Are the Barnstormers going away again?

[Knownothing]

Barnstomers are probably going bye bye again.

The league is in trouble.

ESPN - Reports: Arena Football League suffering financial woes

 

[theshadow]

That's AF1. Barnstormers are AF2.

 

[Knownothing]

If AF1 goes. So to will AF2

 

[Al_4_State]

Thats surprising. It seems that AFL has done pretty well. It's been around 20 years, gets a lot of air time, and draws good crowds. It seems like its at the point that if it made it this far, it was here for good. Thats too bad. I like watching football in July, and I like Barnstormers game.

 

[cybsball20]

How can a league with limited salaries and a major TV deal not make it?

 

[Knownothing]

They can. It's called the WNBA.

 

[eclone]

Owner Jeff Lamberti was on Marty and Milller last week and said that this will not affect AF2 and will infact add to their talent pool. AF2 has a separate business struction and the only affiliation with the AFL is that each team pays a small licensing fee to AFL (~$10,000) per year to use the Arena League name. Also AFL had some small ownership interest in AFL2, but nothing to cause any problems. It may have been spin, but he didn't sound the least bit worried.

 

[Broodwich]

The AF2 is actually in better shape financially than the AFL is. There have been rumors about this for over 8 months on ArenaFan. There has been a lot of speculation about the leagues merging, or the AF2 becoming the AFL, or teams from the AF2 moving to the AFL to round out the schedules.

The Barnstormers are a very strong franchise, and will be playing for years even if that means its in the AFL, AF2, or IFL.

 

[AIT]

Des Moines get an AFL franchise.
The Barnstormers are wildly successful.
The Barnstormers' success builds the AFL's success.
The AFL gets too big for Des Moines.
Des Moines loses an AFL franchise.
Des Moines gains an AF2 franchise.
The AFL gets too big for its own good.
The AFL collapses.
AF2 becomes AFL.
Des Moines gets an AFL franchise.

We've almost come full circle.

 

[Cardinal&Gold11]

I can't stand the AFL. It's not normal. I like me some normal football played on normal football fields. Couldn't care less that they might go away

 

[Broodwich]

From the Man, Jeff Lamberti owner of the Barnstormers:

"Here are some real facts.

While the AFL is a shareholder of af2, our league operates independently from AFL. While we wish for the best for AFL, regardless of what happens, there is no operational impact on af2 and the Barnstormers. We do not depend on the AFL for any financial support. The teams of af2 support our own league expenses,and we do not have operational losses. In other words, we balance our budget at the league level every year.

Our economic model is strong, and all of our teams are ready to go for the 2009 season. In fact, our league has signed a couple of national sponsorship deals that make the league even stronger.

On behalf of all of our local owners, I can assure you that we are here to stay!!!

Jeff Lamberti"