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At a press conference in Ft. Myers (FL),
organizers of the Independent Football League
announce the formation of their new football
league which is scheduled to begin play in
August 1992. Birmingham is listed as one of the
sixty-four cities that could receive one of the
sixteen charter franchises.
Other cities in close range listed are
Huntsville (AL), Mobile (AL), Atlanta (GA),
Jackson (MS), Nashville (TN) and Memphis (TN). A
team of league representatives will be traveling
to each city on the list to meet with city
officials.
The IFL concept is based on a revenue sharing
plan, fan ownership and wide-open games.
The two main founders are William Rasmussen
and Les White. Rasmussen, the league's media
consultant, founded the cable sports network
ESPN. White, the league's television
coordinator, owns several television stations in
North Alabama. White says he is already in
discussions with one major network as well as
several cable and regional outlets to televise
the IFL's games.
The Executive Director of the Birmingham Park
and Recreation Board, Melvin Miller, said that
he had limited telephone contact with IFL
officials regarding rental of Legion Field,
which the board runs. According to Miller, no
serious contract talks have occurred. The World
League of American Football's
Birmingham Fire already hold a "most favored
tenant" status, which means the city cannot give
another professional football team a financial
arrangement of equal value.
Don Newton, President of the Birmingham Area
Chamber of Commerce, said he received a letter
from the IFL earlier this week. "The letter
simply said how wonderful they are and if we are
great and good and wonderful and want to take
them to our bosom, that we might get a
franchise. I wrote them back a one-paragraph
letter and told them we are already supportive
of the
Birmingham Fire of the World League and we
cannot support another team," Newton said. |
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