A source close to the league told The Pantagraph that the Rocky Mountain Rage may restart operations for the 2011-12 season. The Rage, based in Broomfield, Colo., ceased operations after the 2008-09 season.
"I'm not making an ultimatum, but timing is of the essence," Scott told The Times on Tuesday. "People are hoping, but hoping isn't going to do anything. We need action. I don't want people to jeopardize their family; I know how that is. It is all about action. I don't want anyone to do anything they aren't comfortable with."
Saying you need 2,500 season ticket holders isn't an ultimatum?
Quote:
Scott hopes to nab 2,500 season-ticket commitments ($50 deposit per ticket, refundable if the team suspends operations) for 2011-12 campaign.
"We have to get busy. We have a lot of work to do," Scott said. "You can't hold off forever."
Atleast, unlike Eric Karls in Quad City people will get their money back, I guess.
Quote:
Pressure from the CHL, which has lost the Colorado Eagles, perhaps the league's model franchise, to the ECHL on Tuesday, has been "unreasonable" according to Scott, who was questioned about his future plans prior to Friday's Game 7 in Loveland, Colo.
"Three hours before the big game? I thought was kind of silly," Scott said. "I've told the league, 'I'll let you know as soon as I can. I'm not going to say yes or no without having a go at it first as far as making the effort (to stay). If you want an answer now, it's no.'
I sort of agree that asking him, 3 hours before the big game(Game 7)is stupid. So I guess as of right now it's a wait and see until June 10th(Next Friday) when the league meetings are held.
Quote:
Unlike the Eagles, the Mudbugs are bound to the CHL for another eight years (the contract began upon Scott's tenure as owner). Colorado's 10-year agreement was shortened as part of a concession package when the league put the since-defunct Rocky Mountain Rage in nearby Broomfield, Colo. Colorado made the decision to bolt immediately upon the end of the amended agreement.
I wouldn't expect a move to the SPHL then, that's gunna be pretty costly.
Quote:
Scott says going dark for a season (which may offer loopholes in the current deal with the CHL) and then pursuing other options would be on the table as a last resort.
It usually is...
Quote:
According a post on his personal Facebook page, Scott welcomes the help of additional investors for the 2011-12 campaign and beyond.
"You will not make money but if we have enough of us to share the responsibility then the losses are a reasonable investment in a hobby and the community," Scott said in his post.
Thats how it should be, whoever expects to make a buck realistically on minor league sports is an idiot.
Quote:
Scott says, citing a recent study, the "real economic impact" of the hockey team registers at $2.5 annually. The outreach doesn't stop there.
"We have done more this season than ever before," Scott said. "Think about the food drive, coat drive, teddy bear toss, charity games (over $50,000 raised) and countless other activities. We taught hockey in schools for PE, visited hospitals, read to kids, etc, etc. These guys are here to play hockey but certainly do their part to better the community."
So basically, you finally got with the times and did what many organizations do....congrats.
Heres a 3 part series from the ProHockeyNews about the CHL, it's been out for almost a month now but I kinda hid it on this thread because I was waiting for the 4th piece to come out, but it's been 2 1/2 weeks and i'm convinced it may never come. The first 2 were posted within a day of eachother and originally they said the 3rd one would be posted the next day after the 2nd one came out and it took a week before it did.
They have asked the community to step up and support the team moving forward. Tommy Scott set a goal of 2,500 season ticket commitments by Friday (June 10).
Quote:
As of Saturday at 2 p.m., the Mudbugs had 800 season ticket commitments, including some parents of current Mudbugs and several people out of state. The team had a total of 957 season tickets sold last year. To Scott's knowledge, the Mudbugs have never had more than 1,500 season ticket holders during any year.
Looks like the they need a big sales pitch this week to reach the sales goal!
Looks like the they need a big sales pitch this week to reach the sales goal!
Looks like you beat me to the punch here. Wow, this is all but over here. Not even every season ticket holder has signed back on.
Two things caught my eye:
The mudbugs have NEVER had 1,500 season ticket holders before? Boy, they couldn't even join the ECHL if they wanted to. How are they STILL in business then?!
Most of the season ticket holders are out of state/current players parents??? There's more interest of this team out of the area than in the local community, LOL. Not a good sign.
"If I had a nickel for every rumor that’s out there, I could retire right now,” he said. “We’re fighting that battle every year.”
Quote:
Lewis said pure speculation concerning the league on blogs and social media such as Twitter and Facebook have done little more than muddy the factual waters.
“I get frustrated with the rumors, reading the message boards. You wish you could control all that, but you can’t, so you live with it,” he said.
“Unfortunately, sometimes people believe that too much and it creates worry or chaos in places where we don’t need chaos.”
Lewis really doesn’t know how many teams will be a part of the CHL next season.
He wants fans to stop talking about rumors and such yet has no idea how many teams will be in the league next season, well if that isn't contradictory...
Quote:
One change Lewis expects to see concerns the postseason playoff format, which expanded this year to include 16 of the 18 teams playing down through four rounds.
While a recent report in The Monitor, based in McAllen, Texas, stated there will be a luxury-tax system in the CHL next season, designed to aid some of the league's lower-revenue teams, Komets president Michael Franke said it's far from a done deal.
"Nothing has been finalized in that area," said Franke, whose Komets led the CHL with an 7,460 fans per game, 2,054 more than any other team. "The discussions will be ongoing in regards to that. Who knows where that will all end up at? That's why they have the summer meetings in Phoenix (June 10 and 11), for things like that."
Two things strike me about this. It shows how badly these buildings need tenants, especially publicly owned buildings, and $500,000 for 50 percent of an ECHL team? Are you kidding me?
Want an easy way to tell if a team is in trouble? Multiply their total attendance by $10 which it a little less or a little more the average each team’s income for an average ticket. The average Class AA minor league budget is between $2.5 million and $3.5-$4 million. Figure $500,000 for marketing/advertising income. Now you can really see how many teams are struggling.
So NEXT summer around Minor League Hockey will be the interesting one:
Quote:
The way this all works, teams sign licensing agreements with their leagues, and when those agreements are up, that’s when it’s easiest for them to change leagues. That’s what happened in Victoria (AHL), Odessa and Colorado in the CHL. The IHL teams do not have licensing agreements which is parr of the reason why this is a two-year deal with the CHL.
A bunch of teams throughout all leagues have their agreements finish up after next season. If a major restructuring is ever going to happen, that’s when it will be. There are also a bunch of teams in every league for sale with no buyers
Also apparently it will be a 12-14 team league next season(Rapid City included)and no expansion(Bloomington doesn't count)
That's not the only typo in there. Part is spelled "parr" lol.
I know rumors were floating around of maybe an AHL team in Victoria. Not sure how you could house juniors AND minor league hockey in the same building.
No news out of RGV. No players signed, or a coach and the office is still closed. Not good.
No news out of QC, I would say the revival isn't lookin good.
Last but not least...Evansville still doesn't have a lease, and playing at Swonder is not an option anymore I guess. I'm sure they will still get one done so i'm sure they will commit
Last edited by BK Triple Threat: 06-08-2011 at 04:37 PM.
For a third straight year, interest from a "serious group" could salvage Quad-Cities professional hockey beyond the 11th hour.
You consider groups serious when they bolt town after a year?!
Quote:
Scott Mullen, the executive director at the i wireless Center in Moline, said a group he described as "a multi-million dollar entity" is negotiating with former Quad-City Mallards owner Eric Karls in hopes of fielding a team in the Central Hockey League in October.
Multi-million?? All that could mean is the guy has $2million dollars. An overexaggerated term.
Quote:
He said the organization has owned minor-league teams in more than one sport.
"Serious group," he said. "They have good experience in the sports world and they have all kinds of businesses associated with that. They are are a multi-million dollar entity, someone who can get in here, pick things up and get things moving in the right direction."
June 11th is when minor league teams typically get their rosters in to the Central Hockey League, so I-Wireless Center Executive Director Scott Mullen said it's safe to say they're down to the wire for next year's team.
League meetings start tomorrow
Quote:
"We would like to have something done by the end of next week," said Mullen. But he said the game is far from over. Mullen said a deal is in the works with an ownership group serious about buying the Mallards.
"This group really has a strong background in minor league sports," said Mullen, "They've owned a few teams before. They're not just fans with money who want to know the team. These are guys who know what they're doing, so that's real promising."
Lets hear who these teams are and if they are still in business. Karls was a fan with money who wanted to know the team? He was never around and abruptly closed up shop. Lencheski was? I recall hearing he wasn't around much either. Karls has some mobey, i'm sure he wasn't an idiot, I just think he had a lack of interest. you don't get rich by accident Scott Mullen.
Quote:
Mullen said the group and team owner Eric Karls are working out a deal now, but he's not sure when it'll be finalized or if they'll come to an agreement in time.
"They are willing to be flexible if it looks like a deal is imminent," said Mullen, "We're real close, but time will tell. The next few days will tell a lot."
I thought word was nobody could get a hold of Karls?
Quote:
In order for a deal to happen Mullen said fan support is important like a facebook site petitioning for the team. He said owners have people devoted to checking online sites to find out what kind of backing they'd get from the community.
"Any support counts," said Mullen, "Anything the people do, things they say positively counts."
You can't be serious?! A Facebook petition will be an indicator on community support? Look on the CHL website, you can look up average attendance for franchises and for QC it isn't a promising look. A few hundred on Facebook means nothing. It would need to be like 4....maybe 5,000 to even matter.
wow, all of 584 Members, this is almost as many as the Mallards draw, lol.
Quote:
Another positive step, Mullen said, is getting local businesses to sign on as sponsors. "In showing their support for the team and that if the team would stay, there are those who said they would purchase tickets to let their employees use or pay for ad space in the rink," said Main Street Moline Program Coordinator Pam Owens.
She said they've gotten more than a dozen downtown business owners to guarantee their support for new team owners.
I'm calling BS on this. If season ticket holders haven't got ther money what makes you think sponsors have?! You really think that will sit well?
“We’re done,” Scott said in a text message Thursday evening. “Can’t do it.”
Quote:
Scott expressed a desire of 2,500 season ticket commitments by today, although 1,750 likely would have been enough to sway Scott to embark on a third season at the helm.
The total barely eclipsed the 1,000 mark Thursday.
That's too bad, they got within less of 1,000 of hitting that mark(note they have NEVER had even 1,500 season ticket holders)
Quote:
However, Scott says he’s lost approximately $1.5 million in less than two years and simply isn’t willing to accept the financial hit any longer.
Man, what the heck does this guy do for a living that he can afford to lose $1.5 mil? I'd kill to be able to lose that and still be fine enough.
Quote:
Success on the ice was never a problem. The Mudbugs made 13 playoff appearances in 14 years. The recent Presidents’ Cup championship was the team’s fourth (three in the WPHL, one in the CHL) in six finals.
That's too bad as well. Kinda ticks me off that a successful team has to fold but an unsuccessful team in Wheeling who draws WORSE actually somehow avoids death yearly.
