A Fostered Dream Becomes Reality, Part 1
Tom Goodhines
Tuesday May 9, 2000
The Nashville Network kicked off the 2000 season with a “major league” quality production that helped give the league a boost of credibility that has been a long time in coming. The scene would have seemed too good to be true for league founder Jim Foster on February 11, 1981, but the initial dream of a young football executive has finally come to fruition.
This year`s season opener in Nashville was a culmination of 19 years of events that were fostered by a vision. After years of battling questions of legitimacy and credibility, the TNN debut telecast has helped give league officials and fans a glimpse of the great things that may be on the horizon for the AFL.
But in order to truly appreciate the recent fortunes of the league`s exposure, one must look at the origins of the league.
If you are reading this column, you have probably heard the “birth of a notion” story a thousand times. A former promotions manager for National Football League Properties came up with the idea for Arena Football while watching an indoor soccer game at Madison Square Garden.
Yeah, you heard about the manila envelope and the test games. You know the rest, right? Or do you?
Does the average AFL fan know that NBC was the first television network that had an interest in Foster`s idea? The story begins after that memorable night at The Garden. After jotting down his initial thoughts of indoor football on that now famous manila envelope, Foster needed to bounce his idea off a couple of friends. One of those friends was Brad Barton, who was an advertising director for the NFL in New York. Barton, who would become the league`s first director of marketing, had some major media connections. To make a long story short – Foster told Barton of his “idea,” arrangements were then made for a meeting with then NBC Sports President Sean McManus.
“When I came up with the concept, I knew that it would be critical to have a television deal,” Foster said. “My experience with the old World Football League helped me see the importance and the role that television needs to play, in terms of success, for a new league and the meeting with McManus was the first step.”
McManus liked the concept and signed Foster to a contract in February of 1982. According to Foster, the contract called for Foster and his associates to receive $50,000 for start-up costs, but the timing didn`t work out for Foster. Within a couple of months, the United States Football League officially announced its intentions to begin in the spring of 1983.
Foster knew he had to be patient. He was confident that his vision would work, but he was intelligent enough to know that he didn`t have the resources to compete with the USFL. “Things could have died right there,” Foster recalled. “It would have been a mistake to start then. I knew that I had to wait until the time was right.”
Foster called McManus back and they both agreed to wait.
Foster`s growth process continued when he then went to work for “the enemy” as he landed in the USFL`s Arizona Wranglers front office in 1983. A move to the Chicago Blitz in 1985 gave him more experience and exposure to a larger market.
The Chicago move was a calculated one.
“I knew that I had to be in a major market in order to get the ball rolling,” Foster said of his Arena Football plans. “To start something new like this, you need to be in a big city for media outlets, sponsorships, and to make other necessary connections.”
The Chicago move turned out to help Foster in a couple of ways. The move put Foster on a “learning curve” as far as observing how major league sports organizations were operated. It also brought up some “grave concerns.” In 1985, the USFL decided that it wanted to compete and go “head-to-head” with the NFL, when it announced its intentions for a fall schedule. “There is only one NFL,” Foster said. “Any league will pale in comparison. You can`t compete with a league that was as well established as the NFL.”
Foster said that the goal of the Arena Football League has never been to compete with the NFL, but to complement the existing product. “We haven`t gotten away from our initial thoughts from 1987,” Foster said. “We`ve always tried to appeal to the football junky and the non-baseball fan. We believed, and still do [believe], that we could be the summertime fix for football fanatics.”
It was at this point that Foster left the USFL to devote all of his time to develop Arena Football. “It was a difficult time,” Foster said. “It was a move that was not done hastily.” It took a lot of courage and a lot of teamwork, but Foster knew that it was a step that needed to be made.
After a lot of hard work and recruitment of a strong supporting staff, a true test was arranged.
On April 26, 1986, a test game was set up between the Chicago Politicians and the Rockford Metros to get the rules and field configurations set. Foster used former teammates from his minor league playing days and minor league players and coaches from the area to help play the game. By this time, McManus, who is currently President with CBS Sports, had left NBC and the network was no longer interested in the concept – but there were other networks that were.
The test game was videotaped and a meeting with ESPN President Bill Grimes was arranged.
“Timing was everything,” Foster said. “ESPN didn`t have the NFL, NHL, or Major League Baseball yet. They were looking for programming and we were looking for some exposure. It came together at the right time.”
Then on February 26, 1987, Foster set up a “Showcase Game” between the Chicago Bruisers and the Miami Vise in Rosemont, Illinois. Over 8,000 fans, media and sponsors attended. ESPN representatives, who were also in attendance, were encouraged by what they saw and signed an agreement with Foster for a Preview Season.
“I can honestly say that if it weren`t for Bill Grimes and the deal with ESPN, we [the league] would not be here today,” Foster said. “Bill took a huge leap of faith and gave us a shot. If there is ever a spot in the [AFL] Hall of Fame for non-football related individuals – Bill Grimes has to be the first one to go in.”
The deal with ESPN covered the production costs and called for both sides to split the sponsorship revenue. “We organized the first season to show the game,” Foster said. “We hoped that it would generate interest and television is the outlet that would give us the exposure to fans, sponsors, and possible investors.”
And it worked.
Major sponsors, such as, Hardee`s, Wilson`s Sporting Goods, USA Wet, Budget Car Rental, Nike and even smaller companies like Itech Sport Products (for helmets) and Ron`s Welding & Supplies, Inc. (which was the exclusive manufacturers of the goalside rebound net frames) played a part in getting the league off the ground.
| Arena Sports Venture Board of Directors |
| Jim Foster, Chairman |
| Dr. Dino Tatooles |
| Brad Barton |
| Donald Dixon |
| Doug Buffone |
| John Geoghegan |
| Hub Arkush |
| David Sitrick |
Foster also assembled a strong group for the football administration. Arena Sports Venture board member David Sitrick had experience in patent, copyright, trademark, contract, and trade secret law, which made him a perfect fit for Vice President and General Legal Counsel. Darrel “Mouse” Davis was named as Executive Director of Football Operations. Davis, who is known as the architect of the “Run and Shoot” offense, oversaw the coaching and player personnel for the league.
Once the staff was mostly in place, four teams were placed in “football hotbeds” – Denver, Pittsburgh, Chicago and Washington – to help jump-start fan interest.
With ESPN and major markets secured, the foundation for success was in place. The next step was to get the coaches.
| Original League Staff | David Sitrick | V.P. and General Counsel |
| Darrel "Mouse" Davis | Executive Director of Football Operations |
| Doug Buffone | Director of Development |
| Dr. Chadwick Prodromos | Medical Director |
| Jeremiah Enright | Director of Media Relations |
The next step was to find the players.
“We had tryouts across the country,” Davis said of the search to fill the rosters. “The main idea was to field competitive teams. We wanted to have a balanced league. If one team came in and dominated – it would not have worked.”
A training camp was arranged at Wheaton College in Illinois with the help of football legend Mac Lewis. Players were brought in, evaluated, and assigned to teams. “We made sure that each team had an equal chance at picking players,” Davis said. “And we came out of the player draft with each of the coaches believing that they had the best team. So, I think the process worked!”
The season kicked off in Pittsburgh with a crowd of 12,117 watching current New England Seas Wolves head coach Mike Hohensee quarterbacking the hometown Gladiators to a 48-46 victory over the Washington Commandos. Hohensee completed 25 of 39 passes for 354 yards and four touchdowns. Russell Hairston, who would go on to win the league`s first Most Valuable Player Award, showed signs of what was to come by pulling in 12 receptions for 224 yards and three touchdowns.
It was excitement. It was entertainment. It was success.
Marcum led his Denver Dynamite to a 45-16 upset victory over Haering`s Pittsburgh Gladiators in the first Arena Bowl.
The season did better then what was originally projected. League-wide attendance averaged 11,279 fans and the interest in the league from sponsors and investors was growing. Prospective cities for the 1988 season included Detroit, Indianapolis, Cleveland, St. Louis, Oklahoma City, Birmingham, Charlotte, Atlanta, New York and Philadelphia.
The future was bright and the anticipation was high for Year No. 2.
Part 2: A fostered dream becomes reality, will explore the next years of Arena Football`s bumpy road to success.
Tom Goodhines was a writer for ArenaFan Online during the 2000 season.
