Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Is Lanche the First Domino?

Well, that didn't take long. The NXL Game turns serious. (See July archive) Word on the street is that Lanche is done--with the NXL. If correct it comes as no surprise. But it does create a real problem for the league. It's one thing for the NXL to replace teams during the off season but it's another thing completely to have teams drop out during the season. It impacts the organization of the league, alters the structure of the competition and creates the perception of instability. And of course the real problem is how much reality exists in the perception.
My view is the league would have been better served by keeping Lanche around, getting what fees they could squeeze outta Ed and then parting ways after Cup. Rumors are just that, rumors, but the actual factual dropping out of a team during the season undermines the league's integrity.
What's next? Each Pro League has a dropout with rumors of the prospects of more coming. There are other financially challenged NXL teams. There is at least one team with no financial issues that is also unsatisfied with the status quo (and that may be putting it mildly).
How does this get resolved, or does it?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

With the exhorbitant entry fees and supposed admin fees that all NXL teams are supposed to pay, it's not surprising, but, rumor on the street says Dynasty, Shock, Ironmen and Philly have NEVER paid this. Some teams have only paid less than half...so why should you bother when none of the PSP owners can tell the truth...or be honest even to themselves!

Anonymous said...

I can count four teams on my hand that are ready to bow out. Two reasons these teams have not bailed out already; 1) sponsorship commitments, many of the companies are forcing teams to stick it out, and 2) world cup, leave now and you can't come back.

Talk about strong arm tactics from a historically weak commissioner. Tony is a puppet!

Mark my words, come World Cup all bets are off.

Anonymous said...

We all can see from viewing the APPA website that there are teams given leniency on when they make their payments.

I don't think the APPA could make it more clear as to when payment is due.

Current information suggests there are teams playing at the highest level that have taken the position that payments can be bid upon. "I can only pay x amount, let me play anyway." Avalanche being the latest example.

Sure, Ed's latest bid was turned away per recent "rumors".

Sure...rumors are just that: blah, blah, blah.

That aside...I wonder how many teams outside of the NXL are given the opportunity to compete in a PSP event without first putting down the required money prior to the start of said event.

Hmmmmm....I smell league-wide lawsuit.

If you don't treat EVERYONE equally...well, you get that azz handed to ya in the form of money.

Struggling Teams: your opportunity to pay the rest of your season is upon you (and, depending on your lawyer, maybe even a few seasons).

Interesting.

Baca Loco said...

One feature of the locked division is it affords those chosen a temporary power if they wish to try and exploit it--by paying late or trying to negotiate cost, etc. But it's not like everybody didn't know coming in what the score was. Two factors at work in the NXL are the historical leniency afforded (some) pro teams and the real financial hardship that exists in the current environment. This past off season changing the pricing and prize structure was suggested though I don't know how seriously it was considered.

raehl said...

"Word on the street" is apparently as reliable as ever. All the NXL teams pay entry fees. I'm looking at the CC payment for Dynasty for NEO right now. The only real difference between the NXL and the other divisions is NXL teams have the option of paying by check.

Anonymous said...

which teams have paid the admin fee?? dare they make it public are they brave enough to show who they have exploited!