New Team in Town!

The word is getting out and it’s getting out fast.  Kansas City is about to be the home of a new Indoor Football Team.  It is going to be one of the founding cities of the newly formed Champions Professional Indoor Football League, and they are making promises that you will enjoy the game or they will give you your money back.  Sound intriguing?

But can Kansas City support a second Indoor Football Team?  Look at the facts … the Kansas City Command did not draw the crowds that many were hoping for in 2010 or 2011.  But what was everyone expecting?  When they were the Kansas City Brigade, before the original AFL collapsed, people were complaining about how they HATED being at the Sprint Center … and were citing a number of reasons.  Then there was the players strike, which ended up being a player lockout and the owners of the AFL teams broke the player’s union, and the result?  The money for a player in the AFL went from an averaged five thousand plus dollars a game to around 6,800 dollars a year.  Needless to say, the quality of players in the league went to hell and it went to hell in a hurry.  People everywhere were complaining about the level of talent in the league, and they were showing their disgust by not attending games.

The “to be named” team for Kansas City will be doing something that many arena fans have been asking for.  It is taking the games back to Kemper Arena.  No, Kemper doesn’t have the sound system or video systems that Sprint Center has, but I don’t go to a football game to listen to music and watch the screen.  I want to get close to the game without taking out a second or third mortgage on the house.  I also want to be able to tailgate before the game, and that was basically impossible at Sprint Center to have a good tailgate without spending a lot, A LOT of money.  We are going back home to where Arena Football started in Kansas City, to the house where Arena Football was successful in Kansas City.  All we can hope for is that this new league is attractive to the better players available out there.

So, up on all the hype?  Like the sideline seats in the first three rows are only going to be $35 per game?  The promise by the team owner that if you don’t enjoy the game they will give you your money back.  There will be the chance to meet the players after the game, and let’s face it football fans, there really is no bad seat in the house.  Even in the upper deck you’re closer to the field than the upper deck at Sprint.

So, the watch is on around here.  My wife and I are already talking about checking the new team out.  All we’re waiting on is the league schedule for 2013, and the word is the teams will play from March to June, six home games and six away games.