Have any of you heard of government coming up with “good deals” lately? Have you seen details of the contract? Remember Buie’s contracts?

Now, I am not saying there is anything wrong with the contract. And, I appreciate the City’s lengthy review period vice typical “must be signed today” efforts in play at the national level. But this is the same City government we have complained about for some time now.

As we all know, the “devil is in the details” And, well, do we really know the details?

I hope this effort works well for both parties. I will buy a new team T-shirt, be at the games with the “grands”, and buy a “couple of beers”–all if affordable. However, please remember, what taxpayers get out of government these days is cheap talk and more spending–not even a T-shirt! Go Panthers!

In the end, I think the city made a credible decision. It certainly was not a bad one, given all the circumstances. All in all, it may have been the right one, but we shall see how it goes. How’s that from a suiter left out of the party?

I spoke at the commission working session a week ago and pointed out that I thought the city’s process should be evaluated since I don’t think they really dug into my offer at all or handled this in a professional and respectful way, but again the choice is quite defendable.

Here’s why the decision is OK.

1. The previous AF2 financial model (Wildcat’s league) was flawed for marginal markets, and most are. Albany was the smallest market in the league, but had some of the higher revenues due to signage and concessions. the team still lost $350K annually on average. Too high an expense structure.

The Panther’s SIFL has the lowest cost structure of all the leagues as far as I know. It doesn’t make it better, and we have not seen the caliber of play, but on paper it works very well, especially with the other revenue sources this deal in Albany has going for it.

2. In my brief conversation with Andre White, he seems like a decent guy and has a head for football. Tom Hager, owner of the SIFL league also is a solid, high energy guy. He will be a big influence.

3. The AIFA that I signed with has been around 4 years and is doing well (SIFL 1 year), but when I signed with it, both Columbus and Greenville were in the AIFA, not the SIFL. This initially attracted me to the AIFA. Soon after I signed, Columbus and Greenville jumped to the SIFL to play closer to home and pay the players less and that made the Albany SIFL connection more reasonable. Tom Hager and I have chattered several times and he wanted me to jump to the SIFL, but I felt obligated to stick with the deal I made. THe AIFA is a very high quality league, pay the players more and also would have worked in Albany, but the Columbus connection tipped it in, I believe.

4. Under the current structure, this Panther team should make money, especially with the money conscious philosophy that Tom Hager brings to the party. Comparing a reasonable revenue model consistant with the past several years of Wildcats and a new cost model, the deal could cash flow a couple hundred thousand dollars or more per year compared to the Wildcats losing several hundred thousand each year.

5. Since this team is realistically projected to make money, it would have been great if a preference had been given to local ownership to keep these revenues in Albany. The exporting of profits and revenues and not keeping money local and not attracting outside revenues is a real problem in Albany. The city might have tried to structure a group deal, but made no contact after the proposal was submitted. Instead Mr. White approached me last week about participation. Keeping the profits local (not just the losses) would be a good emphasis where there is so much discretion in a decision process (the choice was made before it came to the commmission, because this was the only proposal presented).

So do I like the way the city handled this?…NO. But do I think they ended up in an ok place in terms of a team making it financially, IF they work at it 12 months a year as a local player would? YES. In fact, the city problably left money on the table, but that is another discussion. Had I known how the city would handle this, I could have saved a lot of time and money and not wasted a costly effort, although I do think that my group’s effort and willingness to step into the mix within 10 days of the Wildcats officially being out of it, helped to propel the city to making an effort to land another team.

Congrats Albany! Hope for the best.