dmalley423 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Hey everyone I'd appreciate it if you would all take a look at my project. I'm part of a new independent professional baseball league. We'll be announcing franchises over the next several months and I'll share them in the 'Sports Logo' section, the first one has already been posted. We have a unique new and exciting approach to independent minor league baseball. I took the excerpt below from our website. "First off we are a Federation of 'Leagues' organized into 'Tiers'. The concept is very similar to affiliated MiLB where there are two leagues (International and Pacific Coast) at the AAA level. The Tiers are then divided into leagues. Leagues are geographically organized to reduce travel expenses. For example all Tier 2 teams in the eastern another of the country will play in one league and Tier 2 teams in the western section will play in another. Each League within a Tier will have slight differences (such as date of opening day etc.) to better fit into the local economies. Leagues are made up of teams. Teams play exclusively in their League from about Memorial Day to the beginning of August. After completing League play teams will battle for a Tier level championship. When reading the paragraph above you may have noticed the schedule only goes until the beginning of August. Following the conclusion of the Tier level championship’s teams will compete for the Federation Cup. Teams will be split into a two sided geographically based NCAA March Madness type double elimination bracket. Franchises in the upper Tiers and Tier Level Champions will receive byes until later rounds. Think about the excitement this creates! A lower Tier team with a player budget of $20,000 could have a Cinderella Story type run against franchises that spend over $50,000 on players." Additionally were proud to be working with Phyxius Performance Apparel. As uniform junkies, I suggest checking them out. There going to be the next Nike and Under Armour. I'd appreciate it if you would go check us and give us a like on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/FAPBbaseball . www.FAPBbaseball.com www.Facebook.com/FAPBbaseball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aci Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 I see from your website that you have one official team signed up for next season, but on your website you say, "There is a lot going on behind the scenes. Stadiums and franchises are being built, brands are being created and potential players are being scouted."Could you provide further information on these other stadiums or franchises? More specifically, why would a new independent league not use existing infrastructure where possible?I ask this because I know that independent baseball is notoriously fly-by-night, with a few exceptions like the Atlantic League. Unless you convince entire existing leagues to join your hierarchy, this is going to be a very tough sell. Most independent leagues are already arranged by geography due to limited budgeting for travel costs, so aside from combining them under one larger banner and creating a mega-playoff structure with huge travel costs, I'm not sure what new ground can be broken here. Hamilton Eagles- 2012 and 2013 Continental Hockey League Champions! 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015 CHL East Division Champions! Niagara Dragoons- 2012 United League and CCSLC World Series Champions! 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 UL Robinson Division Champions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmalley423 Posted March 10, 2014 Author Share Posted March 10, 2014 I see from your website that you have one official team signed up for next season, but on your website you say, "There is a lot going on behind the scenes. Stadiums and franchises are being built, brands are being created and potential players are being scouted."Could you provide further information on these other stadiums or franchises? More specifically, why would a new independent league not use existing infrastructure where possible?I ask this because I know that independent baseball is notoriously fly-by-night, with a few exceptions like the Atlantic League. Unless you convince entire existing leagues to join your hierarchy, this is going to be a very tough sell. Most independent leagues are already arranged by geography due to limited budgeting for travel costs, so aside from combining them under one larger banner and creating a mega-playoff structure with huge travel costs, I'm not sure what new ground can be broken here.Right now, I can't. But I can say this, if you keep on following us I promise you won't be disappointed. Were releasing franchise info as soon as were allowed to (legal blah blah blah). There are several underdeveloped markets in independent ball (believe it or not) and were going to be moving into them.The idea is not necessarily targeted at other leagues joining- but rather creating our own leagues and franchises. But I could definitely see pre-existing teams/ leagues joining. In regards to travel expenses, we have accounted for that and have found a model that allows teams to be able to fund it, quite easily actually. The Federation also contributes money to travel expenses, think of it as marketing and brand recognizance if a Federation team plays somewhere that has never heard of us before. www.FAPBbaseball.com www.Facebook.com/FAPBbaseball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illwauk Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VictoriaGooner Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Seems like a good venture...looking forward to this! THE SHORT FUSE | ARSEBLOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virtual Appliance Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 What kind of "professional baseball team" would pay its entire roster only $20,000? or only $50,000? Or will players "pay-to-play"?This whole thing seems pretty naive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmalley423 Posted March 11, 2014 Author Share Posted March 11, 2014 What kind of "professional baseball team" would pay its entire roster only $20,000? or only $50,000? Or will players "pay-to-play"?This whole thing seems pretty naive.At the independent professional level, having a salary cap of about $50,000 is not outrageous, it is almost common. The business plan calls for lower tiered 'community'/ local baseball teams (facilities with only 1,000 capacity etc) where a $20,000 salary cap is very realistic. We're also going to allow for designation of several 'franchise players', where their salaries do not count against the salary cap. Although I don't know how many will be allowed per team (yet), we will be using that rule.At this point we still don't know what the cap will be, however, based off of my experience and conversations with several former independent league executives these numbers are quite desirable and realistic given our projected schedule (only about 70 games) and our policy of no games on Monday's or Tuesday's. Statistically speaking these days do terrible at the box office, so we will hold no games on them. This allows players to go and get part time jobs during those days and during home stands. And of course it is not pay to play. www.FAPBbaseball.com www.Facebook.com/FAPBbaseball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothamite Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 MiLB is professional.Do players get paid? Then it's professional. Amateurs do it for the love, players do it for their job.I'd argue that if players need to have second jobs, then it's semi-pro, which seems to be what we're actually talking about here. The Green Bay Packers Uniform Database! Now in a handy blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmalley423 Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 Our players will be paid. We are absolutely a professional baseball organization. www.FAPBbaseball.com www.Facebook.com/FAPBbaseball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonderbread Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Our players will be paid. We are absolutely a professional baseball organization.that is easy to say, but to practice is something completely different, there won't be much financial backing,and you still need to rent ball park use, and pay for uniforms, and honestly how much support do you think a league like this will get in terms of fans, and the amount they would be willing to pay to watch won't be more than $5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmalley423 Posted March 13, 2014 Author Share Posted March 13, 2014 Our players will be paid. We are absolutely a professional baseball organization.that is easy to say, but to practice is something completely different, there won't be much financial backing,and you still need to rent ball park use, and pay for uniforms, and honestly how much support do you think a league like this will get in terms of fans, and the amount they would be willing to pay to watch won't be more than $5Independent baseball has thrived over the past several decades by charging just $5 to get in the door. Investors are always jumping at the opportunity to invest in something like this. The market appeal is cheap and fun family entertainment. www.FAPBbaseball.com www.Facebook.com/FAPBbaseball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothamite Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Thrived? That's debatable.But you say that your business model precludes games on certain days (Mondays? Tuesdays?) with the expectation that players will get side jobs? The Green Bay Packers Uniform Database! Now in a handy blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian in Boston Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Independent baseball has thrived over the past several decades by charging just $5 to get in the door.Exactly which independent minor-professional baseball leagues have "thrived over the past several decades by charging just $5 to get in the door"?The only indy minor-pro baseball teams that fall into the "thriving" category are the pace-setters in the likes of the American Association, Atlantic League, and - in a few cases - the Can-Am and Frontier Leagues. Off the top of my head, I can tell you that there isn't a franchise in any of those leagues - particularly amongst the standard-bearers - that is charging $5.00 a ticket for single-game day-of-game admission for anyone but a child or a senior citizen. And that price would be for a seat well down the lines, in the outfield, or on a berm. The prime seats in the lower bowl would be going for $17.00, $18.00, $25.00 a pop in some successful, larger-market indy minor-pro ballparks.Now, if you're talking about a circuit like the Pecos League... sure, you can buy a ticket for $6. That said, there isn't a team in the likes of the Pecos League that's a "thriving" concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothamite Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Looking at independent baseball attendance, you'll be lucky to average 4,000 fans a game. And that's pretty generous: that average would put you at least in the top 20% of all independent teams in the county. http://ballparkdigest.com/201309166632/attendance/news/2013-independent-attendance-by-leagueBut let's say you can draw that 4K per. Back of the envelope, that's $20,000 a game. Gross. Can you sell enough hot dogs to pay for field rental, uniforms and equipment, insurance, transportation, taxes, legal, medical, and everything else (much less player, front office and coaching staff salaries)? At what point do you start to funnel all those profits to the investors who "jumped at the opportunity" to put their money in?Don't mean to be a downer. I wish you luck. You're going to need it. The Green Bay Packers Uniform Database! Now in a handy blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virtual Appliance Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 ^Atlantic Canadian-American United Frontier Baseball Association Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeypower Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Bigger and established semi-pro/independant leagues have failed, so i don't see a start-up one just coming out of nowhere. When the Calgary Vipers where around, they played in two or three different leagues and then they folded and most of the other teams that were in the leagues with the Vipers are now in different ones. My picture here is the Calgary Outlaws. They were part of the Canadian Baseball League which shut down at the all-star break of it's first season.What I'm saying is that it seems to me that there doesn't appear to be middle ground in semi-pro baseball. You're either the top leagues that Brian in Boston mentioned or you're barely scraping by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothamite Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 First off we are a Federation of 'Leagues' organized into 'Tiers'. The concept is very similar to affiliated MiLB where there are two leagues (International and Pacific Coast) at the AAA level. The Tiers are then divided into leagues. Leagues are geographically organized to reduce travel expenses. For example all Tier 2 teams in the eastern another of the country will play in one league and Tier 2 teams in the western section will play in another. Each League within a Tier will have slight differences (such as date of opening day etc.) to better fit into the local economies. Leagues are made up of teams.How many teams are we talking about, anyway? The Green Bay Packers Uniform Database! Now in a handy blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virtual Appliance Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 First off we are a Federation of 'Leagues' organized into 'Tiers'. The concept is very similar to affiliated MiLB where there are two leagues (International and Pacific Coast) at the AAA level. The Tiers are then divided into leagues. Leagues are geographically organized to reduce travel expenses. For example all Tier 2 teams in the eastern another of the country will play in one league and Tier 2 teams in the western section will play in another. Each League within a Tier will have slight differences (such as date of opening day etc.) to better fit into the local economies. Leagues are made up of teams.How many teams are we talking about, anyway?Well, how many teams are consistent with "leagues," "tiered" and "geographically-diverse?"27...- "League" = 3 or more teams (1 team is "baseball practice," 2 teams is a "series," 3 teams is a "league")- "Tiered" = 3 or more tiers (same reasoning applies here to "tiered" as to the definition of "a league"; why would there be only two levels, and the teams in both leagues NOT play each other? - unless they play inherently different games or there is some authentic difference between the leagues)- "Geographically-diverse" = 3 or more geographical groups (same reasoning, except that the geography is 3-dimensional, which creates a minor problem in arbitrariness (only in "naming geographical groups"); essentially, the "divisions" cannot be "based" linearly. Obviously, the best configuration of "divisions" would be based on three (theoretical) equidistant points (for example, "Northeast," "South," and "Northwest"). The "problem" is evident in Major League Baseball, ironically. This "linear" problem is in naming three divisions "East," "Central," and "West," basically, "Central" only exists as "not-East" and "not-West" - "Central" has no identity of itself, if you want to look at it that way. 3 x 3 x 3 = 27"First-half division winner vs. Second-half division winner" idea seems like a good idea for small, burgeoning leagues - keeps fan interest throughout the season.Are 27 teams realistic or are you willing to forego "tiered" or "geographically-diverse?" Which would you rather "have?" *Feel free to completely disagree with and discredit all that up there. We all hope you succeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virtual Appliance Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 No sense in Eastern2 teams not playing Eastern1 teams. Are lower teams going to pay to travel West AND play in a lower tier?Why not incorporate lower tier or put them into another "region?"And I have a strange feeling that Hamptons BC is going to be a Higher Tier team...12 teams. Zodiac signs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burkell007 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 And this league is gonna field there first season when??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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