Sockers: Investors Needed by June 29

The Sockers, winners of six indoor soccer championships in the past seven years, will cease operations June 29 if new investors do not come forward to help the franchise, the team president, Ron Cady, said Wednesday.

The Sockers, who filed for Chapter 11 protection in federal bankruptcy court April 25 because of debts totaling $1.5 million, also must come up with a $400,000 letter of credit for the Major Indoor Soccer League by July 1 and $300,000 in working capital to operate for another season, Cady said.

June 29 is the day the club next must appear in bankruptcy court.

“It’s possible we could get an extension from the bankruptcy court or the league, but it wouldn’t matter,” Cady said. “Somebody’s still got to fund the payroll, and (Socker owner) Ron Fowler will fund the team only through the end of the month.

“We’ve said we’re committed until the end of the year (1987-88 season), but we can’t go forward without any help.”

Cady met with members of his staff Wednesday and told them it’s possible that the franchise may not continue after two more weeks.

“We’ve been very honest with them,” Cady said. “They know, just like we all know, that if the club isn’t purchased by June 29, it’s a realistic possibility that the club will fold. Ron Fowler can’t fund it all by himself. In the business world, sometimes you just have to lick your wounds and move on.”

The Sockers have talked with more than 30 potential investors since the end of April, but nobody has made a concrete commitment. This has puzzled Fowler and Cady, who said he believed that the Sockers’ latest MISL title--after a four-game championship series sweep of Cleveland earlier this month--would create interest in at least some.

“We’ve made it clear to any potential investors that we (Fowler and Cady) would retain our interest of 25% in the club if they wished it,” Cady said. “If an investor wanted to move the team, however, we would have no desire to retain an interest.”

The lack of investors has put the Sockers in a strange position of having to try to plan for next season, even though there may not be one. Five players--Brian Quinn, Branko Segota, Jim Gorsek, Zoltan Toth and Brian Schmetzer--have contracts that need to be renegotiated because of the MISL’s new $900,000-per-team salary cap. Waad Hirmez, Hugo Perez, Kevin Crow and Fernando Clavijo are free agents.

“Right now, all we can do is talk with the players about contracts,” Cady said. “It’s impossible to sit down and really work anything out for sure before we know what’s going to happen. But if somebody comes through, we have to be prepared for that.”

The Sockers also are still selling season tickets.

“We’re doing everything in our power right now,” Cady said. “The fans can show their support by purchasing season tickets so in case someone shows up, we can show them that we’re making progress.”

News of the Sockers’ possible demise came on a day that was already a mixed one for the 10-year-old MISL. Early Wednesday, the Tacoma Stars announced that they were in danger of folding if they couldn’t raise $500,000 by July 1. Later, the Wichita Wings, a team close to folding last month, announced they would return for another season, thanks to a combination of community and government support in Wichita.

Even though the Wings will return next season, questions have been raised about the league’s future if both the Sockers and Tacoma fold at the end of this month.

“I’ve said all along that I think we will have 9, 10 or 11 franchises in the Major Indoor Soccer League next season,” said Bill Kentling, MISL commissioner, by phone from New York. “It isn’t the quantity of franchises you have in a league, it’s the quality of them. People forget that the National Hockey League had only six teams for the first 50 years of its existence, and the National Basketball Assn. had only 9 teams after 18 years.

“As far as San Diego’s situation is concerned, I think that the team is just too important to the community down there. I have all the confidence in the world in the people who are trying to work out of this, and I’m confident somebody will come forward and help out.”

But what it nobody does?

“It would be a crying shame,” said Ron Newman, the team’s coach. “I would have thought by now we’d have 20 or so investors interested in this thing, and we’d be sitting there choosing who we wanted. I just can’t believe nobody’s come forward yet.”