54.3 F
San Diego
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
-Advertisement-

Sports Local minor league franchises cast into limbo

In recent weeks, San Diego has seen two minor league sports teams basically call it quits.

The ball is in the air as to whether the San Diego WildFire will be around next year, and the San Diego Flash’s season was called off by team owners, only to have it reinstated by the team’s league several days later.

The San Diego Soccer Development Corp., owners and operators of the San Diego Flash, informed the United Soccer League on April 12 they would forgo the 2001 season to get their finances in order.

But the league said no.

“We don’t allow that in our league, so we terminated their franchise rights,” said David Askinas, associate commissioner of the USL, which is headquartered in Tampa, Fla. “We have started our own franchise in the market and will operate it.”

The USL issued a statement five days later saying the new team will be called the San Diego F.C. (Football Club), and will be managed by the La Jolla Nomads, one of the country’s top youth soccer clubs.

The Nomads, which previously owned a franchise in the Western Soccer Alliance in the late 1980s, will operate the franchise with USL funding for the current season or until an owner is found. The team’s first game was April 19 at Mesa College against the A-League’s Milwaukee Rampage.

During the time the San Diego Soccer Development Corp. owned the Flash, there were plans to build a new soccer complex in the South Bay.

In a statement released by the team before the league announcement, Flash President Yan Skwara said, “We believe by taking a break from league play and getting the company capitalized properly it will allow us to regain the momentum we once had. It also provides us the opportunity to catch up on some short-term debt that needs to be addressed.”

Skwara did not return phone calls.

Jeff Scott, president of the Soccer Council of San Diego, said the Flash’s problem was unlike that of the WildFire in that fans attended games. Scott said the Flash’s attendance averaged between 1,500 to 2,000 people.

The Flash’s problem, he said, was internal.

“There was far too much money going out the door than there was coming in,” said Scott, a former member of the Soccer Development Corp.’s board of directors. “They paid too much for internal staff, player salary, and they didn’t have enough corporate sponsorships.”

Scott said the Flash’s departure had nothing to do with the creation of two other soccer teams in San Diego, the Spirit and Sockers.

“The Flash was badly managed from day one,” Scott said. “The lessons the Flash didn’t learn are the lessons the Sockers and Spirit are going to have to learn to stay alive.”

Ashrah and Susan Farah, owners of the San Diego WildFire, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

One of the first things to indicate there was trouble for the WildFire, San Diego’s pro basketball franchise in the ABA2000, was the announcement in mid-March that the entire ABA season was being cut short because of lagging funds.

There were times during the season that WildFire players and staff reported not being paid by the owners. Players even threatened to boycott games. At the beginning of the season in December, the owners acknowledged they were aware of the financial troubles of local basketball teams of the past, and the lack of fan support by San Diegans. But they said they were willing to make this franchise work.

The owners knew it would cost them millions to operate the team and said they needed about 4,000 people at each home game to break even.

That never happened.

Attendance for WildFire games was normally a few hundred fans. There were only nine season ticket holders, according to the team.

At the end of the shortened season, there were no assurances of whether the team will remain in San Diego for a second season, or if the franchise would fold. A recent news report indicated the owners were contemplating moving the team to a smaller city in Northern California.

Ky Snyder, president of the San Diego International Sports Council, said the success of any minor league team depends on the strength and commitment of the organization.

He said a good example of a minor league team doing things right is the San Diego Gulls, the only hockey team in the area.

Snyder said because the team is not in direct competition with another hockey team, they fare well.

“When you want to see hockey in San Diego, you go to a Gulls game,” Snyder said. “The basketball team was competing against San Diego State, the University of San Diego and UCSD basketball. There’s some direct competition with them for the basketball dollars in the community.”

Another thing that works for the Gulls, Snyder said, is that they are visible in the community and have therefore built a strong fan following.

Although certain things have worked for the Gulls and will probably work for other teams, Snyder said there’s no way to pinpoint exactly what went wrong for the Flash and Wildfire.

“If someone knew the exact formula, then you wouldn’t have what’s going on taking place,” he said.

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-