A New Force In Football
Georgia Force recruiting top talentMary Jane Credeur
Staff Writer
Georgia Force owner Virgil Williams wants to make the arena football team's tickets among the hottest in town.
The Force had its first sellout last season, packing 11,200 fans into The Arena at Gwinnett Center on opening day, and season-ticket sales for 2004 are up 30 percent so far.
Now Williams is hoping the recent hiring of several former NFL players -- as well as former Atlanta Beat General Manager Eddie Rockwell and Marketing Director Daniel Dooley -- will translate into more sellouts in 2004.
Williams also is lobbying University of Georgia Athletic Director Vince Dooley, whose contract expires in June, to follow his son's lead and join the Force as CEO and part owner.
"We're getting good people and we've got a loyal following," Williams said, "and now we are trying to improve the product and give people more reasons than ever to come to our games."
Getting the senior Dooley on his payroll would help, Williams said.
"I'm trying like the devil to recruit Vince, and I'm not going to take no for an answer," he said.
Vince Dooley was admitted to the hospital Dec. 2 for abdominal pain and could not be reached for comment on whether he planned to take the top spot with the Force.
But his son Daniel and Rockwell both said that the entire Force organization is hoping Vince will join their team.
"I would love for Dad to come over here. He and I talked about it before I even looked into this," said Daniel Dooley, a 40-year-old former UGA football player who was a Dallas Cowboys assistant director for a few years before he started his own sports consulting firm, Vie Sports Marketing Inc. "I flash Georgia Force gear in front of him and I play Georgia Force music when he sleeps. Maybe I'll give him a jersey for Christmas."
Building an image
While Vince Dooley contemplates joining the Force, the rest of the team's managers have been working to build up the team's image and score some new corporate and local sponsors before the 2004 season begins with a Feb. 8 game against the New York Dragons at Gwinnett.
Williams and Daniel Dooley have been meeting with local business leaders to persuade them to support the team, financially or otherwise.
Current sponsors include Georgia Power Co., Bank of America (where Williams is a member of the board of directors), Aaron's Sales and Lease Ownership and radio station WQXI SportsTalk 790 The Zone.
"We are looking for a few well-branded companies to associate with our brand, and that will bring more credibility and loyalty to both them and us," said Daniel Dooley, who admits he had never seen an arena football game before joining the Force. "We're still a very young league and a very young team, but people in Georgia love football and they love to support local business, and we tie the two together."
Force managers also have been working to build a stronger team with several players who were already known in college or professional football.
The Force recently signed several former NFL players, including lineman Reggie Grimes, who went to training camp with the Atlanta Falcons in 2003; receiver Detronn Harris, an Atlanta native who went to training camp with the Tennessee Titans in 2003; Cleveland Browns alum Kevin Thompson; and former UGA defensive end Bruce Adrine.
Rockwell and many sports critics believe Force head coach Marty Lowe, who at age 32 is the youngest coach in the AFL, has the potential to lead the right kind of squad to the very top.
"We made it to the second round of playoffs last year and we are building an outstanding team going into '04," Rockwell said. "We have probably the best young coach in the entire league, and we are going places this season."
Team owner Williams adds that he won't be entirely happy until the team wins their first Arena Bowl, the AFL equivalent of the Super Bowl.
"I've already got our Arena Bowl rings designed. Now we just need to win one," Williams said. "It's going to take a lot of hard work, but we're going to do it one of these years."
Perhaps most importantly, Force managers are working to make each game a daylong event for fans, with family-friendly entertainment and interactive games and contests held on game days.
While managing the Atlanta Beat women's soccer team, Rockwell earned a reputation for keeping fans engaged and entertained at Herndon Stadium, where the Beat played, according to Bob Hope, president of Hope-Beckham Inc., who specializes in sports marketing.
"Virgil [Williams] has taken the approach of making fans feel like they are better taken care of than at any other sports event," Hope said. "Eddie did a great job with that at the Atlanta Beat because you stepped out of your car and felt immediately welcomed. I went back to a lot of games just so I could feel so welcomed again."
Attending Georgia Force games is a family affair for many staffers -- Williams often brings his grandchildren to games, and his 13-year-old granddaughter Ashley sometimes sings the national anthem. Daniel Dooley's two boys, Michael and Matthew, are more excited about their dad's new job than he is, it seems.
"They would have been real mad if I didn't take it," he said. "They're pretty excited about being so close to the team and staying up a little late to come to games."
Turnaround time?
Heading into their third season, the Force is aiming for a turnaround similar to the one Arthur Blank coaxed out of the Falcons last year.
The Falcons went from one of the worst attendance records in the NFL to among the best, and the team attracted more season-ticket holders than ever before. The Falcons finished the 2002 season 9-6-1 and had high hopes going into 2003 until quarterback Michael Vick broke his leg and missed most of the season.
The Georgia Force also got off to a mediocre start when the team was moved here from Nashville in 2002.
Williams came in as a co-owner just a few weeks before that first season in Atlanta started, and he acknowledges that he and the other owners made a fair amount of mistakes that first year.
"Quite frankly, it was almost a train wreck that first year, and everything that could have gone wrong did," Williams recalled. "It started out as just a hobby for me, but it was so embarrassing that I decided I had to get involved and try to fix things."
Williams bought out his partner Mark Bloom's share in the team and broke their contract with Philips Arena, which he said was "the worst arena contract in the entire league from a financial standpoint."
He moved the Force to Gwinnett, where they are now the anchor tenant. He also began restructuring the management team and searching for new players.
The Georgia Force is losing money, which Williams expected for at least a few years when he bought into the franchise, though he said the losses these past couple of seasons have been "a little higher than I expected." He declined to say exactly how much the Force is losing.
Thanks to his other business interests at Williams Group International Inc., where he is chairman and CEO, Williams said that he's OK with the financial hit he's taking right now.
In the weeks leading up to the Force's February opener, Williams is spending nearly all of his time promoting the team and trying to get local fans excited about arena football.
His initial efforts appear to be paying off.
Season-ticket sales for next year are up 30 percent so far (the Force won't reveal exact numbers), and team managers are hoping to fill at least 90 percent of the seats at The Arena at Gwinnett for the Force's eight home games in 2004.
"For the first time since getting involved, I'm pleased with where this thing is going," Williams said.
Hope agrees that things look better for the Force heading into their third season.
"Virgil has figured out the formula to make it work -- you get good players, you take care of the fans, you make it fun and you make them want to come back again," Hope said.
He added, "It would be great if they could get Vince. There's a man who knows how to promote football."
Link to Atlanta Business Chronicle article
