So the Racers are champions... now what?

[J. Myrle Fuller]

Capping off an unusual season to be sure, the Daytona Beach Racers (the same team that left for the Exclusive Football League, then came back after that league imploded, only to find they didn't have a home stadium and had to play their only home game in Fort Pierce, a market that was supposed to have an SFL team of their own but never did, but they still called them Daytona Beach... and they didn't get to host the championship game even with the league's best record) has secured the Stars Football League championship with a 3-1 record and a win over Fort Lauderdale in the championship at Central Broward Regional Park.

Now, however, we wonder what's next. After two seasons of this league pretty much squandering its opportunities for publicity and severely damaging its credibility as a pro outfit, it's at a crossroads. The commissioner has stated he wants to come back for a Season 3, and has even named yet another (premature?) expansion team for Miami, with Fort Lauderdale's defensive coordinator as head coach. (As a running gag, it will carry the name Ironmen.) He has done everything he can possibly do to control the costs to manageable levels, short of going one-platoon (the UFL could learn a thing or two from him) by keeping rosters small and choosing affordable venues that are close to each other (it's pretty clear that the league is pretty much confined to Florida now).

Does the league go straight semi-pro/amateur and give up all pretenses of professionalism?

Does the league try to get more aggressive?

Or does it fold?

[gatek99]

I think they play season 3 the same way season 1 and 2 went.

[J. Myrle Fuller]

Aug 2, 2012 15:40:02 GMT -5 gatek99 said:

I think they play season 3 the same way season 1 and 2 went.

Is that even plausible? These two seasons have been a disaster. Unless Hulthwaite is using this league as a tax write-off they can't continue down this road. What few people take them seriously now will continue to wither away. I cannot imagine this being a financially viable enterprise in its current form, and I cannot imagine Hulthwaite, whose business interests are mostly in Michigan, continuing to sink money into a Florida-based league that has given him such dismal returns.

[broncofan]

Aug 2, 2012 17:55:57 GMT -5 J. Myrle Fuller said:

Aug 2, 2012 15:40:02 GMT -5 gatek99 said:

I think they play season 3 the same way season 1 and 2 went.

Is that even plausible? These two seasons have been a disaster. Unless Hulthwaite is using this league as a tax write-off they can't continue down this road. What few people take them seriously now will continue to wither away. I cannot imagine this being a financially viable enterprise in its current form, and I cannot imagine Hulthwaite, whose business interests are mostly in Michigan, continuing to sink money into a Florida-based league that has given him such dismal returns.

You're forgetting about player registration fees. Every year they tell people they will have x number of teams in different areas. So people try out, thinking they can play for a local team. Then when the season comes, most of those teams are gone, along with the $95 registration fees. But because the league played somewhere, it continues to give people hope.

Maybe that's why teams never disappear from the website. it attracts more potential players and their fees.

[gatek99]

Try-out fees, and ticket sales for the 100 people that show up probably pays for the stadium rent, which probably isn't high since they play nowhere big.

The teams probably travel by car pool. Jerseys are already paid for

so he probably isn't losing that much money now

[jwolf]

I sure hoped for better from this league.