THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 5, 1996 TAG: 9601050590
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
In spite of extensive radio, television and newspaper advertising, the CFL Pirates have sold little more than 2,000 season tickets in their first two months in Hampton Roads, team president Lonie Glieberman said Thursday.
``We're not disappointed,'' Glieberman said. ``We still expect to sell 15,000 before'' the Canadian Football League season begins in mid July.
Glieberman said the urgency among fans to buy tickets was lost in November when the Pirates announced they were relocating to Hampton Roads from Louisiana.
``If the fans knew they had to buy tickets to bring a team here, we'd have sold a lot more,'' Glieberman said.
The Pirates had planned to announce at a press conference on Nov. 14 a season-ticket sale that would determine whether they would relocate to Hampton Roads. Instead, they announced the move to Hampton Roads after learning the Baltimore Stallions were contemplating coming to Norfolk.
``There's no doubt in our minds that if we hadn't announced that, Baltimore would have attempted to come here,'' Glieberman added. ``(Baltimore owner Jim Speros) tried to talk to us a couple of times about changing our minds and going elsewhere.
``The season-ticket sale is a long-range project. . . . Our goal now is to sell 15,000 by June 1.''
Glieberman and Pirates executive vice president Bill Haase also said:
The team likely will adopt the moniker Hampton Roads.
They vehemently defended the team in its legal tussle with the city of Shreveport and a sign company.
Haase acknowledged the Pirates owe national vendors about $100,000 in addition to the more than $200,000 they recently paid or agreed to pay to businesses in Shreveport.
Glieberman said Shreveport is ``99 percent sure'' of getting a CFL team to replace the Pirates.
The Pirates have yet to adopt a regional or city name - Hampton Roads, Virginia, Norfolk and Chesapeake Bay are the four Glieberman said he is considering.
``We want the community to tell us what to call the team,'' Glieberman said.
Haase said they are listening to local residents, businessmen and community leaders. ``The more we talk to people, the more it seems like Hampton Roads might be the way to go,'' he said.
Haase said the $100,000 owed to national vendors will be paid this winter. ``We still have some outstanding bills. We are negotiating payment schedules to pay down those amounts as well,'' he said.
Most of those vendors provided equipment, such as helmets, uniforms and pads, for the Pirates.
Glieberman and Haase provided copies of a ``cooperative agreement'' with Shreveport in which the city signed on as a team sponsor and agreed to provide financial aid if the Pirates lost money in 1995. The team lost nearly $3.7 million and as a result the Pirates were paid $1 million.
Shreveport has asked the Pirates to return in 1996 and says it will renew the $1 million sponsorship, a legal maneuver city officials say will force the team to repay the $1 million from last season.
``What people don't understand is that this was not an out-and-out subsidy,'' Haase said. ``They received very much in value for their dollars.''
Among the things of ``value'' done by the Pirates: Shreveport logos were placed on the field and large signs, including an 800 number for tourists and businesses to call, were placed around the stadium and displayed prominently on television. The Pirates produced television ads for ESPN, CBC and TSN broadcasts and at least one was shown for each Pirates game.
The name Shreveport was placed on all coaches sleeves and players uniforms and four city officials were allowed to travel with the team, free of charge.
Glieberman said the controversy has hurt the Pirates season-ticket sale, and added that the team has yet to receive official notification from Shreveport seeking the $1 million.
``All I know is what I read in the newspaper,'' he said.
Glieberman acknowledged the Pirates might owe for about $500,000 worth of improvements made to Independence Stadium. But he said the Pirates will owe little or nothing if another CFL team relocates there. The Shreveport Times reported Thursday that an East Texas group has agreed to buy the Birmingham Barracudas and move them to Shreveport. by CNB