These Games Are Fantastic

ANAHEIM — They can’t see the top of the pecking order, or the middle for that matter, from where they are. But they’re on the list, and you have to start someplace.

Their teams’ names sound more like Saturday morning cartoon villains and comic book superheroes than professional sports franchises. Their organizations aren’t exactly steeped in glorious tradition and there are better ways to invest money--or more exciting ways to lose it.

That aside, life couldn’t be better for the owners and controlling executives of Orange County’s minor professional sports teams, three of which are based at the Pond. They said they love their location and standing in the Southland sports community, and that the future should be bright as long as everyone sticks to the plan. Entertaining fans at relatively reasonable prices is a shared goal--and the key for survival.

So far, so good, they said.

“You don’t do this, you don’t get involved with something like this, if you’re only trying to make a lot of money because that won’t happen,” said Gary Sparks, whose majority ownership of the Splash saved the indoor soccer team from folding last year. “You do this because you love sports and you want to give something back to the community by providing quality, affordable family entertainment. Otherwise, you would be crazy to do this.”

Five franchises come under the minor sports umbrella in Orange County, and there’s something for everyone, assuming this is something you want. The Splash plays soccer indoors and the Zodiac plays soccer outdoors, the Bullfrogs are a roller hockey team, the Piranhas play Arena football and the Vigilantes are a minor league baseball team, having spent the past two seasons in Long Beach.

These sports are played during the summer, when kids are out of school and parents are going out of their minds trying to keep them occupied.

Anaheim is the county’s de facto minor sports capital, with the Bullfrogs, Piranhas and Splash calling the Pond home from April through October. The organizations, and the owners, coexist just fine, they say.

“We’re really not competing with the other teams at the Pond or the other [minor sports] teams in the county,” said Sparks, a real estate developer. “We all have our own niches in the market, and we know that we have to put out the best products we can in the best environment we can.”

Minor sports owners and executives realize they can’t compete with the Angels and Ducks on the talent level. So they don’t. Instead, they target the area where they say major sports are vulnerable: giving fans the best overall experience for their dollar.

“Lots of pro sports owners have just forgotten about the fans, forgotten to say ‘thank you’ to the fans,” said Paula Pyers, an attorney and co-owner of the Vigilantes. “That’s why our concept is to provide as much fun for families as possible and to always let them know how much we appreciate them. Hey, we’re nothing without them.”

The Vigilantes, formerly the Long Beach Riptide and Barracuda, won’t lack for effort. When their season opens May 23, the team’s games at Saddleback College will likely be one part baseball and two parts FanFest.

Pyers and her partner, Patrick Elster, the agent and brother of Pittsburgh Pirate shortstop Kevin Elster, are planning to keep fans involved and entertained regardless of whether the baseball is any good. Pyers said fan activities will include a karaoke gong show, dog races and other contests. At the end of each game, Pyers and Elster will stand at the exit gates and personally thank each fan for attending.

“Everything we do involves our fans in some way,” said Pyers, whose team has no major league affiliation. “The only way you can operate something like this successfully is if you have the fans totally behind you.”

That’s because, unlike the Ducks and Angels, these minor sports franchises can’t sit back and wait for an infusion of TV and merchandising money to help tide them over. It’s just not there.

The Arena Football League (Piranhas), Roller Hockey International (Bullfrogs) and the Continental Indoor Soccer League (Splash) have been seen, or will be in the future, on cable TV. However, those dollars alone won’t come close to keeping the leagues going.

Attendance is their lifeblood, and everyone knows it. One way to encourage business is with competitive prices, and the minor sports, on average, are less expensive to attend than major sports. This is achieved by keeping players’ salaries in check with team revenues and limiting staff.

“You wear every hat when you run something like this,” Pyers said. “We have a core staff of about six full-time people, so I answer the phones if they’re busy, I make copies if I need them and I sell tickets if someone gets sick. You have to have a passion for sports if you’re in this business.”

The Piranhas’ fan-friendly concept requires players remain on the field for at least 20 minutes after each home game to sign autographs. There are pregame laser and fireworks shows and the typical assortment of fan giveaways throughout the season.

Although beginning only their second season in Anaheim, the Piranhas seemingly provide a good blueprint for getting a minor sports franchise off the ground. That’s in part because none of the franchises has operated for more than five seasons and two, the Vigilantes and Zodiac, are in their first season in the county.

In their inaugural season, the Piranhas jumped to a 7-0 start that piqued some interest. That, and the total entertainment package, helped the Piranhas finish fifth in the AFL in attendance, averaging 13,225.

“You can’t start off on the wrong foot with something like this. You can’t stub your toe at the start because it could be fatal,” said Roy Englebrecht, the team’s senior vice president and a former minority owner.

“That’s why minor league sports is the wrong handle for us. We don’t operate in a minor league fashion. We have to prove to people they should equate us with the major leagues.”

Location should help.

Soccer and roller hockey, for instance, are immensely popular with the pre-teen and teenage set in Orange County. The Zodiac, who play at Santa Ana Stadium, Splash and Bullfrogs have built-in, growing fan bases, owners said.

“I’m very pleased with what I’ve seen,” said Maury Silver, a tri-owner of the Bullfrogs with his sons Stuart and Nelson. “Orange County is the hub of roller hockey because the kids love it.

“We’re the No. 1 roller hockey team in the RHI right now. We have the most loyal fans and we draw the most fans.”

There’s probably some hyperbole in there somewhere; however, much of what Silver, whose business interests include an automobile rental company, said is supported by fact.

The Bullfrogs won the league title in 1993 and are a perennial league power. They have led the league in attendance for four seasons, averaging more than 10,000 per game announced attendance the last three.

The Splash averaged 5,500 in attendance last season, Sparks said. He projects the figure will jump to about 9,000 this season. Still, nothing comes easy.

“We have a lot of hard work ahead of us to convince the doubters,” Sparks said. “One of our biggest challenges is to convince our sponsors that we will someday draw equal to that of the major sports.”

The Piranhas’ Englebrecht, also a longtime Southland sports promoter, agreed that changing long-standing perceptions won’t be easy for his team and the others. But he said the fight has just begun.

“We have to do our job,” he said. “We have to win on the field, but we also have to give the fans more than they expect. We can’t worry about what the Ducks and the Angels are doing because we can never win that war. . . . But we can win too.”