Barnstormers will be bigger fish in smaller pond

When it came time to plot the best survival strategy for his football franchise, Iowa Barnstormers principal owner Jeff Lamberti pondered an age-old dilemma.

Worried that his small-market franchise could get swallowed up by the big fish-friendly Arena Football League, Lamberti opted to move the Barnstormers into one of indoor football's smaller ponds — one where Iowa is suddenly positioned near the top of the food chain.

The Barnstormers announced Wednesday that, after four seasons of on-field and economic struggles, they're leaving the Arena Football League to join the Indoor Football League. It's a move that Lamberti said makes more financial, geographic and competitive sense, and it gives the franchise a chance at long-term survival.

How long could Iowa have continued to field a team under the AFL umbrella with higher player salaries and bigger travel budgets?

"It's all up to how much money you want to lose," Lamberti said. "We're not really about making money. If we broke even every year, we'd be here forever. But it's no fun when you're losing money and we spent a lot of time considering whether we could see a year or two-year window where it might turn around — and it may. But I didn't have the confidence that it would."

So instead of butting heads with teams from Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Cleveland, the Barnstormers will take on squads from Midwest cities such as Sioux Falls, Cedar Rapids and Bemidji, Minn. They'll join a league that features 12 teams for now — commissioner Mike Allshouse said two teams are considering whether to remain in the IFL — and Iowa will have a new coach.

Joe Brannen, a Colo-NESCO and Coe College graduate who played quarterback for the Barnstormers in 2008, was introduced Wednesday as the replacement for Mike Hohensee, whose contract expired after Iowa finished 6-12. Brannen coached the San Angelo Bandits to the Lone Star Football League title this past season and has his eyes on delivering a championship to Des Moines.

"There's a lot of talent here in the state, but we're going to get the best guys who are going to make us a winner," he said. "Obviously, our goal is to win a championship. If it's not, you're in the wrong business. (But) it takes a lot more than just wanting to win a championship. If it was that easy, we'd all have a bunch of rings on our fingers right now."

There hadn't been much title talk surrounding the Barnstormers in recent years. They didn't post a winning season in the four years after Arena Football 2 folded, and Iowa was left with no option but to play against AFL teams based in bigger cities with warmer climates and more means of attracting top talent.

"It's tough being the little guy," Barnstormers veteran Jason Simpson said. "Your budget is $500,000 in the IFL and it's almost $4.5 million in the AFL. It's much easier to manage a business model. Your travel expenses are probably an eighth of what they were. You can bus to everywhere. It's incredible the amount of money that we spend on travel. It's head and shoulders above any other team because they can go right up and down the coasts. There are no central teams.

"I think it's just a good business move for the guys. It's much better to keep your team, keep the Iowa Barnstormers name, than to dissolve."

It won't be the same Iowa team in 2015. Some of the Barnstormers will find new homes in the AFL, but Simpson estimates nearly a third of the players on this past season's roster will stick with the club.

But will Barnstormer fans buy into the move and support the team as it steps out of the AFL spotlight?That's a question Lamberti has heard repeatedly in recent weeks as he mulled the franchise's future. He points out that Iowa's attendance was higher during its af2 days.

"And a lot of that had to do with the quality of the product and the fact that we were winning," Lamberti said. "It was tough to recruit in Des Moines, whereas now we're the bigger market and hopefully that will help."

Indoor Football League

Teams: Bemidji Axemen, Cedar Rapids Titans, Green Bay Blizzard, Sioux Falls Storm, Texas Revolution (Plano), Billings Wolves, Colorado Ice (Fort Collins), Nebraska Danger (Grand Island), Tri-Cities Fever (Kennewick, Wash.), Wichita Falls Nighthawks, Wyoming Cavalry (Casper).

Inaugural season: 2009.

2014 champion: Sioux Falls.