Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009

Public option falls through for Fever

By Ben Reynolds, Herald staff writer

As President Obama searches for support for his public health care option, the Tri-Cities Fever's public option is over before it was even unveiled.

General manager Randy Schillinger confirmed that shares of the franchise will not be available to the public, thus putting the franchise back on the market.

Schillinger said he had overwhelming support from fans wanting to buy shares of the team in the past couple of weeks. But after some careful research and consulting, the plan has been shelved, leaving the franchise on life-support.

"There is just not enough time to do it," said Schillinger. "To do something like this we would have needed to have started back in the spring.

"This process was a lot more detailed than I was led to believe."

So with no public option, the deadline to find an owner is quickly approaching. The orignial deadline to find a buyer was the end of this month, but Schillinger says he hopes to buy a little more time.

Schillinger, who has been appointed by owner Doug MacGregor to find a suitable buyer, says he has been in contact with a couple of groups that appear interested. To what degree of interest is there, Schillinger is not sure.

With the shares-option, the team would have stayed in the af2 and MacGregor would have been a minority owner.

Now, it's unclear as to what league the team would play in next season -- if any.

"I am still hopeful," Schillinger said. "I am following all the leads I can."

Since the franchise was sold o MacGregor and moved into the af2 in 2007, the team has struggled. The Fever has just a 15-34 record, and eight of those wins came in its inaugural season.

The franchise hit its worst level this past season since it was started by Schillinger and J.R. and Teri Carr in 2005.

The attendance figures dipped to new lows, announcing its first-ever crowd below 3,000 at a game. Advertising revenue also fell off from 2008 and the team struggled on the field with a franchise-worst 3-13 mark.

Despite all that, Schillinger has talked to several groups that think the Tri-Cities is a viable market for indoor football. He is just waiting for someone to step up and take the same risk he took in 2005.

"We're still looking, searching for investors," Schillinger said.