UHL JOINS EXPANSION GOLD RUSH (p.2)
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Scorched
Earth In Tucson
Milano's
first stabs at hockey ownership came with the fledgling WPHL, now part of
the Central Hockey League.
He bought
the option to open two teams in the league. His first club, the Waco Wizards,
operated under Milano from the WPHL's inaugural 1996 season until the summer
of 1999. The team was sold amid financial difficulties.
Under new
ownership, the troubled franchise could not dig its way out of the hole and
closed two months into season, in December of 1999.
That closure,
along with a few others, caused the WPHL to tighten policies regarding ownership
approval.
Milano
exercised his option to open the second franchise in Tucson, Arizona after
the higher capital requirements and tighter ownership rules were in place.
His operation
in Tucson was grandfathered into the older rules because of the franchise
option agreement that he signed with the league at its inception.
Still,
the WPHL was concerned enough about the Tucson operation, in the wake of Waco,
that they kept a close eye on Milano's roll-out of the franchise.
The Tucson
Scorch never took the ice in league play. Just days before the beginning of
the season, the WPHL pulled the plug on Milano's operation, citing low season
ticket sales and failure to put insurance in place for their home ice.
The WPHL
took the unprecedented step of shutting down the team and sending in the New
Mexico Scorpions to cover the league's opening night, where the Scorch were
slated to appear.
On the
day of their closure, MLN tried to contact the Scorch for comment. Their office
telephones had been disconnected. Members of the front office staff caught
at home reported being "locked out" of their office.
Unable
to contact the team, the few Scorch season ticket holders were equally left
in the dark.
"I
think there's three sides to that story, " Brosal told MLN. "The
league made the commitment [to Milano] then the league backed out of the commitment."
MLN covered
the Tucson Scorch story in 2000 [see MLN story Scorch
Scratched] According to sources within the CHL, beyond the reasons stated
as to why the WPHL revoked the franchise, there were also concerns that the
Scorch would fail to make their payroll obligations.
When the
WPHL stepped in, they made a pledge to work with the community of Tucson to
make the closure as smooth as possible, promising that season ticket money
would be refunded.
Stand
By Your Man
"No,
I am not aware, nor am I interested in them," Brosal stated when asked
whether he knew of the facts regarding the Tucson Scorch situation.
When asked
if the UHL had any concern about what happened with the Scorch, Brosal replied,
"No, it does not concern me. You keep going back to Tucson. I don't care
about Tucson. I'm not going to go down the road of what happened in Tucson."
The UHL
has stated that they have no plans to make reserve provisions for the Columbus
team should history repeat itself.
"The
UHL stands by Joe Milano and the commitment he has made," stated Richard
Brosal.
Brosal
claims that conversations with former WPHL management, now current CHL President
Brad Treliving was enough to convince him that Joe Milano was a great owner.
"When
I have the President and Commissioner of the CHL [Brad Treliving], tell me
that Mr. Milano was one of the best owners they ever had, he is the salt of
the earth and we would be lucky to have him. Well you know what, that's good
enough for me," Brosal stated.
MLN contacted
the CHL President, Brad Treliving. The CHL has a firm policy about not engaging
in negative discussions about owners, other leagues or teams. Treliving was
unwilling to corroborate Mr. Brosal's characterizations of these conversations.
He does not endorse Mr. Milano.
"All
I can tell you is he's been a member here, has paid his expansion fee, and
has paid his dues on time. He's been nothing but a gentleman and an unbelievably
great businessman to work with. We don't foresee any problems with Joe Milano,"
Brosal maintained.
In the
unlikely event that a situation similar to what happened in Tucson occurs
in Columbus, the UHL has no plans to step in.
"The
league isn't going to guarantee the season seat holders their money,"
Brosal said. "Is there any guarantee in life?"
Will
History Repeat?
It is unclear
exactly what financial evidence the UHL requires prospective owners to provide,
as that information is not made public.
Brosal
told MLN, the UHL does do its "due diligence" in regards to prospective
owners.
The league
checks "Their financial background, financial wherewithal, their banking
history and it's a situation where you do the best you can to facilitate as
much info as you can," according to Brosal.
"Part
of the due diligence I did on Joe Milano is based on what Rick Kozuback [former
WPHL President] and Brad Trevling relayed to me as far as their dealings with
him."
It is unknown
what, if any, kind of long-term commitment is made or if the amount of "financial
wherewithal" is sufficient to keep a team viable for the estimated 3-5
years that is necessary to make a team successful in any given market.
The UHL
will not even provide the general requirements that all ownership groups need
to meet. "That isn't the public's business," Brosal told MLN.
Brosal
would admit that picking a successful owner in a viable market is not an exact
science.
"In
my opinion, in a lot of situations like this, it's a crapshoot," Brosal
stated. "You have to have luck, you have to have good business acumen,
you have to have the right region, you have to have the right building, and
the stars have to be aligned properly. Why are (various) franchises successful?
I think it's a combination of a lot of things."
Richmond
and Columbus are just the first cities the in an eventual UHL eastward expansion
plan from this mostly mid-west league.
"Well
if we were only going in there planning on letting Richmond stand alone, it
wouldn't make any sense, "said Brosal.
Such moves
are likely to provoke a turf war between the UHL and the ECHL, the league
that holds most of the Northeast.
The UHL
already has teams in Elmira, NY and Glenns Falls, NY; with plans to add new
teams in Cherry Hill, NJ and Lehigh Valley, PA in the near future. Mostly
small markets which have historically had difficulty in maintaining professional
franchises in other sports.
Brosal
tells MLN that the Eastern expansion teams are well under way. MLN was unable
to verify these claims.
The UHL
is very aware of the risks and pratfalls that come with expanding too fast.
"If
we could add 1 or 2 teams per season and we'd be very happy. Ultimately I'd
like to have 16 to 18 teams and that's it," Brosal admits, looking, as
all minor leagues do, at the magic numbers needed for a potential league-wide
NHL affiliation.
"I
really believe it's far more important to have healthy franchises and teams
in communities that can sustain their operations, than to constantly add one
and take away two, or add three and lose one," Brosal said. "It's
clearly something that we're trying to be very prudent and very careful about."
The right
thing to say. If the expansion in Richmond and Columbus is any indication
of how Brosal and the UHL are handling new franchise screening and market
analysis, we will get to see first hand just how prudent and careful the UHL
really has been.
