Post by fwp on Jul 22, 2009 17:38:32 GMT -5
www.houmatoday.com/article/20090722/SPORTS20/907229959/1032/SPORTS?Title=Conquerors-ownership-remains-in-doubt
LAKE CHARLES — The Houma Conquerors’ inaugural season in the Southern Indoor Football League ended with a 61-19 semifinal playoff loss to the Louisiana Swashbucklers on Monday, but the battle of who will own the franchise next year is just beginning.
After Monday’s game, SIFL president Thom Hager said the league is still in charge of the Houma franchise because a decision hasn’t been made yet on a future owner. He said he will seek legal advice from his attorneys this week before making a final decision on the team’s future ownership.
The SIFL will have an owner’s meeting next week in Lake Charles following Monday’s championship game between the Swashbucklers and the Austin Turfcats. Hager said a decision on the team’s ownership should be announced then.
The league took over the team on July 7, claiming the Conquerors’ previous owners — Franklin Thomas and his Conquest Sports organization — were in default status because they failed to pay league fees, membership dues and players’ salaries. Hager said the league remains committed to the area and will look for a new ownership group in Houma.
Despite the SIFL’s claims, Thomas said during a phone interview with The Courier and Daily Comet on Tuesday that Conquest Sports is still the legal owner of the franchise. He also contested Hager’s stated July 7 deadline, saying that he received a letter from the SIFL on June 24 that gave him until Friday (July 24) to pay money owed to the league.
Thomas said he has hired an attorney and will challenge the league’s claims and the default status placed on Conquest Sports.
“We have a contract to prove that we’ve never lost ownership of the team because we had 30 days after that letter before you go into default,” Thomas said. “From our standpoint, we’re still the owners of the team. From the SIFL standpoint, maybe that says something different. But it’s being contested right now and we’re confident that we’ll come out on top.”
Thomas said if an agreement can’t be reached with the SIFL, he will look to move the Houma franchise to another indoor football league,
Hager said the relationship with Conquest Sports has become strained because Thomas hasn’t answered his phone calls in weeks.
“I would like to know how anybody can fall behind on payments like that, stop returning my phone calls and want to be my partner,” Hager said. “I can’t believe how something that started so positive turned so tragic and after all my confessions to help out anyway I could. It’s just a huge disappointment to me.”
Hager also said Thomas should have traveled to Lake Charles to support the Conquerors in their playoff game against the Swashbucklers. Houma started its inaugural season with an 0-5 record before winning three of its final six games to clinch a playoff spot.
“Those players need to be appreciated,” Hager said. “That was not an easy thing to do, but they did it and got through it. I think if he (Thomas) would have been here, he would have been proud of his team.”
Thomas said he didn’t attend the game because he was on a business trip vacation in Florida.
“I wish I could have been there, but I did watch the game live (online),” he said. “I always thought we had a chance to play in the playoffs from the beginning of the season. Those guys kept fighting, and they deserved to make it to the playoffs.”
Although the team’s future ownership remains in doubt, Hager said the league wants to keep a franchise in Houma because of the support of its booster club — The Knights of the Crawfish Table — which was voted the “Best Fans” by the SIFL Tuesday.
“The fans of Houma are absolutely awesome,” Hager said. “They were there and stood behind their team, so I want the city of Houma to know that we see and appreciate that. We’re committed, so we’ll be there next season.”
Hager praised the Louisiana Sports and Entertainment Group, which is run by Travis Carrell, Kirk Bonvillain and Tate Boudreaux, for stepping in and handling the marketing, promotion and sales for the team. He said the group is being considered to take over the team for the 2010 season.
Since being hired on June 3, the group secured sponsorships from Southland Mall, South Louisiana Bank, Synergy Bank, Sunburst Media of Houma and others. They also paid the players’ weekly salaries with their own money after checks issued by Thomas earlier in the season had bounced.
“What they’ve got is the heart of a champion because their spirit helped win that (July 11) game against Acadiana,” Hager said. “Their players smelled that. Like a dog that could smell fear, those players can smell leadership, and they appreciate what they saw in the Louisiana Sports and Entertainment Group.”
Carrell, a former general manager with the now-defunct Bayou Bucks, said the group wanted to support the Conquerors to show that professional sports could survive in Houma.
“We knew that if this would have just fallen apart, sports in Houma on a professional level would have been dead for a long time,” Carrell said. “We weren’t going to let that happen.”
And now, Carrell said the marketing group is ready to become the franchise’s owner next season.
He said he wants to secure a lease agreement with the Terrebonne Parish Government to play next season in the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center. The team’s one-year lease with the Civic Center belonged to Conquest Sports.
“We have a fan base in Houma that is (fired up) for football, and we want to reach out to them and give them what they want,” Carrell said. “We have some plans and ideas on how to do it, and I think they are going to see a much better product in the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center. When we’re given a green light, we’re going to prepare for 2010. We want this, and we’re going to do everything in our power to make this successful.”
LAKE CHARLES — The Houma Conquerors’ inaugural season in the Southern Indoor Football League ended with a 61-19 semifinal playoff loss to the Louisiana Swashbucklers on Monday, but the battle of who will own the franchise next year is just beginning.
After Monday’s game, SIFL president Thom Hager said the league is still in charge of the Houma franchise because a decision hasn’t been made yet on a future owner. He said he will seek legal advice from his attorneys this week before making a final decision on the team’s future ownership.
The SIFL will have an owner’s meeting next week in Lake Charles following Monday’s championship game between the Swashbucklers and the Austin Turfcats. Hager said a decision on the team’s ownership should be announced then.
The league took over the team on July 7, claiming the Conquerors’ previous owners — Franklin Thomas and his Conquest Sports organization — were in default status because they failed to pay league fees, membership dues and players’ salaries. Hager said the league remains committed to the area and will look for a new ownership group in Houma.
Despite the SIFL’s claims, Thomas said during a phone interview with The Courier and Daily Comet on Tuesday that Conquest Sports is still the legal owner of the franchise. He also contested Hager’s stated July 7 deadline, saying that he received a letter from the SIFL on June 24 that gave him until Friday (July 24) to pay money owed to the league.
Thomas said he has hired an attorney and will challenge the league’s claims and the default status placed on Conquest Sports.
“We have a contract to prove that we’ve never lost ownership of the team because we had 30 days after that letter before you go into default,” Thomas said. “From our standpoint, we’re still the owners of the team. From the SIFL standpoint, maybe that says something different. But it’s being contested right now and we’re confident that we’ll come out on top.”
Thomas said if an agreement can’t be reached with the SIFL, he will look to move the Houma franchise to another indoor football league,
Hager said the relationship with Conquest Sports has become strained because Thomas hasn’t answered his phone calls in weeks.
“I would like to know how anybody can fall behind on payments like that, stop returning my phone calls and want to be my partner,” Hager said. “I can’t believe how something that started so positive turned so tragic and after all my confessions to help out anyway I could. It’s just a huge disappointment to me.”
Hager also said Thomas should have traveled to Lake Charles to support the Conquerors in their playoff game against the Swashbucklers. Houma started its inaugural season with an 0-5 record before winning three of its final six games to clinch a playoff spot.
“Those players need to be appreciated,” Hager said. “That was not an easy thing to do, but they did it and got through it. I think if he (Thomas) would have been here, he would have been proud of his team.”
Thomas said he didn’t attend the game because he was on a business trip vacation in Florida.
“I wish I could have been there, but I did watch the game live (online),” he said. “I always thought we had a chance to play in the playoffs from the beginning of the season. Those guys kept fighting, and they deserved to make it to the playoffs.”
Although the team’s future ownership remains in doubt, Hager said the league wants to keep a franchise in Houma because of the support of its booster club — The Knights of the Crawfish Table — which was voted the “Best Fans” by the SIFL Tuesday.
“The fans of Houma are absolutely awesome,” Hager said. “They were there and stood behind their team, so I want the city of Houma to know that we see and appreciate that. We’re committed, so we’ll be there next season.”
Hager praised the Louisiana Sports and Entertainment Group, which is run by Travis Carrell, Kirk Bonvillain and Tate Boudreaux, for stepping in and handling the marketing, promotion and sales for the team. He said the group is being considered to take over the team for the 2010 season.
Since being hired on June 3, the group secured sponsorships from Southland Mall, South Louisiana Bank, Synergy Bank, Sunburst Media of Houma and others. They also paid the players’ weekly salaries with their own money after checks issued by Thomas earlier in the season had bounced.
“What they’ve got is the heart of a champion because their spirit helped win that (July 11) game against Acadiana,” Hager said. “Their players smelled that. Like a dog that could smell fear, those players can smell leadership, and they appreciate what they saw in the Louisiana Sports and Entertainment Group.”
Carrell, a former general manager with the now-defunct Bayou Bucks, said the group wanted to support the Conquerors to show that professional sports could survive in Houma.
“We knew that if this would have just fallen apart, sports in Houma on a professional level would have been dead for a long time,” Carrell said. “We weren’t going to let that happen.”
And now, Carrell said the marketing group is ready to become the franchise’s owner next season.
He said he wants to secure a lease agreement with the Terrebonne Parish Government to play next season in the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center. The team’s one-year lease with the Civic Center belonged to Conquest Sports.
“We have a fan base in Houma that is (fired up) for football, and we want to reach out to them and give them what they want,” Carrell said. “We have some plans and ideas on how to do it, and I think they are going to see a much better product in the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center. When we’re given a green light, we’re going to prepare for 2010. We want this, and we’re going to do everything in our power to make this successful.”