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Arena Football in Greenville


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I came across this and thought it was very interesting. It was on Bizjournals.com, the article was written by a staff writer, G. Scott Thomas. What I found most interesting was the table that predicted the capability of an area to support a major league team from different sports.

http://www.bizjournals.com/specials/2006/0...e_sport_article

That's an interesting article, gmatt252000. Quite honestly, I'm surprised our market's capacity is rated as highly as it is for NFL, MLS, and NHL. It doesn't seem that any remaining market is able to support Major League Baseball. That's interesting, too. :rolleyes:

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I do not know if the steroids issue, the 1994-5 strike and unaffordable prices are causing little interest for many markets to be less supportive of a Major League Baseball team. Orlando, FL's market was 74% supportive to have a team. I was expecting Charlotte to score higher having NBA and NFL teams already. They have been on the AAA level for over 15 years.

I would not expect Greenville to have a major level team anytime soon. I think it is ready to support something at the Triple A level.

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Orlando, FL's market was 74% supportive to have a (MLB) team.

The ironic thing about this is that Orlando could have had a Major League Baseball Team had elected officials there exercised at least some leadership. The owner of the franchise that was awarded to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays originally wanted to locate his team in Orlando, but city officials scoffed at the idea. The rest is history. I somehow feel that the Devil Rays aren't getting nearly the amount of fan support in St. Petersburg that they would have gotten in Orlando.

Back to football though. I'm surprised this study didn't include Arena Football. It's a Major League sport, too, complete with its own developmental league(s).

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Back to football though. I'm surprised this study didn't include Arena Football. It's a Major League sport, too, complete with its own developmental league(s).

Perhaps the study was geared to the top five major sports leagues/organizations in North America. They may assume arena football still has some ways to go.

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Not to stray off topic, but Orlando does have Major League Baseball during the spring. That is probably why they rated so high.

I believe there is a decent market in Greenville for a successful arena football team. It comes down to a clear vision of how to initially sell it. Once people realize how much fun it is, it will be easier to get them out. As I said earlier though, the fans need to feel a close relation to the team and games need to be scheduled when people are more likely to show up.

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Not to stray off topic, but Orlando does have Major League Baseball during the spring. That is probably why they rated so high.

Actually, Orlando doesn't have Spring Training, or even a Minor League Baseball Team any more. Tinker Field in Orlando sits, for all intents and purposes, empty. There are a couple of Spring Training sites within a 30 to 45 minute drive of Downtown Orlando (the Astros are in Kissimmee and the Braves are at Disney's Wide World of Sports, which may as well be in Kissimmee). The old Orlando Double-A Team moved from Tinker Field in Orlando down to Disney's Wide World of Sports a few years ago, never drew very large crowds because of that remote location, and then relocated to Montgomery, Alabama (and are now the Montgomery Biscuits).

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So they don't draw many fans from Orlando? I consider that whole region to be "Orlando," even though I know it technically is not. I wonder how they did their research though.

No - the Orlando Rays avaraged under 1,000 a night their last year out at Disney's Wide World of Sports, I believe. There are simply just too many other entertainment options in Orlando for people to drive 30+ miles to watch minor league baseball. Major League Baseball would likely have been a different story. That would have drawn fans from throughout Central Florida.

I don't think there was much research done at all, if I recall. Disney's Wide World of Sports had a ballpark that was sitting empty for most of the year (other than for Spring Training). The Orlando Rays weren't able to coax Orlando into upgrading Tinker Field or building a new facility. It, on paper at least, made sense to both sides. They didn't factor the traffic and distances into things though. :rolleyes: I do understand that the Brevard Manatees will soon have new owners and that the new owners are looking to build a ballpark in Downtown Orlando and relocate the team, so there's hope for Orlando yet.

A lot of people mentally consider Kissimmee to be part of Orlando, but in reality, saying Kissimmee is part of Orlando is like saying that Fountain Inn is part of Greenville. Yes, it's somewhat nearby, but I guarantee you that we don't have the traffic on I-385 between Downtown Greenville and Fountain Inn that exists on I-4 between Downtown Orlando and Kissimmee. :lol:

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  • 1 month later...

The AIFL is expanding for 2007, according to their web site (more information to come).

For now, the league has 16 Teams, located all around us:

map.jpg

Greenville appears to be strategically located. I wonder if anybody is considering a franchise for Greenville? :P It's a shame we couldn't have landed the Ghostriders here for 2006. The settled in Asheville instead. :rolleyes:

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The AIFL is expanding for 2007, according to their web site (more information to come).

For now, the league has 16 Teams, located all around us:

map.jpg

Greenville appears to be strategically located. I wonder if anybody is considering a franchise for Greenville? :P It's a shame we couldn't have landed the Ghostriders here for 2006. The settled in Asheville instead. :rolleyes:

That geographic footprint looks similar to the SAL baseball league. Summer isn't usually prime concert season, and I think as big as football is around the Upstate, especially if you can get some local former college guys involved, there should be a market for this game.

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Summer isn't usually prime concert season, and I think as big as football is around the Upstate, especially if you can get some local former college guys involved, there should be a market for this game.

It actually appears to be a Spring League, with its current season winding down toward the championship game soon.

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It actually appears to be a Spring League, with its current season winding down toward the championship game soon.

I see, that could be a problem. Will a league like this be able to compete with the Drive down the street for fans + hopefully, a rejuvenated Grrrowl finishing up in the Spring?

Are there corporate/individuals willing to take a chance on suites?

I hope so, I'd like to see the indoor game in Greenville, really would.

First thing I'd like though, is for the Grrrowl to balance the Drive's schedule for downtown entertainment options; get that settled and up and running and then move to the best possible option for an indoor team. It'll take work, but it can be done.

But yeah, let's keep this on the minds of leagues, Greenville sorts, etc. :thumbsup:

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Yea, the season runs from February through June, so there would be some overlap with both the Grrrowl and the Drive seasons. The way I see it, it would be one more income opportunity for the Bi-Lo center, but I see your point in getting the seasonaly balance there between Baseball (Summer) and Hockey (Winter) first.

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What does it take to get a team in the Arena Football League? I suppose we're a little too small of a market for that at this point, considering the smallest metros with an Arena Football League team are Austin, TX, Grand Rapids, MI, and San Jose, CA.

It seems like a step down for a metro of our size to play in the Arena Indoor Football League with teams from cities like Florence, SC, Rome, GA, Johnstown, PA, and Steubenville, OH. I suppose there are some larger metros in the league too, like Raleigh, NC, Richmond, VA, and Miami, FL. So I guess we shouldn't be too snobby, especially since we haven't yet proven we can support any minor league teams over the long haul (I am sure the Drive will be well supported for years to come, and hopefully the Grrrowl will turn things around as well).

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Check out the National Indoor Football League (NIFL). They have teams in Charleston, Chattanooga, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Montgomery, and Orlando, just to name a few.

They had a team in Greenville (very) briefly, too. In fact, they never played the first home game before they went belly-up.

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It seems like a step down for a metro of our size to play in the Arena Indoor Football League with teams from cities like Florence, SC, Rome, GA, Johnstown, PA, and Steubenville, OH. I suppose there are some larger metros in the league too, like Raleigh, NC, Richmond, VA, and Miami, FL. So I guess we shouldn't be too snobby, especially since we haven't yet proven we can support any minor league teams over the long haul (I am sure the Drive will be well supported for years to come, and hopefully the Grrrowl will turn things around as well).

I think there may be something to be said for being one of the bigger markets in a lower league than being one of the smaller markets in a higher league.

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That's a shame...I was kinda hoping we'd be one of the AIFL's six expansion teams this spring. I'd suggest a name such as the "Greenville Ghost Riders" due to the seeming fascination that folks in this area have with motorcycles and the Bi-Lo Center's proximity to the Springwood Cemetery, but ... someone's already attempted that name for an AIFL franchise in the past.

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That's a shame...I was kinda hoping we'd be one of the AIFL's six expansion teams this spring. I'd suggest a name such as the "Greenville Ghost Riders" due to the seeming fascination that folks in this area have with motorcycles and the Bi-Lo Center's proximity to the Springwood Cemetery, but ... someone's already attempted that name for an AIFL franchise in the past.

Do we have a higher fascination with motorcycles than other places? Not being a motorcyclist, this is not something I have thought about or noticed.

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