For Sale: A Sign of the Times for Sockers? : Professional soccer: Owning the Sockers had been fun for Ron Fowler, until attendance and advertising problems turned the fun into a burden, giving rise to thoughts of unloading the team.

Ron Fowler, the Sockers’ owner since October of 1987, said Tuesday he will consider selling the Major Indoor Soccer League team at the end of the season if attendance and advertising revenue don’t increase.

“I think that’s a fair assesment,” Fowler said. “You can only have so much fun for so long. It’s become a burden this year.”

Attendance this season is actually 6.5% higher than at this point last year, but Fowler said advertising revenue is 40% below preseason projections.

Total attendance for 14 games is 115,076, an average of 8,220. Last season, the Sockers drew 108,008 during the first 14 games, an average of 7,715, on the way to an average of 8,383 for 24 regular-season home games.

Fowler had been looking for increases over last year of 10% in attendance and 20% in advertising revenue. He said another factor as he considers a possible sale will be the stability of other MISL franchises and the possibility for expansion and revenue from league promotions.

“One of the things we learned the hard way last year is that you’re as weak or strong as your weakest link,” Fowler said. “And some of the other franchises in terms of lack of attendance in the playoffs and lack of professionalism in the front office really created some problems. The commissioner (Earl Foreman) has been working very diligently to bring the standards for the league up.”

Even if attendance and advertising revenue increase, Fowler said he likely will attempt to sell 50% of the team after this season. He is currently its sole owner.

“If I see some positive indicators, I will probably look at maintaining the managing general parter level . . . and bring in partners,” Fowler said. “If I don’t, I would probably consider selling the team.

“I would like to have a broader-based ownership for this team. However, I’m not going to have broader-based ownership unless I think the economics are right, because some of the people I’d be looking to bring in are friends as well as business associates.”

Fowler, owner of Liquid Investments, Inc.--parent company to Mesa Distributing, which distributes Miller Brewing Co. products to San Diego--took control of the Sockers after Bob Bell, the managing general partner for nearly 10 years, resigned in October 1987. Ron Cady, a longtime friend and business associate, was appointed president, and both immediately began reorganizing the budget.

According to Cady, 30% of travel costs and approximately 35% of administrative staff costs were cut after he and Fowler took over in 1987. In addition, player salaries were cut by about 33% after the Sockers filed for Chapter 11 under federal bankruptcy law in April 1988. That coincided with a league-wide crisis that led to a salary cap of $875,000 per team, a $400,000 reduction.

The Sockers, which had lost about $2 million during Bell’s final season as owner, also eliminated many cash expenditures and began trading promotional considerations for services.

“In the past, we spent a lot of money,” said Randy Bernstein, the Sockers’ vice president for the past five seasons. “I think one of the things Ron Cady and Ron Fowler have done is put their thumbs on the expenditures. They definitely want to know every dollar that goes out.”

From 1978 to 1987 under Bell, the Sockers lost a total of $9 million. In 1980, he owned 95% of the team, but because of debts incurred during seven outdoor seasons, he brought limited partners in for 1984. By 1985, his share of ownership was 17.5%.

Despite the cuts that began in 1987, Fowler said the Sockers lost $1.5 million in 1987-88 and $1 million last season, spending $3.5 million while taking in $2.5 million in gate receipts and advertising revenue. This season, Fowler projects losses of between $400,000 and $700,000.

Finances aren’t the only obstacles. The Sockers (12-15), currently in last place in the Western Division, are off to the worst start in their history. And there have been strained relations on the team, particularly between veteran forward Steve Zungul and Coach Ron Newman.

“The frustration for us this year has been the product on the field,” Fowler said. “If we were winning, our attendance would be stronger than it is.”

Among reasons the franchise’s financial situation might be expected to improve:

--The Sockers will benefit from the Feb. 21 MISL All-Star Game at the San Diego Sports Arena, which Fowler expects will net the team “close to six figures.”

--The Sockers are no longer offering two-for-one ticket promotions, meaning they are bringing in more money per ticket.

--Under Bernstein’s direction, there are now more than 20,000 participants in the Sockers’ youth program, which offers ticket discounts and opportunities to meet players to members between the ages of five and 19.

--Home games have been redesigned to offer more attractive halftime shows, including Frisbee and rugby demonstrations and ballet.

--The Sockers, Cady said, do more player appearances than any other professional team in town. According to Holli Traeumer, the Sockers’ director of promotions and public relations, players do an average of three to four appearances each month.

--In January, the MISL signed a nine-game contract with ESPN that will give the league much-needed exposure, although the games will be tape-delayed.

--Two weeks ago, the team introduced an eight-game ticket package designed to create a base for future season ticket sales.

Still, the Sockers are dealing with a continuing struggle to educate people about a sport that has never been consistently popular with U.S. spectators. Socker marketing surveys indicate only 10% of San Diegans have ever been to an indoor soccer game. Cady said that while most of the people polled have heard of the Sockers, many say they have no reason to want to go to a game.

“I think we’re still fighting a syndrome in people in their 30s on up that didn’t grow up with the game of soccer,” Cady said. “It’s not an American sport. It’s sort of an international sport.”

Fowler would like to change the ownership structure to include more people in the hope that it would assist marketing.

“If it was feasible to have a thousand owners of the soccer team at relatively small amounts of money, that’s what I’d like to see,” Fowler said. “But administratively, it becomes a nightmare.”

Certainly, Fowler has learned that selling indoor soccer is different than selling beer.

“From a business standpoint,” he said, “it’s been an unmitigated disaster.”

SOCKER ATTENDANCE Regular-season home attendance indoors:

Season G Total Avg. 1980-81 9 44,212 4,912 1981-82 9 63,425 7,047 1982-83 24 193,948 8,081 1983-84 16 182,633 11,415 1984-85 24 230,272 9,595 1985-86 24 229,935 9,581 1986-87 26 263,434 9,748 1987-88 28 251,901 8,996 1988-89 24 201,186 8,383 1989-90 14 115,076 8,220