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.
