THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 23, 1995 TAG: 9511230635
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
The five American teams will not split away from the Canadian Football League as has long been rumored, Pirates president Lonie Glieberman said Wednesday.
``We'll be playing next season in the CFL,'' Glieberman said shortly after returning to Hampton Roads from Regina, Saskatchewan, where he attended the CFL Grey Cup championship game.
The American teams - the Pirates, who moved from Shreveport to Hampton Roads last week; Baltimore, Memphis, Birmingham and San Antonio - have discussed seceding from the CFL and forming their own league. They are dissatisfied with the league's diminutive TV profile in the United States. Some also are demanding rules changes and a change of the league's name.
Glieberman said informal meetings between league owners last weekend helped smooth over any talk of a rift.
``The Canadian owners more clearly understand our problems and are more determined to help us,'' Glieberman said. ``The primary problem is television. We need to be on TV in America and I think there's a greater willingness now to help us with that problem.''
One problem yet unsolved is where three of the five American teams will play next season. San Antonio is the only franchise likely not to move.
Baltimore is eyeing Houston and Richmond because the NFL's Cleveland Browns are moving into Memorial Stadium. The team has announced a season-ticket drive, and if it sells 20,000 by Jan. 12, the team will remain.
Birmingham might move to Orlando or to Tampa Bay, if the NFL Bucs move to Orlando. The Birmingham franchise also might fold. The Barracudas, who lost $7 million last season, have closed their offices.
The Memphis Mad Dogs would like to remain in the Liberty Bowl, but the Houston Oilers are seeking to play there two seasons before moving to Nashville in 1998. The Mad Dogs aren't sure how the NFL team will affect them.
The issue of a name change - Can-Am League, North American Football League and Continental Football League are potential new monikers - and the status of the U.S. teams will be cleared up next week at the CFL meetings in Toronto, Glieberman said.
The Pirates' application to move to Norfolk also will be discussed at the Toronto meeting. Glieberman must present a signed lease with Old Dominion, which owns Foreman Field; plans for the renovation of the stadium; and figures on season-ticket sales and corporate sponsorships for the application to be approved in Toronto.
``We're trying, but it's going to be difficult to get all of that finished by then,'' Glieberman said.
If not, the franchise shift likely will be tabled until the January meeting in Edmonton.
TICKET CAMPAIGN: If you have subscribed to a sports magazine in recent years, odds are you'll be hearing from the Pirates.
The team has done a mass-mailing of 25,000 copies of an 8-page tabloid called Pirates Preview to high-income families in Virginia Beach and Norfolk that have subscribed to magazines such as Sports Illustrated.
In all, they plan over the next two months to mail 125,000 copies of the newspaper, which includes feature stories on coach Forrest Gregg and the Pirates. The newspaper was produced by Progressive Publishing of Virginia Beach, which publishes The Redskin Review.
Pirates officials say season-ticket sales, which began Nov. 13, topped 1,000 in the first four days. They say they won't give any further updates on ticket sales until late December, when they hope to be at least a third of the way toward their goal of 15,000.
MARQUEE PLAYER: Pirates officials say quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver, the former All-Southwest Conference quarterback from Texas Tech who played for the Houston Oilers, will play in Hampton Roads at least the next two years.
Tolliver is entering the second year of a three-year, $1.4 million contract with the Pirates.
He is the Pirates designated ``marquee'' player - each CFL has one player with a high-priced salary that does not count against the salary cap of $1.9 million. by CNB