Why will the Turfcats succeed when the Wranglers (first of the AFL, then af2) did not?
It’s the business model. The franchise fees are not outrageous. Everybody here wears a lot of hats. Everything is capped, including player salaries. We’re also committed to a very regional league — nearly all our road trips will be same-day bus rides up and back, rather than paying for a whole team and staff for two or three nights in a hotel thousands of miles away. Our teams will play in arenas where you’re not having to spend X number of dollars just to open the doors. It’s all about eliminating the outrageous expenses. Do your fingers ever get tired typing all those releases? No, and it’s because I love what we do, and the reason goes back to when I was growing up in Mississippi. We were not wealthy, but what we did have in Jackson was Memorial Stadium. An end-zone seat was $5, and if you didn’t have the money, you could get in selling Cokes. But what you got were SEC doubleheaders — I saw the best football games in my life for $5. Now, sports markets have overpriced themselves and
