Sports Operational costs may cause Flash to fizzle

Sports: Soccer Team Still Seeks a Home



Field to Call Its Own

For the past several months, the San Diego Nomads, part of the group that runs the La Jolla Nomads youth soccer organization, has operated the minor league soccer team the Flash.

Though the Nomads plan to run the operation next season, it will take an initial showing of about $450,000 to do so.

The club has until Oct. 1 to raise the funds, which include a $350,000 league franchise fee and a $100,000 letter of credit.

The Nomads, which took over operation of the team just before the 2001 season, has what’s called a “sweat credit” with the United Soccer League totaling somewhere between $75,000 and $100,000 toward the franchise fee, according to Mary Kaliff, the Flash’s general manager.

Although the league handled all operating fees and expenses for the team, the Nomads managed the day-to-day operations and earned the credit, Kaliff said.

Estimates peg the cost at $480,000 to run the team next season. A breakdown of that includes: $120,000 in travel expenses, $140,000 for players salary, $39,000 to lease the field at Mesa College, and $30,000 for workman’s compensation insurance, among other things.

“An A League franchise cannot be a financially viable operation based on ticket sales alone,” Kaliff said. “Other revenue sources must be found.”

Kaliff said the franchise needs a list of other things to stay afloat, including corporate sponsorships, concessions, sale of merchandise, advertising and fees for soccer camps.

“It is our hope that we can raise this operating capital prior to the start of season 2002,” she said.

Poor Attendance

Kaliff said at a recent home game the franchise made about $1,200 in ticket sales, but the cost to lease the stadium for one day is about $1,900.

“We are not making a profit,” she said.

Some companies have come forward with an interest in supporting the franchise, according to Kaliff, including Pepsi’s regional office, Disney, and cartoonist Charles Young, who created the “Andy the Llama” character.

Attendance at Flash games has faded because of the lack of marketing and advertising dollars, according to the team.

Last year, when the Flash was owned and operated by the San Diego Soccer Development Corp., average attendance was between 4,000 and 5,000 people. At the Aug. 18 game, Kaliff said about 680 people attended, and more than half of those got in free.

Children under the age of 12 always get free admission. The other free attendees were fans who purchased season tickets from the last ownership group. The problem, according to Kaliff, is the last group kept the money for the 125 season tickets they sold. Nonetheless, the Nomads honored those tickets.

Another key to making the franchise a success in San Diego would be the construction of a soccer-friendly facility, according to Jeff Scott, president of the Soccer Council of San Diego.

If the stadium idea sounds familiar, it’s because the former ownership, led by Yan Skwara, had plans to build a stadium complex in the South Bay. Plans for “Flash Park” called for a 10,000-seat stadium that would have cost $30 million.

“No matter who buys this team, the issue will still be the venue,” Scott said. “They have to have a venue where (the team) can control the revenue.”

New Venue

Scott said the Flash would be successful in a stadium built to seat between 5,000 and 8,000 people.

“Without a soccer-specific venue, a professional soccer team is going to struggle,” he said.

The Flash will continue to play at Mesa College in the 2002 season if the Nomads buy the team, but that facility is “not built for soccer.”

“The fans are too far from the game, no alcoholic beverages can be served and there are no facilities available to provide high-end concessions,” according to the club.

The club plans to renovate Kinsell Field (formerly known as Hickman Field) in Clairemont, currently maintained by the La Jolla Nomads youth soccer organization. The La Jolla Nomads are planning to sign a 25-year lease with the city of San Diego to continue using the field.

If that lease is signed, the San Diego Nomads will complete a $1.5 million renovation of the current field. Although the La Jolla and San Diego club are affiliated, the San Diego Nomads was created as a for-profit organization to operate the Flash.

The plan includes adding another level of seating, improving the infrastructure and installing lights and corporate boxes.

The USL has suggested the Flash drop down to a semipro or developmental league, which would cost much less to operate. Once the finances are place, the club could return to the A League.

Tim Holt, manager of A League operations in Tampa, Fla., said several companies have shown interest in buying the franchise.

“We’ve been in dialogue with a number of different parties over the period of three to four months that the Nomads have operated the team,” he said. “Some are in San Diego, some are elsewhere in the country and one was international. We are continuing to have dialogue with one or two, but we are not close to a deal with any one of them.”