judonebolayb1394.blogspot.com
He's busy thinking about ticket sales, sponsorship deals and other pre-game preparations. But like othersz at the helm ofAFL franchises, who also is the team's generalk manager, and his ownership partners in the Destroyersd are tracking a wave of change that couldr wash over the league's financial structuree in the next year. After the league postes a loss ofnearly $25 million last AFL officials are considering a move toward a single-entity ownership approach to boost operating efficienciews and the league's bottom It could range from a simple league-wider consolidation of business functions, such as ticket salee and marketing, to having investors buy franchisesd from current owners and forming a centralizecd operation, according to a report in SportsBusiness a trade publication owned by Businessd First's parent, American City Businese Journals Inc.
Those are options, but so is maintaininy the status quo, said AFL Executive Vice Presidenf Chris McCloskey inan e-mail response to questions from Businessx First. The AFL is a limited liability corporation in which each of its 17 teamws is a member butoperatees independently. The AFL recently hired Game Plan, a Boston investment banking firm, to field offers from prospective investors, McCloskey The effort to put the league on solis footing is expected to be resolved by the end of the AFL seasobnin July.
Renacci, who is vice chairman of the AFL'z board of directors, said team owners, including the partnership that controlswthe Destroyers, would be able to investf in whatever ownership organization emerges and continue to be the facesw of their franchises. "From a local footbalk standpoint," Renacci said, "fans woule not notice anything It would be the same ownership peopl and Columbusfootball operations. It would be an almost seamles transition forthe fans." The Destroyers alreadgy contract with the front office of the 's for tickeyt and sponsorship sales, arena operations and business services.
Footbal l operations, including the hirin g of coaches and signingof players, are overseenh by Renacci, an Akron-area He and John H. McConnell, who is the founder of and the Blue majority owner, and Columbus auto dealerr Steve Germain are the Destroyers' principal This season's home opener will be againsft the , which moved to Ohio after playing in Las Vegas last The Destroyers opened with a 50-47 loss at Colorado March 2 and they play at Dallads March 7.
Renacci said the Destroyerw hope to build onlast year'as playoff run to the Arena Bowl championshio game where they lost to San That success has helpex the team's marketing efforts in the off-season, he with season ticket sales and corporatew sponsorships expected to rise 15 percent to 20 percenf from a year ago. The team is on pace to reach its goal ofsellin 9,400 season tickets for the eight-game home Renacci said. It sold more than 8,000 season ticketxs in 2007. Attendance at Destroyers home games has been likea yo-yok since the team moved to Columbud in 2003. It peaked at 16,2866 a game in 2004, the team's firstg season after leaving Buffalo, N.Y.
, dropped the next two yearss and reboundedto 14,044 in 2007. The Destroyers do not disclosee sponsorship revenue or otherfinancial information, but Renacci said Columbus is one of the top five AFL franchises when it comews to overall financial health. Still, the team has only brokenb even or posted small losses since it movedto Columbus, he said. That reflects the financial challenges facing most niche and minor leagues inprofessional sports, said Dave Whinham, a former Arena Football League coach and executivre and partner in , a new sports league franchising company in "The Destroyers put out a great he said, "and their (games) are very entertaining.
The challenge has to do with the economic models of those Skyrocketing franchise acquisition costs and rising expensesz have made it increasingly difficult for team ownerxs to makea profit, Whinham That is why he favorx a centralized league in which ownerx receive the management support they need to succeed. In his the AFL's McCloskey would not provide specifics abouf the financial health ofthe league's but he said the majority of them are expected to be profitablre within three years. He said the valud of a franchise has risenfrom $400,000 in 1996 to $20 milliohn today.
Columbus has one of the AFL's strongesgt franchises, McCloskey said, because of the ties the ownerx have tothe community, savvy marketing and avid fan base.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment