The DeSoto County Civic Center hosts the Mid-South Memphis Xplorers, an expansion team in the Arena Football2 league. The team has 18 players, many of whom played for local colleges and high schools. The Flyer talked recently with the Xplorers general manager, Robbie Nichols.
Tell me about your season so far.
NICHOLS: Itยs been tough. Itยs been tough starting 0-3 [now 0-4 after last weekend’s loss]. Itยs been tough with the AF2 and the schedule they gave us with Tennessee first and then Quad City, the two championship teams. Last week was a really good game. We just lost in the last play of the game. We thought it was pretty good.
How was attendance for the first game?
NICHOLS: We did ok. We had a late start on everything. I took over three weeks before the home opener, so it was kind of busy. We didnยt have a whole lot done. But things have come around pretty good. We had an okay attendance for the first game and we have been busy selling to a lot of groups and we want people to come out and see the product and see what they think about it.
How has the DeSoto County Civic Center been working out for your?
NICHOLS: Itยs great. Itยs a great building to play in. People that have never been to the Civic Center, we ask them to come and check it out because itยs a gorgeous facility.
Is it the Memphis Xplorers or the Mid-South Xplorers or both?
NICHOLS: Itยs a little combination of both. Weยre officially, I guess, the Memphis Xplorers. But we sort of added Mid-South in there. So Memphis Mid-South Xplorers or Mid-South Memphis Xplorers, however you want to put it. We want to be Memphisย team but we want to be the Mid-Southยs team too. We donยt want to leave anyone out.
Tell me about the Arena2 league. A lot of people know about the Arena league but people wonder about the Arena2 league and where it fits in.
NICHOLS: They [the league] are saying that [AF2 is] for purposes of buildings of 10,000 [attendance] and smaller. Thatยs the market they try to get to. A lot of teams do extremely well with attendance. There are a few weak sisters like all leagues. As a league itยs growing and itยs supposed to be expanding. The NFL has an option, I guess, to pick up 49 percent of the league which a lot of people think they will do and get involved in this. A lot of players from here are going on and signing NFL contracts.
Why not an Arena team here in Memphis? What happened to the Pharaohs that will necessarily mean that Arena2 will succeed in a different arena?
NICHOLS: Iยm new to the area. I canยt really say what the problems with the Pharaohs were. I have heard rumors so I have second-hand information that the owner didnยt want to put a lot of money into it. The first year I guess they did and they had a great attendance. The second year they went 0-16 I believe and had a tough season. Don Frease is our color [commentary] guy who coached the Pharaohs. Bud Schroeppel, who did the play-by-play for them, is doing our play-by-play for our games. So we have brought over some of their people and they think it can work. If the first game here was any indication, it was exciting and I think that people enjoyed it.
Why not the Pyramid? Is it just too big for AF2?
NICHOLS: I think itยs a combination about being too big [and] our franchise is owned by Horn Chen who owns our company and also owns the RiverKings. Weยre all just one company. It would be kind of silly … you know we run both teams out of the same office. The people that bring you Xplorers football are the exact same people that bring your RiverKings hockey.
What I am trying to get at, I think, is the tension of what are the Memphis teams and which are not. There are some people who are not interested in coming out to the DeSoto County Civic Center versus going downtown to a Redbirds game or a Tigers game or something like that. And a lot of people are wondering why not the DeSoto County Xplorers or why not just the Mid-South Xplorers?
NICHOLS: I think that since we are so close to Memphis. I donยt know how many miles it is to the state line, but we are so close to Memphis and Memphis being the big city, I think that is why the tag [is Memphis]. They really were the Memphis RiverKings before so you donยt want to change your name when you move a few miles. I guess we donยt see it as a big thing. Thatยs sort of where we are. I tell people I live in Memphis.
About going downtown to games, if you talk to a lot of people, a lot of people are scared of going downtown to games. They talk about the NBA being downtown, itยs kind of scary. I think there are two different ideas of downtown.
There are two different perceptions of this area as well. One is that itยs a great place to come and the other is that itยs in the middle of nowhere and not worth the drive. How are you guys handling that issue?
NICHOLS: I havenยt seen a whole lot of problems. Itยs easy to come to. For all intents and purposes, weยre right on the highway. Once you cut off on Church, weยre a minute away. I think thatยs a tough tag, people saying we are so far out there. In a lot of cases we are easier to get in than a lot of buildings downtown.
You mentioned the NBA, how do you think that will affect the Xplorers?
NICHOLS: Yeah. There is no chance that the NBA will come to Memphis. This hype and stuff going around about the NBA coming to Memphis, I have been doing some research on different areas. The NBA does their homework too well. I canยt see the NBA coming to Memphis. I donยt know how many families can afford $8,000 worth of season tickets, you know $2,000 a ticket times four. There may be corporate dollars to sale the boxes but I donยt know who is going to attend the games.
So you donยt think the NBA will be a factor.
NICHOLS: Weยre not worried about the NBA coming.
Letยs shift gears a little bit. What kind of players make up an AF2 team?
NICHOLS: A lot of these guys are players who have in the back of their minds that they want to play in the NFL. They still want to play pro ball. This is a chance to play at home. Some guys have real jobs and this is sort of a side job for them and they have a small gleam of hope in their eye that they can have a good season here and go on play pro ball somewhere. A few of them have been playing really well and will get a chance to.
They have to be committed to playing and thatยs what you want, guys with a slim chance of playing in the NFL. There are some guys sacrificing, taking Fridays off work in some cases, so they can go out and work hard. I watch the practices, they work hard through the practices. If you think itยs a Rec. league or a part-time gig, youยre not going to stay around here.
Whatยs the difference between AF1 and AF2 as far as the players are concerned?
NICHOLS: A little bit of it is the salary cap. Players are allowed to get more money in that league. A lot of players, they say in Arena2 can play in Arena1 and vice versa. It has more to do with the building size and there is a little bit more money up there to pay the players.
So far, how have your season ticket sales been?
NICHOLS: Itยs just been okay. Itยs obviously not where we want it to be, getting a late start on this. We think itยs going to grow throughout the season. We have an okay base of season tickets but we need more season tickets, we need more corporate dollars, we need more people coming to the games. I think thatยs going to take a little time and the word to get out that the team is here. Some people donยt even know that a Arena2 football team is over here. We have to get out that the team is here and playing an exciting game.
The AF2 is going to be expanding soon to 42 teams. Thatยs a lot of teams. Do you think itยs going to dilute the market?
NICHOLS: I think that if it is going well in the city itยs a good thing. As long as you arenยt expanding for expansion sake. You have to make sure that when you are adding a team, maybe you should be getting rid of one of the weak sisters. If they there is a market for it, I say expand. The number of resumes and calls that came in here of players to play football for us is enormous. There is no problem filling that many teams. And there are a lot of guys looking for jobs. The player pool is fine. You just want to make sure the city is doing well before you expand.
Tell me about Horn Chen. Heยs a big player in Memphis sports but not many people know about him.
NICHOLS: I think thatยs the way he likes to keep it. Heยs very private and he places people to run his companies for him. Heยs out of Chicago and he owns both these teams. He owns many baseball teams. He owns other hockey teams. He owns part of an NHL team. Heยs a big player and well respected in the sports industry. Heยs put a lot of money into sports franchises here in Memphis, for the people. Hopefully weยll repay him someday.
If a new arena is built, would there be any talk of you guys switching over?
NICHOLS: Weยre happy with the Civic Center. Theyยre good partners. In the past I have heard a little bit about went on downtown and we were more like a tenant for them and paying their bills for them. [Here] weยre a partner with these guys. They take responsibility of getting people in here. Itยs a good partnership. Weยre really happy with the situation here.
What kind of TV/Radio coverage are you getting right now?
NICHOLS The Buzz :[94.1 FM] is partnered up with us right now, theyยre sponsors of ours. All the road games are broadcast. Thatยs about it. The game of the week is on TNN.
What are the stability of the teams. You have mentioned ยweak sistersย twice. If Memphis doesnยt keep up, what will happen? The Hounย Dawgs, apparently only lasted one year.
NICHOLS: Hornยs committed to this area and to Arena Football, too. I think the least you can sign is 3 years. Heยs committed for 3 years for this and he wants it to go well. Heยs sinking a lot of money into it right now to try to get off the ground to go well. Hopefully it will when people come out and see the product. Itยs sort of like hockey, once you see it youยre hooked. We had one game here with an ok crowd, but people were really excited. No one left early, the stayed to the final play when we lost, but it was a very exciting game.
