Arena League

Arena league seeks even more

Officials hope the magazines, cards and video game represent only the start of major growth.

By FRANK PASTOR
Published January 26, 2005

TAMPA - Storm quarterback Shane Stafford was in a theater waiting for a movie to start in December 2003 when his social and business lives intersected for the first time.

John Elway and Jon Bon Jovi, part-owners of Arena Football League teams, were on the screen, challenging each other to a game inside Bon Jovi's palatial home. "That's pretty neat," Stafford said. "That's the league we play in."

Later, while flipping through television stations, Stafford came across a commercial promoting NBC's coverage of the league. High school friends from Reading, Pa., called to make sure he had seen it.

"In the last year and a half, friends at home I talk to say, "Yeah, I know what you play,"' Stafford said. "It used to be, "Yeah, I've heard of it.' Now, it's more, "I've been to a game,' or "I've got season tickets."'

As it enters its 19th season this weekend - more than any U.S.-based professional football league except the NFL - the Arena league wants a larger share of the sports market, and it's not shy about saying so.

"We are an emerging league," commissioner David Baker said. "and I think ... we're emerging as a major league."

Evidence is as close as the nearest 7-Eleven, Wal-Mart or Target, where the league's first preview magazine, a 72-page glossy with four regional covers, sits on shelves alongside Sports Illustrated and the Sporting News. Or in theaters, where a new mini-movie starring Elway, Bon Jovi and the cast of the television show Las Vegas was shown nationwide.

The stars of the MTV reality show Real World Philadelphia worked as interns in the Philadelphia Soul's community relations department. Upper Deck will release the first Arena football trading card set in March or April. EA Sports, maker of the hugely popular Madden Football series, promises an Arena game before the 2006 season.

Building on the momentum it created during the offseason, the Arena league moved up the start of its season to the week between the NFL conference championship games and Super Bowl. It also announced plans for its first neutral-site ArenaBowl, preceded by four days of concerts, golf tournaments, fan fests and awards banquets, in June in glitzy and glamorous Las Vegas.

"They're trying like crazy to get the thing marketed up," said Storm coach Tim Marcum, the league's longest-tenured coach. "Just think about who we've got in this league now. (Co-owners) Tim McGraw, Jon Bon Jovi, these are big-time folks.

"To come from where we were in 1987 with four teams playing a six-game schedule and now we're at 17 teams with all those people we just mentioned and with all the NFL involvement, we're only getting bigger and stronger."

The 50-yard game Jim Foster created while watching indoor soccer 24 years ago is flexing its muscle, but not in the face of the NFL. The leagues have always co-existed comfortably, and the Arena league has no intention of challenging big brother. It is challenging the perception it is a minor-league sport.

Among its long-term goals, Arena football aims to become the fifth major pro sport (after the NFL, Major League Baseball, NBA and NHL) and be played in the Olympics. In the meantime, the league continues to seek slow and steady growth and recognizes a chance to expand its fan base, particularly with the NHL season on ice.

"This could be one of the most productive years because of the NHL lockout," Storm lineman Kelvin Kinney said. "This is a huge opportunity, and it looks like the league is taking advantage of it."

The league has always known its product was exciting, affordable and fan-friendly. But getting the word out has been an uphill battle. After bouncing from one cable station to another, the league announced a landmark deal with NBC in March 2002 that gave both parties incentive to increase the league's exposure through revenue sharing.

NFL owners such as Jerry Jones, Tom Benson and Bud Adams brought instant credibility and marketing savvy. By aligning itself with industry leaders such as Nike, Spalding, Upper Deck and Champs Sports, the league further legitimized itself in the minds of viewers and advertisers who might have needed convincing.

"These brands recognize the AFL as the nation's fastest growing sport," league spokesman Chris McCloskey said. "The AFL is more popular now than it's ever been, and we're essentially just answering the demand that's out there for the fans."

The proof is in the numbers.

The Arena league enjoyed an attendance increase of 34 percent during the past three seasons and hopes to draw 13,000 per game this year.

Though the league drew the same 1.1 rating on NBC last season it had in 2003, total viewership increased from 37-million to 39-million, and it beat the NHL in head-to-head ratings for the first two weeks of last season, which included the NHL All-Star Game.

The league enjoyed a triple-digit increase in merchandise sales from 2003 to 2004, and 50,000 fans participated in its first fantasy football game.

Sun Sports joins NBC in broadcasting games this season, meaning nine out of every 10 games will be televised compared with half last season, and they will be shown in such far-flung places as Canada, Europe and Japan.

The league hopes to expand to 20 teams for its 20th anniversary. Salt Lake City is in the fold, and discussions have taken place with groups in Kansas City, Boston and Miami, McCloskey said.

"We've had our ups and our downs," said Storm receiver/linebacker Lawrence Samuels, who enters his 12th season in the league. "It's time for something good to happen to this league."

The league's marketing strategy also has evolved. From the beginning, it played up its in-your-face action and fan-friendly atmosphere. Later, players such as Kurt Warner and Tommy Maddox who went on to star in the NFL became the focus.

As NFL and celebrity owners came on board, the league took advantage of Elway and Bon Jovi's universal appeal and business acumen to reach a larger audience.

Now the emphasis is shifting toward the players. Tony Graziani and Chris Ryan of the Philadelphia Soul and Damian Harrell and John Dutton of the Colorado Crush co-star in the new mini-movie, and Graziani joins Bon Jovi on the cover of one preview magazine.

"I think it was the next logical step, and as our league gains exposure through some of the ownership, the next logical step was to move some of the focus to the players," McCloskey said. "We have world-class athletes playing a very difficult game of Ironman football where six of the eight players play both ways.

"That's very marketable."

[Last modified January 26, 2005, 00:14:07]