Albany officials set to ink arena football deal

ALBANY — Ward VI City Commissioner Tommie Postell had a simple explanation for the board’s intense scrutiny of would-be American Indoor Football League franchise owners Terence Fowler and Darrien Teals, who asked the commission Tuesday to enter into an agreement to bring arena football back to the Albany Civic Center.

“We’ve been promised so many times … and let down so many times,” Postell said.

But after grilling Fowler and Teals about their plans with the Georgia Firebirds, the commission gave unanimous tentative approval to the franchise, which would start play in March of 2016. The board called a special meeting for Wednesday morning to formally approve the plan so that league officials can move forward with scheduling.

“This is not just business, this is personal for me,” Fowler, who owns a travel business that caters to professional athletes, said. “I’m from here.”

Teals, a Tifton businessman who was a standout wide receiver at Tift County High School in the 1980s, said the timing was perfect for bringing the arena team to Albany.

“Albany’s had successful arena football teams,” Teals said. “The people here have proven they will support a well-run program. City officials have been great to work with, and we’re ready to go. Once we get final approval, we plan to hit the ground running.”

The two-year agreement with the Firebirds calls for the city to receive $5,000 in rent per game and 40 percent of the net profit from concessions and non-alcoholic beverages as well as 40 percent of the profit from alcohol sales. The city would also receive $750 for each advertising sign sold by the arena team.

Discussion of the proposed contract led to a call for closer scrutiny on some items before the document is ready for City Manager Sharon Subadan’s signature. Ward V Commissioner Bob Langstaff said the language of the document should spell out that all signage space is sold on a calendar-year basis, and Ward III Commissioner B.J. Fletcher suggested allowing a number of vendors to rent kiosk space for each game at a fixed cost, saving the hassle of figuring percentages of costs and profits.

“It would be much simpler, and I can guarantee you there are enough vendors who would sign up to recoup the city’s cost for ushers and security personnel,” Fletcher said.

Asked by Mayor Dorothy Hubbard the goal of the city’s relationship with the arena team, Subadan said her goals were threefold.

“This is a quality-of-life issue for the citizens of the community,” the city manager said. “I’d also like to see the city make a little money or, worst-case scenario, break even. And this would provide for more foot traffic downtown. That’s an important part of our redevelopment effort.”

Fowler said the AIFL has 22 teams, including franchises in Savannah, the Florida Panhandle, Fort Meyers, Fla., and Aiken, S.C. He also said community outreach is a big part of the franchise’s business model.

“We’re going to be involved with our young people, and we’re going to be involved with any kind of community outreach possibility we’re given,” he said. “And we’re going to be seen in the surrounding area. That doesn’t mean sending out flyers. We’re going to go to these communities around here.”

Ward II Commissioner Bobby Coleman said he’s concerned about tickets to games being priced outside local citizens’ budgets.

“I’m excited about arena football in Albany, but let’s not kid ourselves,” Coleman said. “It’s going to take a tremendous effort by everyone involved to sell enough tickets for all of us to reach our goals.”

Fowler said the team is projecting sales of 2,600 tickets a game at the Civic Center. Subadan said the city would “make a little money” with the sale of 2,000 tickets a game.