Salt Lake City to get expansion AFL team.

[Sean84106]

Read this in the AZ Republic:

White may sign on to coach Arena League expansion team

Richard Obert

The Arizona Republic

Aug. 13, 2004 12:00 AM

Danny White, who said he turned down Arena Football League head coaching offers from Grand Rapids, Mich., and New York, could be headed to expansion Salt Lake City.

During league meetings early next week in Las Vegas, the league is expected to announce that the Utah city will join the league in 2005.

White, who was fired after 13 seasons and was the Rattlers' only coach, said he'll probably attend the meetings.

White priced himself out of the Las Vegas job, where he asked for $200,000 a year, roughly what he made with the Rattlers.

Both New York and Grand Rapids offered closer to $300,000 a year, but White turned them down, mainly because the distance from his home in Arizona.

Salt Lake appears to be a better fit.

"There's a lot more flexibility," White said. "It's still close."

White, who won 141 games and two ArenaBowls with the Rattlers, couldn't talk about the job but he said he hopes to have it by next week.

"It would be a really nice deal if they get it worked out," said White, who was interested in the Brigham Young and Arizona State head coaching positions when they were open in 2001.

"It would be a new challenge, something different," he added. "It would take a lot of work, but I'm confident it would work."

White said he will join Fox Sports to do color analysis of ASU football games this fall. That deal has yet to be announced.

White said the more he looks at NFL assistant coaching jobs, the less appealing they appear at his age (52).

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/s...3white0813.html

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So, in the past two months Salt Lake City has be awarded an MLS team and now an AFL team.

Wow.

[nitroseed]

...wha?

So how long until we hear that the Expos have decided to move to SLC, I wonder?

[JamesCraven]

Salt Lake City? Expos? When did those rumors start?

[Discrim]

an Arena team can get off to a quick start in its first season, as evidenced by the Rush, Voodoo, Soul and others. If this is indeed gonna go down, expect Salt Lake to be competitive, and at least have a winning record. I expect a few Rattlers to find their way to Salt Lake.

[pcgd]

do two second teir league teams equal one major sport team?

[Sean84106]

They're gonna trade up soon.

[habsfannova]

Ya know, it amazes me that you have an entire country with a league that has most teams (6/9, soon to be 7) pretty much with the exact same style of stadium you want built (20-35k, Full field), decent population centres, and a culture that would love it's own division with affordable ticket prices, and you don't even ATTEMPT to expand there.

[Sean84106]

I guess you're talking about Canada? They probably don't want to compete with the CFL.

[Frylock]

Good for Danny White. Classy guy, helluva coach. But...

Salt Lake City?!?!

I mean, where will they play? The Delta Center? That place is a cavern for hockey, and if I'm not mistaken, don't they have to take out an endzone full of seats like Conseco Fieldhouse?

I don't know about this... Best of luck to the Utah SaltCatzz, but color me skeptical.

And cheesed off that the Northwest gets overlooked yet AGAIN!

[the_cynic]

I mean, where will they play?  The Delta Center?

Probably the E Center.

[DEAD!]

I mean, where will they play? The Delta Center?

Probably the E Center.

I would guess the E-center as well. If I'm not mistaken the Delta Center is one of those specially suited for basketball like SBC, America West and Key Arena. But the Rattlers play at the America West,

[yh]

...wha?

So how long until we hear that the Expos have decided to move to SLC, I wonder?

Who said anything about . . .

oh, skip it.

I'm glad to see the AFL continuing to expand and not just into existing NFL markets. I do agree with Frylock that it would be nice to see the league move into the Northwest. They had a short lived franchise in Portland and that's been it. I think Seattle would be a good market, perhaps even Vancouver as well.

[Sean84106]

They can't play at the 'E' Center, it's WAY too small. It only seats about 10,000 people and the AFL wants arenas that sit around 17,000 people so that'll mean they would have to play at the Delta Center.

So while they'll have to take out a whole section of seats, it's not something that hasn't been done before. In fact, the AWA does the same thing.

[habsfannova]

I guess you're talking about Canada? They probably don't want to compete with the CFL.

Damn....I just reread it...I thought you guys were talkinga bout MLS

[Discrim]

I guess you're talking about Canada? They probably don't want to compete with the CFL.

Damn....I just reread it...I thought you guys were talkinga bout MLS

well, I figure the Phantoms didn't really do anything to merit being remembered.

[the_cynic]

They can't play at the 'E' Center, it's WAY too small. It only seats about 10,000 people and the AFL wants arenas that sit around 17,000 people so that'll mean they would have to play at the Delta Center.

So while they'll have to take out a whole section of seats, it's not something that hasn't been done before. In fact, the AWA does the same thing.

Well I seriously doubt you're going to get 17,000 in the Salt Lake Valley to go back one of their games on a weekly bases.

[Sean84106]

The average attendance for an AFL game is 11,397, which is more than the 'E' Center seats. While the average is only 11,397 Colorado averages around 17,472. In fact, out of every AFL team only 6 average less than 10,000 people a game but they also play in arenas that sit over 10,000 a game.

The AFL won't expand into the Salt Lake market if it's going to play at an arena that is limited to only 10,000 people -- which puts it below the league average in attendance figures.

The 'E' Center is OUT of the question. It's way too small for an AFL team to have success.

And I'm not saying 17,000 fans will go watch an AFL game. I'm saying they want an arena that sits around that number.

[the_cynic]

I know this is a long shot but I would rather see Salt Lake hold out for a real team. Everyone says SLC is 5 - 10 years away from getting another pro team.

[Sean84106]

You're never going to get that big league team if you can't prove you can make it in other sports. Right now I think everyone outside Salt Lake believes SLC is a one sport town, with the Jazz. You can't change that image if you don't get any other pro teams here.

The more national play you get, the better chances of someone expanding into that market. MLS plays on national TV as does the AFL. The PCL (Stingers), AHL (Grizzlies) have never played on national TV.

You've got to start small if you're a small market. SLC is the second smallest market with an NBA team (Memphis the smallest). They're now the smallest market in the MLS and if they do land this AFL team, they'll be one of the smaller markets there too.

[the_cynic]

I remember a while back someone did a story on the 50 biggest markets in the U.S. I believe SLC was #31 or #32. It's also hard to believe that we would be one of the smallest markets in every league was have (excluding AAA).