Post by 50 Yard Fan on Jun 20, 2012 20:15:43 GMT -5
www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/06/alabama_hammers_hammers_will_p.html
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - The Alabama Hammers, despite back-to-back losing seasons and losses at the gate, will return next season, owner Jeff Knight told The Times Tuesday.
"We're going to be back next year," said Knight, the CEO of Southern Sports and Entertainment, who also owns the Knoxville Nighthawks and said he expects them to be back as well. "There's no doubt about it. We had a three-year deal with the Von Braun Center and I plan on honoring that.
"Hopefully, we can get Huntsville and the Tennessee Valley to come back out and support us like they supported the Vipers."
The Tennessee Valley Vipers came to town in 2000 and the team was a fixture in Huntsville for a number of years and had tremendous success, winning the arenafootball2 championship in 2008. The team became the Alabama Vipers in 2010 and played in the Arena Football League and moved to Duluth, Ga., and became the Georgia Force after that season.
Knight remembers those days when the Vipers played in front of huge crowds and hopes the Hammers can get to that.
"We're very committed to making this thing work for Huntsville," he said. "We got a lot of good feedback from the people who were involved with us this year and we just hope that grows.
"People that are coming to the games are really proud of this team. We've got to give people a reason to come watch us play."
The Hammers went 4-8 in 2011 in the Southern Indoor Football League and finished 3-9 this season in the Professional Indoor Football League, losing four games by seven points or less. The team has averaged 2,700 fans the last two seasons.
While the records haven't been impressive, Knight believes the quality of play isn't that far off from the days of the Vipers.
"The most disappointing thing is knowing how successful the Vipers were all those years and not getting people to understand the quality of play has been similar and in some cases better," he said. "The diehards want the Vipers. They clamor for the old days.
"The general public has gotten kind of cold on us. It's disappointing not to have that enthusiasm in the building that we used to have with the Vipers."
Winning, Knight said, will bring people back, but he and president Joe Stroud are already hard at work coming up with ideas to provide fans with a better entertainment experience.
"Winning and losing comes down to the coaches and the players," he said. "Joe and I will have to sit down and look at what we did right this year. We did some good things."
Knight pointed out the addition of the youth football league that began this season that involved approximately 200 kids.
"It was a struggle at times, but we had kids learning about arena football," he said. "We thought that was a positive and we're going to look at building on that."
Stroud said they planned to meet with VBC officials about extending the current contract and Knight appeared to be optimistic that the Hammers could have a bright future here.
"The corporate community was much better to us this year and if we can continue to see that and see our social bases expand, I think we'll be OK," Knight said. "There's no magic formula. It all comes down to revenue and getting people involved in the team.
"Joe, myself, (vice president) Darrell (Ponder) and (sales executive) Dave (Coffey) are all going to work real hard to keep the Hammers going."
"We're going to be back next year," said Knight, the CEO of Southern Sports and Entertainment, who also owns the Knoxville Nighthawks and said he expects them to be back as well. "There's no doubt about it. We had a three-year deal with the Von Braun Center and I plan on honoring that.
"Hopefully, we can get Huntsville and the Tennessee Valley to come back out and support us like they supported the Vipers."
The Tennessee Valley Vipers came to town in 2000 and the team was a fixture in Huntsville for a number of years and had tremendous success, winning the arenafootball2 championship in 2008. The team became the Alabama Vipers in 2010 and played in the Arena Football League and moved to Duluth, Ga., and became the Georgia Force after that season.
Knight remembers those days when the Vipers played in front of huge crowds and hopes the Hammers can get to that.
"We're very committed to making this thing work for Huntsville," he said. "We got a lot of good feedback from the people who were involved with us this year and we just hope that grows.
"People that are coming to the games are really proud of this team. We've got to give people a reason to come watch us play."
The Hammers went 4-8 in 2011 in the Southern Indoor Football League and finished 3-9 this season in the Professional Indoor Football League, losing four games by seven points or less. The team has averaged 2,700 fans the last two seasons.
While the records haven't been impressive, Knight believes the quality of play isn't that far off from the days of the Vipers.
"The most disappointing thing is knowing how successful the Vipers were all those years and not getting people to understand the quality of play has been similar and in some cases better," he said. "The diehards want the Vipers. They clamor for the old days.
"The general public has gotten kind of cold on us. It's disappointing not to have that enthusiasm in the building that we used to have with the Vipers."
Winning, Knight said, will bring people back, but he and president Joe Stroud are already hard at work coming up with ideas to provide fans with a better entertainment experience.
"Winning and losing comes down to the coaches and the players," he said. "Joe and I will have to sit down and look at what we did right this year. We did some good things."
Knight pointed out the addition of the youth football league that began this season that involved approximately 200 kids.
"It was a struggle at times, but we had kids learning about arena football," he said. "We thought that was a positive and we're going to look at building on that."
Stroud said they planned to meet with VBC officials about extending the current contract and Knight appeared to be optimistic that the Hammers could have a bright future here.
"The corporate community was much better to us this year and if we can continue to see that and see our social bases expand, I think we'll be OK," Knight said. "There's no magic formula. It all comes down to revenue and getting people involved in the team.
"Joe, myself, (vice president) Darrell (Ponder) and (sales executive) Dave (Coffey) are all going to work real hard to keep the Hammers going."