GO Indoor

Foster, Arena Football Grow from Indoor Soccer he story has been told over and over. It's a part of sports lore now. As the story goes, Jim Foster was sitting at an indoor soccer game one day and had an epiphany. "If you can play soccer indoors why not football?" he mused to his friend. "I was looking at that Astroturf and, being in the football business, my mind turned to football and I pulled a manila envelope out of my briefcase," said Foster, a former NFL marketing whiz who invented the sport known as arena football. "It was not a napkin as was widely reported. The envelope is in the Arena Football Hall of Fame safe. I drew the outline of a hockey rink on it and I preceded to make notes." He remembers the exact date of the MISL AllStar Game where history was made in the stands. The famed Madison Square Garden was the backdrop for Foster's February 11, 1981 brainstorm. But, what was the promotion manager for NFL Properties doing at an indoor soccer game in the first place? "I had seen some advertising and publicity on it, and I had seen a little New York Arrows soccer on cable TV when I got to New York," he said. "That was my first awareness of indoor soccer. I didn't even know it existed until that point, having come from Iowa." Over 20 years later, it isn't indoor soccer that's making headlines, but arena football. The Arena Football League, heading into its 17th season is turning the heads of all the right people. Nine National Football League owners have stakes in AFL franchises, and the league will have live regional coverage of 71 games on NBC this season. Franchise fees have soared to as high as $12 million while the league has spawned a 28-team minor league called af2, and a number of knockoff leagues have sprung up across the country. Indoor soccer would play a larger role in the development of arena football down the road, however. Following his dream to be the general manager of a pro football team, Foster left the NFL to work for the Arizona Wranglers of the United States Football League. From there he went to the Chicago Blitz whose ownership turned out to be "grossly undercapitalized." The league took control of the franchise and proceeded to lay off everyone not directly tied to playing the games, which included marketing and public relations staff, and Foster, who was in charge of non-football operations. Out of work, but looking to stay in sports, Foster interviewed with the Chicago Sting, but they couldn't afford him. Foster joined Burke Marketing, but indoor soccer came calling again when the Sting hired Burke with Foster assigned to their account. "It gave me an opportunity to continue to work in sports while I was out of football," Foster recalls. "I T enjoyed working on indoor soccer. I got pretty involved with it. I got to know some of the Major Indoor Soccer League officials and also got to work in the arena environment for the first time. It really helped set the stage with what was to come with arena football." Foster spent two seasons working with the Sting in the North American Soccer League and MISL, but opted out of Burke in 1985 and began to work full-time on arena football. Foster had made a lot of contacts with arena managers during his time with the MISL. One of them was the manager of the Rockford MetroCentre, who let Foster use its indoor soccer tract. We were able to do that with ESPN. We were able to do it because it was football. It was indoors and it was different, but it was football, and they took a chance on us. "Without that where would we be right now? Indoor soccer came out of the box pretty strong and they had some network and cable TV deals." According to Foster, the AFL has had national television in each season of its existence. None were as big as the deal signed with NBC. "It's a huge opportunity in the growth of arena football." While the MISL had its share of TV success on networks such as ESPN, USA, and even CBS in the early 1980s, "there was a lot of mismanagement. Bad ownership. Bad marketing. I don't think the product was very well presented in many cases." Indoor soccer has been largely absent from national TV for the most part since the original MISL folded in 1992. The NPSL had a TV deal with ESPN2, but Foster brings up a valid point. "When they were Jim Foster, AFL Founder If it were up to me, I'd introduce indoor soccer to pads and board-checking. That would make it a better American game. turf to stage a test game in 1986. Improvising, they used tape to turn the indoor soccer carpet into a gridiron. Ironically, the Metro Center manager at that time was Doug Logan, who would later become commissioner of Major League Soccer. Today, Foster remains involved with his creation. He owns the Iowa Barnstormers -- on a hiatus while arena construction in Des Moines has left his team without a home -- and the Quad City Steamwheelers. Both teams are a part of af2. Reflecting on his time with indoor soccer, Foster says, "I thought it was a better product than the outdoor game for the American mentality." Foster also got a taste of both indoor and outdoor soccer when the Sting played their final season in the NASL. "They're great athletes," he said of outdoor soccer players. "I just thought it was a slow product. When I looked at the indoor game compared to the outdoor game I thought it fit the psyche of the American consumer." Foster notes the importance of national television, something the current MISL lacks. "We (arena football) had to have a viable national television con- on ESPN2, you couldn't find it. It was so poorly distributed at that time when it was in its infancy." Even with a TV contract, the MISL is facing long odds in a sports environment that has been dramatically altered since 1986. "There's way too much competition. With what I had for resources I couldn't have done it today because you can't break out of the clutter." Professional sports leagues struggle behind closed doors, too. Foster had to wear a lot of hats during the time he served as AFL commissioner. Eventually, it wore him out and it was time to pursue another dream. "I was tired of the politics. I hung on until I knew that the league was going to survive. After six seasons I felt that it was time to go ahead and start working on my own team." In 1995 came the Barnstormers, which won two championships and helped Kurt Warner along on the way to becoming one of sports all-time feel-good stories. The AFL, however, continued to progress so steadily that it outgrew the small market Barnstormers. In 1995 it cost $1.3 million to operate the Barnstormers, but by 2000 that number was up to $3.3 million. "That's why the af2 came along," said Foster. As one former commissioner speaking about another former commissioner, Foster looks back to E the old MISL. "Earl Foreman was a real strong guy. Earl Forman had a lot to do with the early success of the MISL. The problem was he couldn't control all the owners. They were all off running around doing their own thing. [A commissioner needs the] ability to take a large group of egotistical, dissident thinking, wealthy people and put them in a room and get them to cooperate. It takes a major amount of finesse to do that." Foster, who was involved with several NFL programs that still exist today like NFL Tailgate Party, Lineman of the Year, and Man of the Year would take a radical approach to indoor soccer. "I had a conversation with the commissioner of the MISL F (Francis Dale) one day and somehow it came up what would make soccer a better American game. I upset him because I said I'd put pads on them like they wore in hockey. I'd let them board check." His next project could be something that doesn't have the built-in audience of football or even soccer. Arena rugby? "Arena rugby is something I've played around with a little bit," said Foster who has applied for a trademark on it. "Personally I think rugby has more qualities that are closer to the American mentality than soccer does – indoors or outdoors. It's a much more physical game and you can use your hands as well as your feet. "I've staged in conjunction with some arena football games about five or six rugby matches now, and they've been pretty well received. You can understand the game a lot better in an indoor arena than you can in a big outdoor stadium." Foster remembers a time when the NFL saw the outdoor NASL as a possible threat. When the New York Cosmos were thriving with international stars such as Beckenbauer and Pele the NFL did a study that reflected a growing interest in soccer participation, but found that when those players grow up they return to the major sports – basketball, baseball, and football. Youth soccer continues to thrive today, however, and the NFL is starting to gear a lot of its marketing efforts towards kids. "Soccer participants don't translate in great spectators over time," says Foster. "Nevertheless, there's been a growth in youth soccer and they want to maintain the numbers of football." Ultimately, Foster says that indoor soccer needs to find its niche. Competition is at all all-time high in an over-saturated marketplace. The MISL is facing strict competition for consumers' attention and dollars and arena dates are becoming more and more scarce in the winter months. "I think there's a place for indoor soccer in this country, he says. "The biggest problems indoor soccer has right now are the television situation, and the related marketing that goes with it, and the image and brand positioning. The other challenge is facilities and trying to find that fit. "At least with indoor soccer, there is no other indoor soccer. That is the upside of indoor soccer." Sydney Nusinov is a regular columnist of GOAL Indoor. G O A L In d o o r • Dec.-Jan. 2002 • 19

• Cover