Columbus Lions' move to SIFL paying off
Team cuts costs, raises ticket sales
By CHRIS WHITE
cwhite@ledger-enquirer.com
If the conference calls among Southern Indoor Football League coaches and owners are any indication, the Columbus Lions’ first season in the league has been a success.
Rather than crunching budget numbers and dealing with major problems, the discussions have more often revolved around mundane issues, such as how to get players to tuck in their jerseys and pull up their socks.
“When that’s all we’ve got to talk about, yeah, it’s a good sign,” said Jason Gibson, the Lions’ coach and director of football operations.
Since joining the SIFL in September, the Lions have managed to significantly cut their travel costs, build up what team officials said is the best rivalry in the franchise’s history and see a significant increase in ticket sales, including a 60 percent jump in season-ticket packages.
Regional league
Take a look at the Lions’ path since the team’s inaugural season in 2007, and it’s clear the Lions have been moving toward a more regionally focused league. The team has gone from the World Indoor Football League to the American Indoor Football Association to the Southern Indoor Football League. Each step has been an improvement, and the SIFL’s weight on building a strictly regional team has been the biggest yet, Lions managing partner John Hargrove said.
Columbus’ longest SIFL road trips are to Louisiana, home to the Lafayette Wildcatters and the Louisiana Swashbucklers. The eight-hour drive each way, when compared to multi-day trips to AIFA cities along the East Coast and as far west as Wyoming, are a major improvement when it comes to the Lions’ bottom line.
The shorter trips have saved the team $25,000 in travel expenses compared to last season, and the SIFL’s business model has allowed the team to trim 20 percent from its salary budget.
The league also has allowed for the development of stronger rivalries, which has promoted attendance. Although the teams have played only twice, the Columbus Lions-Albany Panthers matchup is already popular enough that large groups of both teams’ fans made the 90-mile trip to watch the road games. Hargrove said he hopes this season is just a start in the direction of building up more local competition.
“I think the Albany games were some of the best football I’ve seen at this level ever,” Hargrove said. “It’s something we’re looking forward to building up and something the fans have loved this season.”
Addition by subtraction
The SIFL was set to start the season with six teams, but, just days before the opening games, the Houston Lightning dropped out after the team’s owners could not come to a lease agreement with their home facility. Rather than see the loss of one team as a hit to the league, Hargrove said it has been a positive.
“Texas was a stretch for us in a geographically based league,” Hargrove said. “For us, that probably saved us an additional $7,000 this year and allowed us to focus on building more in this region.”
While the league is one team down for the 2010 season, it expects to add more soon. The SIFL has had interest from prospective team owners in Macon and Augusta, Ga., Chattanooga, Tenn., Mobile, Ala., and Biloxi, Jackson and Tupelo, Miss., according to Hargrove.
If more teams do get in the SIFL, it likely would mean fewer trips to Louisiana and more in-state games.
“If we get more teams, it would mean being able to cut down even more on travel and being able to build more rivalries,” Hargrove said. “Right now, that looks like the smart thing for everyone.”
More expensive rental costs
The Lions’ toughest problem has been one contained in Columbus. While season ticket sales have increased, so has the bill for renting the Columbus Civic Center. The Lions pay an average of $6,500 per home game, up from about $5,000 last year, Hargrove said.
It’s among the highest rental costs in the league, Hargrove said, and one that has put the organization in jeopardy of finishing the season in the red, despite selling an average of about 1,500 tickets per home game.
“This has been the best financial year in the history of this team,” Hargrove said. “But, right now it looks like, if we’re lucky, we might almost break even this year.”
The Albany Panthers’ rent to use the Albany Civic Center is less than a quarter of the Lions’ cost in Columbus. Although that facility is older and smaller than the Columbus Civic Center, Hargrove said that deal is an example of how the city and team have set out to strategically revitalize the local sports market.
With few worries about the SIFL’s operation, Hargrove said his focus will be on securing a more favorable deal.
“We’d love to find a way to decrease the costs of using the facilities,” Hargrove said. “Right now, that’s our only big problem, and our biggest concern is finding a way to get that under control.”
This story was originally published June 19, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Columbus Lions' move to SIFL paying off."