Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Great Attendance Can't Save Arena Football League

On the surface, the Arena Football League was hitting its peak during the past two sseasons, but the high volume of ticket sales didn't translate to high revenue. As a result, the cash-strapped league, which was founded in 1987, could be forced to delay or suspend the 2009 season,slated to start in March. Rumors about the league's financial woes have circulated since Monday. Today, the league addressed the rumors with a press release that stated:

Despite rumors and reports to the contrary, all AFL teams are continuing to work towards ArenaBowl XXIII. As it has previously stated, the AFL continues to work on long-term structural improvement options. Some of the options may impact the 2009 season. There is currently no timetable for an announcement of any kind. We remain grateful to our fans for their enthusiasm and patience.

New Orlean's team, the Vodoo, is a good example of the league's futility. It folded after leading the league for attendance for two straight seasons. Michael Young, Colorado Crush executive vice president, told the Denver Post that the business model for the league is broken.

If the rug is pulled out from under us, it's pulled out from under us.His skepticism is surprising, considering the AFL's broadcasting agreement with ESPN.

Obviously, the league's number crunchers have slipped up, because they've had plenty of local and national ESPN acquired national TV rights to the AFL in 2006 and has a minority stake in the indoor league. ESPN signed a five-year deal to have multimedia rights that included everything from Internet to radio to publishing to international distribution.
Fans love the arena league for the high scores, the big hits,fast pace and most of all, the cheap seats. Raising ticket prices could have a catastrophic results, so the league will need to use other efficient,cost-cutting methods.

By Matt O'Hern at 05:11 PM | Comments (0)

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