Sockers Want Priority for Scheduling

Socker owner Ron Fowler said Friday he won’t post the required $500,000 letter of credit with the MISL for next season unless he receives scheduling priority over the new International Hockey League team that is scheduled to play in the San Diego Sports Arena this fall.

The MISL’s deadline for letters of credit is Friday. Fowler said if he isn’t satisfied with game dates, he will either fold the Sockers or move them to another city.

Harry Cooper, who owns the Sports Arena lease, was awarded the minor league hockey franchise Thursday at the NHL meetings in Vancouver, Canada. Since the MISL and IHL seasons run nearly parallel to each other, Fowler has expressed concern that his team, an eight-time indoor champion, will suffer serious revenue losses and inconvenience if it is forced to share the Sports Arena with another professional team.

Fowler said he will submit a proposal Monday detailing next season’s schedule. The Sockers played 26 regular-season home games in 1989-90, plus 16 at home in the playoffs. The regular-season length for 1990-91 hasn’t been determined.

The hockey team is scheduled to play 41 regular-season home games, with the possibility of more in the IHL playoffs. San Diego State men’s basketball team also plays in the Sports Arena (14 regular-season home games in 1989-90). Other activities include an annual holiday college basketball tournament in December, concerts and family shows.

Fowler said revenue for games played on weekdays last season was about 30% lower than Saturday games. He said he had informally figured that weekend conflicts could cost him in the neighborhood of $180,000 to $200,000, based on a predicted number of lost dates.

“I’m not going to go forward on that basis,” said Fowler, who says his team lost about $500,000 this season. “No sane man is going to go forward if his losses are 25 to 30% more.

“Harry seems willing to work something out. The problem is: Can he? The reality is there are only a finite number of dates.”

Following a phone conversation with Fowler Friday evening, Cooper said he will make an effort to accommodate the Sockers but that the scheduling problems will be more complex than he originally thought.

“I really didn’t know that it would be this kind of hardship,” he said. “I’m going to work with (Fowler). I’m sorry that it’s creating a problem.”

Both teams will submit schedule requests to their leagues next week. Cooper estimates it will take each league approximately two weeks to approve the schedules, and then he and Fowler will compare them and attempt to solve any problems.

Ideally, Fowler said, the Sockers would like to play the majority of their home dates on either Thursdays and Saturdays or Fridays and Sundays. Since the IHL team is an expansion franchise, Cooper said he will get low priority on weekend dates, which he thinks may help his team work around the Sockers.

“I’m going to get the worst schedule in the league,” Cooper said. “Fowler has a high priority system in his league. He’s going to get more opportunities (for weekend dates).”

Fowler said the problem of sharing the arena’s dasher boards for advertising space has been worked out. Each team will have removable boards and be able to advertise at full capacity.

The other issue concerning Fowler is office space, which will now have to be shared. Cooper said he is willing to pay an extra $2,000 of the Sockers’ staffing fees if Fowler agrees to move some of his employees to an alternate site.

Other MISL teams have adapted to sharing arena space with a minor league hockey team. The Kansas City Comets, one of seven other MISL teams, share Kemper Arena with the Kansas City Blades of the IHL. The Comets, Fowler said, have scheduling priority.

The presence of the Sockers and a hockey team won’t affect the Aztec basketball schedule, said Jim Herrick, SDSU associate athletic director. Herrick said the Aztecs already have the majority of their games set for the 1990-91 season and will receive priority over both the Sockers and the IHL team.

In other IHL developments Friday, the league approved the relocation of the Fort Wayne Komets to Albany, N.Y. A league spokesman said efforts are being made to put another team in Fort Wayne before the start of the season.

The San Diego franchise will play in the Western Division with Kansas City, Salt Lake City, Milwaukee, Indianapolis and Peoria. The East will consist of Muskegon, Indianapolis, Kalamazoo, Flint, Albany and possibly Fort Wayne.