Football (Sort Of) Back in Anaheim : Arenaball: Officials hoping the team will be a quick fix for fans who miss Rams.

A league official once described Arena Football as “something between a strip joint and a tractor pull.”

It didn’t play in Vegas, and it flopped in L.A.

But it’s coming to football-desperate Orange County.

Anaheim, still suffering from post-Ram depression, got the county’s first Arena team in September, when a local investment group bought the struggling Las Vegas Sting.

The team, which will announce its nickname and logo Nov. 14, has a five-year lease with The Pond and will begin its 14-game season in May.

“Wait until you see this,” said former Ram center Rich Saul, the Anaheim team’s vice president of football operations. “Orange County is going to love it. And this county loves football, no matter what Georgia Frontiere says.”

Will Orange County fans buy into the Arena game, known for its high scoring, 50-yard fields, nomadic franchises, low-end talent and campy promotions?

It’s a hit in Miami, where the home team “Hooters” are named after the restaurant and bar chain that once owned it.

It’s a major event in Tampa, where fans can watch from a hot tub in the stands.

It’s huge in Arizona, where Rattler cheerleaders ride Harley Davidsons on the field during the pregame show.

It’s big in Des Moines, where the Iowa Barnstormers’ beer-guzzling end zone section is appropriately nicknamed “The Barnyard.”

And it’s loved in Memphis, where the Pharaohs turn their mascots--live camels named Cleo and Tut--loose on the field.

“Most pro football games are . . . how can I put it politely . . . boring?” said Jack Youngblood, former Ram defensive end and vice president of operations of the Arena League Orlando Predators.

“People go to a game, tailgate, maybe watch a Frisbee dog show at halftime. Arena Football gives you much more, and I think it will be super in Anaheim. This is something that, if you market it properly, can be very successful.”

Many would call it a crazy investment, but the league has turned a few heads on Wall Street.

Franchises that sold for $250,000 three years ago are now worth more than $1 million, and the price could go even higher if the league’s TV ratings continue to climb. The league has a 21-game contract with ESPN and ESPN2 for next season.

The Anaheim ownership paid more than $1 million for the Las Vegas team, one of the league’s 15 franchises. The group includes former Irvine Mayor David Baker and sports promoter Roy Englebrecht.

“This sport could really catch on with TV,” said Baker, recently named Arenaball president. “You need to see it in person, but it has that rock ‘n’ roll element that makes it good TV. If the ratings go up, you’re looking at $6 million or $7 million a team.”

Englebrecht, the Anaheim team’s president, has a lofty goal--to draw 17,000 a night to the Pond, which the NHL’s Mighty Ducks have filled to more than 98% capacity in two-plus seasons.

“We want Arena Football to be the premier Saturday night event in Orange County,” Englebrecht said.

But the team will have to offer affordable tickets prices just to compete with the Angels and The Pond’s two summer tenants--the Splash of the Continental Indoor Soccer League and the Bullfrogs of Roller Hockey International.

The Splash averaged 8,400 spectators this past season, second in the CISL to Dallas’ 9,400. Attendance increased 3,000 a game from the Splash’s inaugural season, largely because the team traded tickets for corporate sponsorship, said team spokesman John Nicoletti.

The Bullfrogs led the RHI in attendance for the third consecutive year, averaging 10,076 last season, said Bob Elder, the team’s vice president and general manager.

“There’s tremendous competition for the summer entertainment dollar in Southern California,” Nicoletti said. “But if they [Arena officials] make it affordable and fun, people are going to come out and watch it.”

Cheap tickets are part of the appeal of the Splash and the Bullfrogs. Splash tickets cost between $5 and $12; Bullfrog tickets between $8 and $25.

Anaheim’s Arena team has yet to announce ticket prices, but the league average is $25, comparable to what the Rams charged.

Front-row seats in Orlando, which leads the league in attendance, sell for as much as $100 apiece. Youngblood says it’s worth it.

“We try to give the fans more than a football game,” he said. “You have to add some sizzle. We put on a pregame show that’s a mini-Super Bowl--music, indoor fireworks, videos, dancers.”

Anaheim is the second Arena team to play in Southern California. The Los Angeles Cobras played the 1988 season in the L.A. Sports Arena, then folded.

Arenaball couldn’t survive in Vegas or L.A., but the new owners are convinced it will in Anaheim.

“It’s an area void of pro football,” Englebrecht said. “We have eight years of Arena Football history, and a committed ownership group that’s catering to the community. We are doing what the Rams have been accused of never doing.”

The Las Vegas team went on the market after losing $1 million in each of the last two seasons.

The Sting played its inaugural season at the MGM Gardens and second year at the Thomas & Mack Center. It finished last in attendance, averaging 5,223.

“Vegas is a tough market to sell pro sports in,” Youngblood said. “You have the casinos, the shows, the [UNLV] Runnin’ Rebels. There’s a lot to compete with.”

Fly-by-night football never fared well in the Southland. The World Football League’s Southern California Sun played one season in Anaheim Stadium before the league folded 12 games into the 1975 season.

The L.A. Express played most of its three spring seasons at the Coliseum. The U.S. Football League team made major headlines by giving Steve Young a $40-million contract, but it folded after the 1985 season. The Express played its final home game in front of 8,415 at Pierce College.

Can the Anaheim team avoid the California kiss of death?

Jim Drucker, Arena league commissioner, said the league has never been stronger, citing the ESPN contract and the sellout arenas in Florida.

And moving the Sting from Las Vegas to Anaheim takes the league from the No. 72-rated TV market to Southern California’s No. 2 market.

Arena Football started in 1987 with four teams--the Chicago Bruisers, Pittsburgh Gladiators, Washington Commandos and Denver Dynamite. But the league couldn’t establish itself as a legitimate summer draw, was unstable financially and couldn’t survive in the major markets.

In the early 1990s, the league started expanding and moving franchises, catering to smaller markets. The league targeted Florida beach cities and northern cities without NFL franchises, such as Albany, N.Y., and Milwaukee.

In all, 18 teams have moved or folded in the league’s nine seasons.

The league expanded to 15 teams in October, adding Houston and Minneapolis. The Anaheim owners originally sought an expansion team, which costs between $750,000 and $950,000 in league fees, but then decided to pursue the existing franchise in Las Vegas.

“With an expansion team, you don’t get players or equipment,” Englebrecht said. “We paid more for the Las Vegas team, but it was a good price considering we got the equipment and retained 22 player contracts.”

The sport is appealing because it’s a football junkie’s quick fix. The season runs from May to early September, between the NFL draft and the start of the regular season.

Still, the league has attracted second-rate talent and NFL wanna-bes. Among the few big-name stars was ex-Raider wide receiver Cliff Branch, who struggled at age 39 as a two-way player with the L.A. Cobras. Former Ohio State quarterback Art Schlichter, banned from the NFL for sports gambling, was the Arena league’s MVP in 1990. Schlichter is now serving a two-year prison sentence on a felony theft charge.

Football purists mock the league’s crazy rules--50-yard fields, eight-player teams and returning missed field goals and kickoffs off a large net at each end zone. Final scores such as 66-48 aren’t uncommon; teams averaged a combined 84 points per game in 1994.

But Englebrecht says that’s the league’s sales pitch: Wouldn’t fans rather see a 52-49 football game than a 1-0 hockey game?

“We figure we’ll have fans on their feet six or seven times a game,” he said.

Talk of the outrageous scoring and the league’s campy reputation angers Youngblood, who agues that it’s a legitimate sport.

“People ask me why I got involved with something like this,” he said. “My only comment is this: Come out and try it. Anybody who says this is ‘flag football,’ should come out on the field and get their rear end run over.”

Drucker said the league has “matured” in the last two years, attracting interest from hundreds of investment groups.

The league awarded an expansion team to Houston Rocket owner Leslie Alexander in October, making him the third NBA or NHL owner to run an Arena team. Phoenix Sun owner Jerry Colangelo bought the Rattlers and brought in former Dallas Cowboy quarterback Danny White as coach. Owners of the St. Louis Blues operate the Stampede.

Arenaball teams are attractive to NBA and NHL owners because the games are summer replacement shows in their otherwise-empty arenas.

Drucker said Anaheim’s marketing potential, coupled with The Pond, could vault it among the league powers--Tampa Bay, Orlando, Charlotte Rage, Arizona Rattlers and San Jose SaberCats. Charlotte attracted close to $600,000 in sponsorship money last season, as did Tampa Bay. League merchandising is at an all-time high.

Anaheim’s selection of a logo and nickname is crucial to its marketing. The six finalists are Piranhas, TigerSharks, Beach Dogs, Crush, Commandos and Americans.

Each name would inspire a different promotional theme. The theme from Jaws would introduce the TigerSharks. Piranhas merchandise would include caps with a bite out of the bill. The Commandos would feature cheerleaders in fatigues and tanks in front of the arena.

The silly promotions are a big reason why Arena Football’s attendance increased by 100,000 in 1995 to 951,535. Nine teams drew an average of 10,000 or more and many came for the fanfare as well as the game.

Youngblood’s Orlando team led the league, averaging 15,600 a game. Arizona was second (15,400), followed by Tampa Bay (14,900, including those in the hot tub).

The Storm drew 25,087 to the St. Petersburg Thunderdome for its 48-35 victory over Orlando in the Arena Bowl championship game last month.

“Our teams have sold out for four years in Orlando, three years in Phoenix, and drew 14,000 of 17,000 [capacity] in San Jose,” Drucker said.

Although successful in the Sunshine State, there are questions if the Arena league can survive on the West Coast. But San Jose is already holding tough in a competitive market, Drucker said.

“We went head-to-head twice with major league baseball in the San Francisco area,” he said, “and twice San Jose outdrew the Giants in attendance and gate revenue. The respect for Arenaball around the country is ballooning.”

If Anaheim makes money, as Drucker expects, the league would expand into Los Angeles. But if Southern California won’t support the Rams and Raiders, why would it care about an Arena team?

“There’s a difference,” Drucker said. “We’re talking about 15,000 to 20,000 a game, instead of 100,000 at the Coliseum.”

The Sting finished 6-6 last season, losing four games by a combined 14 points. Baker figures the team will keep 14 of the 22 Sting players currently under contract.

Anaheim hopes it can draw with local talent, so why not put former Ram, USC and UCLA players at the top of the shopping list?

Former Mater Dei High star Danny O’Neil, who led Oregon to the Rose Bowl last season, has been mentioned as potential quarterback. O’Neil turned down NFL offers and is teaching at Calvary Chapel, where Saul has helped coach football.

“We’ll see if Eric Dickerson is still interested in running the ball, Mike Lansford is interested in kicking and if Leroy Irvin still wants to make tackles,” Englebrecht said, laughing.

“What are Todd Marinovich and Bret Johnson doing?”