Winnipeg Fury Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 Team admits it's down By SCOTT ZERR -- Edmonton Sun The Edmonton Aviators are downplaying scuttlebutt coming from on and off the field that their complete collapse is imminent. There was talk during last night's games at Commonwealth Stadium that the franchise would fold at the end of the season - if not sooner - and that at least one investor in the team was contemplating pulling out. Not so, according to Greg McDannold, the team's director of business operations. "We are behind in our revenue projections but as far as I know the investors have all committed to three years," said McDannold, who also dismissed a rumour that an emergency meeting of investors group was planned for today. "We're certainly concerned about our crowds, there's no doubt about that," added McDannold. "And the costs of fielding our teams and the venue we're playing in are significant, but we've been subjected to all sorts of innuendo. I could write a book on all the rumours I've heard. "The plan all along was that investors would be committed for three years and I am not aware of any changes." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luis_Rancagua Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 The Aviators' problems begins when the club decided to play all their games at Commonwealth. That's where the core of the problem lies. On the part of the ownership, it was foolish from the start to select Commonwealth as an option, and they should have opted for Clark Stadium instead. Even Rick Titus warned the organization that they were making a huge mistake on the selection of stadia. In fact, the Aviators were NOT</u> prepared to handle the enormousity of Commonwealth. This is perhaps a huge blunder. The owners on their part did not plan this thing very well. I just hope the owners get their (s)hit together and save the team from oblivion. If the Aviators go, it will be a sad day for pro-soccer in Canada. Edmonton has a huge pool of talent of young amateur players. For this reason it is important that the Aviators remain in the A-League. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnipeg Fury Posted July 14, 2004 Author Share Posted July 14, 2004 The loss of Edmonton would also be a blow to a faltering Calgary Mustang organization, and Canadian professional soccer in general. Yes, let's hope they make the necessay changes quickly. I wondered off the hop what they were thinking when they stated they were budgeting for 11,000 attendance per game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luis_Rancagua Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 Wnnipeg Fury, this ownership has to be the greatest morons I ever encountered. To think that a brand new A-League team could draw 11,000 to a game must be insane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoyleG Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 The 11,000/game has been taken way out of context on this forum. That would be the goal some years down the road. Saying that, attendance coul've been better than what it is now. As for Rick Titus, he can easily now be crowned the Vince Carter of Soccer. Clarke is not an option until millions are put into it and it's brought up to standard. That seems unlikely to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishman Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 Well, DoyleG, it appears that you might yet get your wish... The City Manager (Edmonton) has indicated that some of the proceeds from the sale of the Trappers baseball team might be directed to upgrade Clarke Park to the standards required by the A-League. That in and of itself would go far to assisting the Aviator franchise, and might indeed save it from a premature demise. But again, I do stand by comments that the ownership group, all good intentions aside, failed in its planning. Consider last night...warm, sunny, double-header, some reasonable success by both A and W teams lately, summer holidays for kids, no games due to city field closures...and what was the attendance...yuck. They really put all of their ducks in the pond of EMSA, hoping that the kids and moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas that came out to the U19 Women would reappear serendipitiously. Ooops...that really was not the best foundation on which to build a professional sports franchise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarnCherry Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 This is asinine. A check of the A-League average attendance before last nights game showed Edmonton with the 8th highest attendance in the league. There are 8 teams drawing fewer fans, yet Edmonton is concerend about low crowds while all of the others budgeted correctly. Well they certainly must have mis-read what the A-League is all about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 An article in today's Edmonton Sun has the following from Aviators board chairman Tom Newton: "It is possible we may have seen the last men's game," said Newton, referring to Tuesday's matchup against Vancouver. http://www.aviatorshangar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=144 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 An article in today's Edmonton Sun has the following from Aviators board chairman Tom Newton: "It is possible we may have seen the last men's game," said Newton, referring to Tuesday's matchup against Vancouver. http://www.aviatorshangar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=144 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seether Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 quote:Originally posted by DoyleG The 11,000/game has been taken way out of context on this forum. That would be the goal some years down the road. Saying that, attendance coul've been better than what it is now. B.S. That was the goal for this year. http://www.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/Canada/2004/05/31/480420.html The Aviators' business plan was set with a target audience of 11,000 per game, which the club feels it can achieve despite being forced by the Edmonton Eskimos into altering their own schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leekoo Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Krammerhead This is asinine. A check of the A-League average attendance before last nights game showed Edmonton with the 8th highest attendance in the league. There are 8 teams drawing fewer fans, yet Edmonton is concerend about low crowds while all of the others budgeted correctly. Well they certainly must have mis-read what the A-League is all about. edmonton leads both atlanta and richmond in average attendance ... atlanta and richmond are league point leaders ... FOR THE ATTENDANCE FACTS GOTO: http://soccerstats.com/2khcrowd.asp?league=usa2&rankby=1 FOR THE REST OF THE FACTS GOTO: http://soccerstats.com/latest.asp?league=usa2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarnCherry Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 I like these stats better: http://www.kenn.com/soccer/index.html Scroll down to the bottom right just above the MISL stats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allison A Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 The soccerstats.com site says that Portland lost to Seattle 1-0 earlier this year (right score, wrong victor). If they can't get that right, I'm not sure I trust the rest of the stats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarnCherry Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 I put more trust in Kenns stats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leekoo Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Allison A The soccerstats.com site says that Portland lost to Seattle 1-0 earlier this year (right score, wrong victor). If they can't get that right, I'm not sure I trust the rest of the stats. i contribute the mls & a-league stats for soccerstats.com ... it's a big job ... what you see on soccerstats.com are not all the stats ... thanx for reporting that error... it has been corrected ... let me know if you spot anymore ... the kenn tomasch database is a great resource ... at the moment he is reporting attendance as of july 4 ... he is also reports he is missing attendance for 2 puerto rico games ... i am only missing the june 25 puerto rico game vs virginia beach ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoyleG Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 quote:Originally posted by seether B.S. That was the goal for this year. http://www.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/Canada/2004/05/31/480420.html The Aviators' business plan was set with a target audience of 11,000 per game, which the club feels it can achieve despite being forced by the Edmonton Eskimos into altering their own schedule. Try reading others besides Zerr. Only he seems to have bought that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 Trouble is that the Journal's coverage of the Aviator's is not as good as the Sun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamiltonfan Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 guys this could be really bad for Canadian soccer if the team does go under. I think it would be smart for us to start a SAVE THE AVIATORS campain. We would do what ever we could to get more people to go to the game, meaning e-mail media and telling them about the game. E-mail the team and tell them to keep on putting mone in the team. We need to do aynthing we can. What do you say??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarnCherry Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 They need smarter owners, not a save the Aviators campaign. When they run a jumbotron for each game, when they say they need more than 2000 at a game just to pay for the jumbotron alone, you know your not dealing with very bright people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leekoo Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 just before their season home opener they sent out a message encouraging people to help set an A-league gate record of 25,000... 1,913 people showed for a scoreless tie against minnesota ... was it the weather or was the calgary flames ... in six home games the aviators have scored 2 goals ... in six home games the aviators have won 1 game ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoyleG Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 quote:Originally posted by beachesl Trouble is that the Journal's coverage of the Aviator's is not as good as the Sun. Yet I find it to be somewhat better than the sun. Expecially when the columnists get involed. I'll take Matherson, Short, Staples, and Barnes over Zerr any day. quote:Orginally posted by Krammerhead They need smarter owners, not a save the Aviators campaign. When they run a jumbotron for each game, when they say they need more than 2000 at a game just to pay for the jumbotron alone, you know your not dealing with very bright people. I don't have the time, but I'll post a list of problems on all sides later on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allison A Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 quote:Originally posted by leekoo i contribute the mls & a-league stats for soccerstats.com ... it's a big job ... what you see on soccerstats.com are not all the stats ... thanx for reporting that error... it has been corrected ... let me know if you spot anymore ... Not a problem. I just take it more seriously when it's the home side. And a loss to Seattle? Oh, the shame... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seether Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 quote:Originally posted by DoyleG Try reading others besides Zerr. Only he seems to have bought that. Ok, well here you go. Excerpt from the Edmonton Journal (June 23rd I think) story "Aviators still waiting for attendance to take off" More than anything, it was Stafford's energy that tied together a bunch of investors who believe professional soccer can succeed here. Months ago, he wasn't attempting to fool anyone while suggesting an average attendance of 10,000 per game was possible in the opening United Soccer League season for the men's and women's teams. Full text was posted my fishman at the Hanger http://www.aviatorshangar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=108&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight= Happy now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoyleG Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 The Stadium We don't know the main points of the lease that was signed between the Aviators and the city. We can talk about the fact that only the East stands should've been rented or that the Jumbotron should be switched off. The problem is that doing such things may not have had the effect of helping the bottom line. I would suspect that the Aviators have to pay for the Jumbotron even if they aren't using it. As for Clarke, the city knew for more than a year that pro soccer was comming back to Edmonton. They could've easily made the push to the Avs to use Clakre in return for the city to give the facility the upgrades that are needed. I'm surprised that this didn't cross the minds of city planners after the mistakes of the past. Foote is a different issue as it deals with a private owner. Verdict of blame: 60% Club, 40% City Schedules and Tickets People got their seasons tickets on the basis that most games would be played on the weekend. Of course the sked came out before the CFL released their own. The Esks got the dates they wanted but pushed the Avs out of most weekend spots. This meant people like myself, who work during the week, can't be expected to attend games. No doubt this gives why attendance is poor to start with. This adds on top the fact that the start times are not concise every time. One would've expected the team to stand up to the Esks and the city. No doubt the City could've pushed the issue with the Esks and get them to hold off. The attendnace for the Women's team can bolster the argument that they can stand on their own without the need for double headers. You would expect tickets to be expensive given that it's the club that is running ticket sales. Having Ticketmaster do this would be better as one can more easily get theit tickets and not have to pay the high service charge they do now. The Avs could easily cut ticket prices as a result. Blame here: 65% Club, 20% Esks, 10% City, 5% Fans Club and Players They offered a bonus to the players that wasn't really needed. Performance bonus is one thing, a bonus for suiting up is quite another. The handling of Salinas was not good (making the promise of bringing his family here)and neither was dealing with the Turkish imports. We also have the fact that Rattee decide to follow another path alnong with having Dugas and Rago injured at the start of the season. As for Titus, it sounded like he was the highest paid player on the team. Not good to mix with a seemingly bad attitude and how he dumped on the team after being released. he should learn to handle things from the inside with acting like a clown in front of the media. Other players must keep their ego's in check as well. Verdict of blame: 85% Club (Mainly management), 15% players. EMSA and EIYSA It can be argued that a deal with the EIYSA on talent would be better. Yet hearing the problems with the organization (ie. ref's not showing up, coach's being fined for asking questions) makes the deal with the community-based EMSA sound a lot better. Having a deal with the EIYSA would've made the club look like and elites-only ground. That wouldn't have helped push the team in the public spotlight. One of the few things going right for the Aviators was the EMSA deal. Verdict: Only thing done fully right by the Aviators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoyleG Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 quote:Originally posted by seether Ok, well here you go. Excerpt from the Edmonton Journal (June 23rd I think) story "Aviators still waiting for attendance to take off" More than anything, it was Stafford's energy that tied together a bunch of investors who believe professional soccer can succeed here. Months ago, he wasn't attempting to fool anyone while suggesting an average attendance of 10,000 per game was possible in the opening United Soccer League season for the men's and women's teams. Full text was posted my fishman at the Hanger http://www.aviatorshangar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=108&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight= Happy now? Zerr still takes the 11K. The Journal takes the more realistic approach fo saying 10K as a average. Most would take the idea that the real target for the teams was less that that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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