Post by Banana Cat on Nov 30, 2010 9:23:56 GMT -5
www.houmatoday.com/article/20101127/ARTICLES/101129639/1032/sports?Title=Indoor-league-president-No-team-in-Houma-in-2011&tc=ar
Indoor league president: No team in Houma in 2011
By Chris Singleton / Staff Writer
November 27, 2010
HOUMA — Local football fans hoping for professional indoor football to return to Houma in 2011 will have to wait another year.
Southern Indoor Football League president Thom Hager said on Wednesday that Houma will not have a franchise for the 2011 season because local ownership groups didn't apply for a team for the upcoming season.
The SIFL, which was created by Hager in 2008, will begin its third season in March.
The SIFL began in 2008 with five charter teams based in Houma, Lake Charles, Lafayette, Houston and Austin, Texas. As it prepares for its third season, the league has since expanded to 16 teams after merging with the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) on Nov. 9, stretching its market base from Texas to New Jersey.
Hager said the impact from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the Deepwater Horizon offshore rig explosion on April 20 has delayed the league's return to Houma.
"We don't have an owner in place for the Houma market," Hager said. "I think it's because of the economy and the oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. There were a lot of people that lost their jobs, and I think the potential ownership group had to make sure that the market is stable first."
It will be the second straight year that the Houma area will be without an indoor football franchise. Houma's previous SIFL franchise — the Conquerors — lasted only one season in 2009, playing its games in the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center.
The Conquerors' inaugural season was plagued by financial disputes between the SIFL and the first owners of the franchise, Franklin Thomas and his Conquest Sports organization. The SIFL stripped control of the team from Conquest Sports during the 2009 season, saying the former owners failed to pay league fees, membership dues and player salaries.
When the 2009 season ended, the SIFL and Conquest Sports parted ways when Thomas moved the Conquerors, which is now based in Kenner, to another indoor football league.
The SIFL hasn't returned a franchise to Houma since. Hager said there were talks to have a team in Houma for the 2010 season, but those plans were halted when the league couldn't work out a lease agreement with the Civic Center in time for the season.
Hager said the league planned to return to Houma in 2011, but he said the oil spill and the uncertainty of the local economy derailed those plans.
Hager said the league wants to bring indoor football back to Houma for the 2012 season under new ownership. He said two groups have expressed interest in becoming owners, but he declined to release the names of the interested owners.
"Houma is in our future picture," Hager said. "It just makes so much sense to put a team in Houma. Houma has outstanding fans. I love the fans in Houma. You can't find any better fans anywhere. The facility is nice, and it's right there in the heart of what we're doing as a league."
Travis Carrell, who owns the Houma-based marketing firm, the Louisiana Sports and Entertainment Group (LSE) with Kirk Bonvillain and Tate Boudreaux, said the future of indoor football in Houma is in "wait-and-see" mode.
"We're still looking at having a team," Carrell said. "It's just that we need things in our economy to settle down. These last two years in Houma have been very unsettling from hurricanes, the prices of the oil drop and now the oil spill. It kicked us right in the mouth."
Hager said the LSE was a main reason why the Conquerors were able to finish their inaugural season in Houma. The firm said it added eight sponsorships to the team that generated $14,200, and it paid for players' salaries, the protective pads and walls in the Civic Center, team road trips and other bills.
But Carrell, a former general manager for Houma's first indoor football team, the now-defunct Houma Bayou Bucks, said the group lost more money than it made when the total cost of team expenses exceeded the amount generated from the sponsorships.
Carrell said the LSE learned a lot from the Conquerors situation.
"We're going to definitely protect (the LSE) from now on because that was a debacle, and we really caught the burnt of it," Carrell said. "We did what we did for the future of indoor football in Houma. The only reason why we felt to do that was to try to salvage it for the area."
Carrell said the LSE is interested in bringing a franchise back to Houma, but he said the group wants to make sure the area is financially strong to support a team before making a commitment.
"Everybody wants to see it come back, but we need help to make it happen," Carrell said. "There's still a sense of interest with the fans and the business community in the area, but it's not all about interest. It takes dollars and sense to make it work. That's the bottom line."
By Chris Singleton / Staff Writer
November 27, 2010
HOUMA — Local football fans hoping for professional indoor football to return to Houma in 2011 will have to wait another year.
Southern Indoor Football League president Thom Hager said on Wednesday that Houma will not have a franchise for the 2011 season because local ownership groups didn't apply for a team for the upcoming season.
The SIFL, which was created by Hager in 2008, will begin its third season in March.
The SIFL began in 2008 with five charter teams based in Houma, Lake Charles, Lafayette, Houston and Austin, Texas. As it prepares for its third season, the league has since expanded to 16 teams after merging with the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) on Nov. 9, stretching its market base from Texas to New Jersey.
Hager said the impact from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the Deepwater Horizon offshore rig explosion on April 20 has delayed the league's return to Houma.
"We don't have an owner in place for the Houma market," Hager said. "I think it's because of the economy and the oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. There were a lot of people that lost their jobs, and I think the potential ownership group had to make sure that the market is stable first."
It will be the second straight year that the Houma area will be without an indoor football franchise. Houma's previous SIFL franchise — the Conquerors — lasted only one season in 2009, playing its games in the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center.
The Conquerors' inaugural season was plagued by financial disputes between the SIFL and the first owners of the franchise, Franklin Thomas and his Conquest Sports organization. The SIFL stripped control of the team from Conquest Sports during the 2009 season, saying the former owners failed to pay league fees, membership dues and player salaries.
When the 2009 season ended, the SIFL and Conquest Sports parted ways when Thomas moved the Conquerors, which is now based in Kenner, to another indoor football league.
The SIFL hasn't returned a franchise to Houma since. Hager said there were talks to have a team in Houma for the 2010 season, but those plans were halted when the league couldn't work out a lease agreement with the Civic Center in time for the season.
Hager said the league planned to return to Houma in 2011, but he said the oil spill and the uncertainty of the local economy derailed those plans.
Hager said the league wants to bring indoor football back to Houma for the 2012 season under new ownership. He said two groups have expressed interest in becoming owners, but he declined to release the names of the interested owners.
"Houma is in our future picture," Hager said. "It just makes so much sense to put a team in Houma. Houma has outstanding fans. I love the fans in Houma. You can't find any better fans anywhere. The facility is nice, and it's right there in the heart of what we're doing as a league."
Travis Carrell, who owns the Houma-based marketing firm, the Louisiana Sports and Entertainment Group (LSE) with Kirk Bonvillain and Tate Boudreaux, said the future of indoor football in Houma is in "wait-and-see" mode.
"We're still looking at having a team," Carrell said. "It's just that we need things in our economy to settle down. These last two years in Houma have been very unsettling from hurricanes, the prices of the oil drop and now the oil spill. It kicked us right in the mouth."
Hager said the LSE was a main reason why the Conquerors were able to finish their inaugural season in Houma. The firm said it added eight sponsorships to the team that generated $14,200, and it paid for players' salaries, the protective pads and walls in the Civic Center, team road trips and other bills.
But Carrell, a former general manager for Houma's first indoor football team, the now-defunct Houma Bayou Bucks, said the group lost more money than it made when the total cost of team expenses exceeded the amount generated from the sponsorships.
Carrell said the LSE learned a lot from the Conquerors situation.
"We're going to definitely protect (the LSE) from now on because that was a debacle, and we really caught the burnt of it," Carrell said. "We did what we did for the future of indoor football in Houma. The only reason why we felt to do that was to try to salvage it for the area."
Carrell said the LSE is interested in bringing a franchise back to Houma, but he said the group wants to make sure the area is financially strong to support a team before making a commitment.
"Everybody wants to see it come back, but we need help to make it happen," Carrell said. "There's still a sense of interest with the fans and the business community in the area, but it's not all about interest. It takes dollars and sense to make it work. That's the bottom line."