers may be in order.
What happens when a player fails to do his job over and over again?
He’s gone. That’s what.
Then why are we not gaining large numbers of new fans and viewers?
Cheap is not cheap
An empty seat means that someone drawing a corporate AFL paycheck is not doing their job. Sorry, that’s just a fact.
Maybe the League office should hire the general managers of the Rush and VooDoo to run the entire league? Those two teams sell out every game. Win or lose. They can’t be the only teams knowing what is right.
Also, fellow fans, what are you doing about the AFL? Some of those empty seats are your fault. You can invite and encourage other people to attend AFL games. Even when you can’t go.
In a game as incredible as Arena Football, there is no reason for an unsold seat.
Being a fan of your team is great, if your team doesn’t move or fold as you sit in solitude and root only your team.
Try watching an Arena Football game when it is not your team playing.
That is just as important as rah-rahing your guys.
I am a SaberCats fan “overall” but there is no difference in the excitement of a game if it is the Dallas Desperados versus the Georgia Force. OR, the Gladiators versus the Rampage.
I have left many a Rush game with a voiceless throat.
A D’Orazio to Sippio TD is just as exiting as a Grieb to Roe score.
If YOU do not watch Arena Football, and YOU are an Arena Football fan, then don’t expect John Q. Sportsfan to embrace Arena Football.
The league and the TV coverage has never been the best place for league growth anyway. That has always rested on the shoulders of those paid to promote the sport.
I am not all that impressed with ESPN’s involvement in Arena Football. Just take a step back and try to watch things as a non-AFL fan. You’ll know almost nothing about the game from those involved that should be educating you..
I have always been impressed with the game of Arena Football and its fans and players, but many professionals employed to make the league a success are very unimpressive.
An empty seat should be seen as a dropped pass or a missed tackle. One is too many and means a change in personnel may indeed be in order.
I too recognize the greatness of the NFL, but if ESPN doesn’t really see the awesome nature of the AFL (which supposedly they do) and promote the sport (which they supposedly own a part of), then why get involved in it in the second place?
No reason?
Even in Las Vegas, every game should be a sellout. And by the way, I am a great admirer of the outreach into the football community of the Gladiators.
My heart truly breaks that this franchise doesn’t have a massive fan base. Attendance at Gladiators games should be incredible.
The League office is failing this franchise. It seems they are doing their part.
I am a somewhat a three-sport pessimist by nature, and if a guy like me can fall in love with Arena Football, there are millions of sports fans not being tapped into that should envelope this game.
So what’s going on?
Who is failing? And what I mean by failing, is why every game isn’t a sellout?
I know that Jon Bon Jovi had the opportunity to bring Arena Football to 35-million households Wednesday night, but brought them a wimpy rock ballad instead.
If you don’t watch American Idol, Bon Jovi was the teacher-artist this week to the Idol hopefuls and performed a song on stage on Wednesday night.
American Idol is all about sales and promotion.
Jon, Commissioner Baker needs to see you in his office.
You “own” a football franchise in the AFL and let an opportunity like that pass us all by?
(Note: A "Philly Soul" shirt looks like the mention of a downtown blues club on a show dedicated to music.)
Now, let me start a list of other bad sales reps we have in the Arena Football league? It’s obvious that they’re out there.
Any big ideas?
So what’s my big idea?
That’s a fair question to ask someone giving their opinion on something.
Bright idea 1: Every fan attending an AFL game should walk out of that game with an AFL T-Shirt saying ARENA FOOTBALL on it. Not a team shirt, a league shirt. We are all first “Arena Football” fans.
Recognition of the league is of paramount importance, first, foremost and always.
C’mon now, just one TV commercial not wasted on one of 500 cable channels; could buy a lot of T-Shirts. That’s literally tens of thousands of walking permanent ads.
It’s tough enough to stop the remote control from changing the program that’s on, let alone for people to watch TV commercials.
Those T-shirts are permanent and effective ads that get seen even when the person wearing it goes to the bathroom.
Bright idea 2: Every car in the parking lot should be adorned with an AFL bumper sticker.
NOT a team logo, but an AFL logo. We are all in this together. It makes little sense to have a team logo on a shirt when John Q. Public knows nothing of Arena Football.
Sell the league first and the franchises second.
If I’ve said it twenty times, I’ll say it again:
A crowd draws a crowd.
Bright idea 3: Every franchise should have a team of people employed to make sure that Arena Football stickers and informational products are in every business where people routinely go through. From local gas stations to sports bars to every single place where people buy sports products or play sports, it would be natural to see the AFL along with other sports.
Every Boys and Girls Club, every YMCA and YWCA, every workout center, every Church and social institution should have an AFL logo where people gather to have fun.
To name just a few places.
Bright idea 4: Fill season ticket seats with fans from the upper levels until the season ticket holder shows up. Give me a break if you think this is somehow chaotic. I don’t buy it. It is far better for the league to have the seats near the field filled.
Those are my first four ideas in this article. I welcome any from readers that desire to see this league a success. I have far more faith in fans than I do the current roster of corporate guys holding down positions now.
It is far past time for the AFL league office to redirect efforts to growing the numbers of seats filled and games watched to more than expecting Bon Jovi and John Elway to do all the work.
Yes it’s great to have impressive people on board, but Mike Ditka didn’t get me to root for the Rush.
I guy named Mike Polisky did.
Who?
Polisky is the General Manager of the Chicago Rush. And, no, I do not work for the Rush. He’s just an example of the talented corporate executives I see doing their jobs very well.
Once I started focusing in on who runs a football team, the GM comes to prominence.
And how did Polisky do so well? The Rush is a great product from long before the game begins, is a great game atmosphere, and has great team personnel working to support fans before, during, and long after the end of the game.
The Chicago Rush is what Arena Football always should be.
There is no excuse for continued errors anywhere in pro sports. A franchise is far more than just pro-athletes. When talking with players, I heard that they too realize that they are part of a business that has many levels built into it for success.
That story is for another time.
Being right
My children are part of the Chicago Rush’s Grabowski Gang: A great fan organization that truly promotes the team and the game. My wife proudly wears her Rush T-Shirts to the school where she teaches and proclaims her Rush loyalty to all she educates.
I am referred to as a Rush fan by all of my new Illinois friends now. When head coach Mike Hohensee was hit by a car last week, I was called by a friend who saw the story on local news. He knew how important the Rush was to its fans. He knew that for a reason.
It is the efforts of talented and faceless professionals like Polisky and his franchise personnel that bring the AFL literally to life. From the ticket vendors to the players, “someone” is running the Rush to as close to perfection, as a pro team can be.
That needs to be spread to the league office.
There is no reason that a few teams have a great fan base and others do not.
I believe in Arena Football. It is the best brand of football ever devised. It is the most exciting game from the first kickoff of the year to the championship game.
Are there not some passionate professionals drawing paychecks at the league office that care too? Then, why any empty seats?
A few talented corporate professionals on a couple of franchises cannot help the league thrive in every city. That takes teamwork.
Maybe the ArenaBowl should be played by the teams with the best attendance record? Certainly it should be played in the cities with the best attendance numbers. That the ArenaBowl is in New Orleans this year is good for all of the right reasons.
There is no good reason for any backsliding in attendance and viewers.
I watch or record every game that is televised. I am doing my part for the league.
When I had to take some time away for personal reasons, it felt like the AFL didn’t exist.
If it weren’t for the AFL shirts I wore during my time off, I wouldn’t have heard the words Arena Football until I tuned in to watch a game once a week.
That so many people still do not know about the AFL . . . , leads me to believe that a refocusing at the league office is long over due.
