Post by Banana Cat on Jan 30, 2011 16:19:18 GMT -5
Even though it's the AFL doing a game there to test the revival waters, the arena itself seems to think an Indoor League would be a better fit for a new team due to costs.
www.qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=528650
www.qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=528650
`Wheels' back on? AFL preseason game `test' for relaunch plans
Jan. 29, 2011
By Steve Tappa, stappa@qconline.com
Arena Football is coming back to the Quad-Cities.
And, if Scott Mullen has anything to say about it, the executive director of Moline's i wireless Center wants the Quad City Steamwheelers to return soon, too.
First up, though, is a March 3 market test of sorts, when Moline's downtown civic center hosts an AFL preseason game between the Iowa Barnstormers and Milwaukee Mustangs.
The 7 p.m. kickoff, between the Wheelers' old division rivals, will mark the first indoor football affair at the i-wi since July of 2009.
That's when the Steamwheelers played their last game in a twin-title, 10-year run in arenafootball2.
The financially-troubled team and AFL's minor league jointly folded after that season, though teams such as Iowa and Milwaukee survived to help form a relaunched AFL following the parent circuit's own year-and-a-half shutdown.
"It'll be interesting to see what kind of turnout we get,'' Mullen said about the March 3 contest.
"I still get questions from all sorts of people, `When are you going to bring football back?' But here's a chance for us to really gauge the interest and have something to show to any prospective owners that this market wants football here again.''
Since the Wheelers folded, Mullen has been searching for a replacement spring-and-summer football tennant for his building.
That's despite the fact the Wheelers experienced ever-declining attendance while burning through the pocketbooks of four ownership groups in their final five seasons.
The league and building were even forced to jointly assume ownership responsibilities before midseason of the Wheelers' final year.
However, Mullen points out the af2 was unsustainable in more markets than just the Quads.
"The af2 business model -- especially with the travel costs, and the money that went to insurance and workman's compensation -- made it nearly impossible for teams in that league to make a profit,'' Mullen said.
"But that doesn't mean there aren't other options out there that are do-able. If we can get in a bus league, where we're playing games in a 500-mile radius and not flying from coast-to-coast a couple of times each season, I think it's very sustainable at the (2,000-3,000 average) attendance levels we saw the Steamwheelers get in the end.''
Oursportscentral.com tracks five indoor leagues besides the AFL, including the Midwest-based Indoor Football League, which has previously expressed interest in having a team in theQuad-Cities.
Among the IFL's cities are nearby Bloomington, Ill., suburban Chicago, and the Wisconsin communities of La Crosse and Green Bay, where the latter franchise retains an old af2 nickname, the QC-rival Blizzard.
"From talking to the people in Green Bay, they love it. It's a lot cheaper than the af2 and they're thriving despite what's been a tough economy,'' Mullen said.
"There's obviously nothing in the works for this year -- we're too close to seasons starting -- but I'd like to see(the sport)come back next year or the following year. We're not an AFL market, but the AFL is talking about starting another af2-type of league in a few years, and the IFL and some other opportunities are out there if we want it.
"But that's the big question, and people can begin answering that question on March 3. The trouble is, we don't have any ownership groups interested in putting a team here yet.''
In association with the AFL contest, Mullensaid, the i-wi plans on launching a website in the next few weeks, where local fans can sign a petition pledging their support for a Steamwheelers revival.
That's a tool the building also used to attract investors in a Mallards relaunch two years ago in the wake of the Triple-A Flames exiting to leave the area briefly without pro hockey.
"We don't know when or what league yet, but if enough people want the game back, then we do, too,'' Mullen said. "We liked having -- and our advertisers and suite holders liked having -- the Steamwheelers in our building for eight games a year.
"We're always looking to fill up our calendar with a wide variety of events. I'm a football guy, so I'd personally love to see it here again, too.''
Jim Foster, the Wheelers founding owner, is behind the March 3 game, Mullen said, with both teams wanting to play a preseason contest at a neutral site somewhere between their two markets. The game's inventor currently serves as a consultant to the Milwaukee franchise.
March 3 will mark the third time the AFL itself has played in the Quads.
The Des Moines-based Barnstormers also played preseason games here in 1996 and 1999 prior to helping launch their local sister franchise in af2.
The Barnstormers, quarterbacked by future NFL MVP Kurt Warner in the first game here, later joined QC in the af2 because of spiraling costs in the old AFL.
Jesse Schmidt, the Wheelers all-time leading receiver, now plays for the Barnstormers.
Jan. 29, 2011
By Steve Tappa, stappa@qconline.com
Arena Football is coming back to the Quad-Cities.
And, if Scott Mullen has anything to say about it, the executive director of Moline's i wireless Center wants the Quad City Steamwheelers to return soon, too.
First up, though, is a March 3 market test of sorts, when Moline's downtown civic center hosts an AFL preseason game between the Iowa Barnstormers and Milwaukee Mustangs.
The 7 p.m. kickoff, between the Wheelers' old division rivals, will mark the first indoor football affair at the i-wi since July of 2009.
That's when the Steamwheelers played their last game in a twin-title, 10-year run in arenafootball2.
The financially-troubled team and AFL's minor league jointly folded after that season, though teams such as Iowa and Milwaukee survived to help form a relaunched AFL following the parent circuit's own year-and-a-half shutdown.
"It'll be interesting to see what kind of turnout we get,'' Mullen said about the March 3 contest.
"I still get questions from all sorts of people, `When are you going to bring football back?' But here's a chance for us to really gauge the interest and have something to show to any prospective owners that this market wants football here again.''
Since the Wheelers folded, Mullen has been searching for a replacement spring-and-summer football tennant for his building.
That's despite the fact the Wheelers experienced ever-declining attendance while burning through the pocketbooks of four ownership groups in their final five seasons.
The league and building were even forced to jointly assume ownership responsibilities before midseason of the Wheelers' final year.
However, Mullen points out the af2 was unsustainable in more markets than just the Quads.
"The af2 business model -- especially with the travel costs, and the money that went to insurance and workman's compensation -- made it nearly impossible for teams in that league to make a profit,'' Mullen said.
"But that doesn't mean there aren't other options out there that are do-able. If we can get in a bus league, where we're playing games in a 500-mile radius and not flying from coast-to-coast a couple of times each season, I think it's very sustainable at the (2,000-3,000 average) attendance levels we saw the Steamwheelers get in the end.''
Oursportscentral.com tracks five indoor leagues besides the AFL, including the Midwest-based Indoor Football League, which has previously expressed interest in having a team in theQuad-Cities.
Among the IFL's cities are nearby Bloomington, Ill., suburban Chicago, and the Wisconsin communities of La Crosse and Green Bay, where the latter franchise retains an old af2 nickname, the QC-rival Blizzard.
"From talking to the people in Green Bay, they love it. It's a lot cheaper than the af2 and they're thriving despite what's been a tough economy,'' Mullen said.
"There's obviously nothing in the works for this year -- we're too close to seasons starting -- but I'd like to see(the sport)come back next year or the following year. We're not an AFL market, but the AFL is talking about starting another af2-type of league in a few years, and the IFL and some other opportunities are out there if we want it.
"But that's the big question, and people can begin answering that question on March 3. The trouble is, we don't have any ownership groups interested in putting a team here yet.''
In association with the AFL contest, Mullensaid, the i-wi plans on launching a website in the next few weeks, where local fans can sign a petition pledging their support for a Steamwheelers revival.
That's a tool the building also used to attract investors in a Mallards relaunch two years ago in the wake of the Triple-A Flames exiting to leave the area briefly without pro hockey.
"We don't know when or what league yet, but if enough people want the game back, then we do, too,'' Mullen said. "We liked having -- and our advertisers and suite holders liked having -- the Steamwheelers in our building for eight games a year.
"We're always looking to fill up our calendar with a wide variety of events. I'm a football guy, so I'd personally love to see it here again, too.''
Jim Foster, the Wheelers founding owner, is behind the March 3 game, Mullen said, with both teams wanting to play a preseason contest at a neutral site somewhere between their two markets. The game's inventor currently serves as a consultant to the Milwaukee franchise.
March 3 will mark the third time the AFL itself has played in the Quads.
The Des Moines-based Barnstormers also played preseason games here in 1996 and 1999 prior to helping launch their local sister franchise in af2.
The Barnstormers, quarterbacked by future NFL MVP Kurt Warner in the first game here, later joined QC in the af2 because of spiraling costs in the old AFL.
Jesse Schmidt, the Wheelers all-time leading receiver, now plays for the Barnstormers.