A Whole New Arena : There Are Many Theories, but Whatever the Reason, Nontraditional Sports Thrive at the Pond, Elsewhere

It has been said that two people knitting in opposing rocking chairs at the Pond of Anaheim would attract 6,000 people.

Such, it seems, is the magnetism of the three-year-old arena.

A look at recent announced attendance figures might bear that out: 10,790 for an arena football game on July 4, 6,072 for indoor soccer last Saturday and 8,525 for roller hockey on Sunday.

Arena football? Indoor soccer? . . . Roller hockey?

To some these aren’t even sports. Yet they seem to be drawing, if not thriving, in a new world of arena sports.

One reason is that they are cheaper to attend than other professional sports: roller hockey costs $8-$25 and indoor soccer $5-$12 per seat. Arena football seats run a bit higher, up to $45 for the first row, but terrace-level seats range from $7-$25.

Then there is the attraction of the Pond itself. The new, clean and easily accessible building has become a place to be seen in its first two years. The marble and teal coloring tones give it a theater feel.

Perhaps most important, sight lines are good, even from seats in the terrace and upper rim levels.

With the formula of fast-paced action, high scoring, trendy colors, logos and nicknames, these sports are popping up everywhere.

Think about it: What are the chief complaints about outdoor soccer and pro football?

They take too long.

And in ice hockey you can’t follow the puck.

The arena games have solved that. Leave the game for two minutes and you probably have missed one of many scoring plays. In roller hockey, the problem was solved because the puck doesn’t move so fast and it is red.

Arena football is a two-minute drill for two hours. Indoor soccer takes the frenetic pace of the Latin American outdoor game and squeezes it into a box. Both are fast and physical.

It’s human pinball.

These sports are all in the summer, when traditionally there are 162 games of major league baseball to compete for the consumer dollar.

For all its beauty, baseball is still a slow-paced game that often ends after bedtime for children.

The arena games are geared for the kids. They are fast and loud.

Win or lose, the Anaheim Piranhas (arena football) stay on the field to sign autographs. Likewise, win or lose, all the Anaheim Splash (indoor soccer) go to a local restaurant to meet with fans.

“If you look at our demographics, something like 40% are women and something like 30% are children,” says Ron Weinstein, commissioner of the Continental Indoor Soccer League. “We have a very good base of upper- to middle-income families in attendance. We bring in a lot of families.”

That is the theme from the Forum to the Pond and beyond.

Bring in the families and let them spend. Then get the kids hooked and spawn a new generation of fans.

That idea is especially prevalent in roller hockey.

“It takes time to build. It used to be that when you would tell people about roller hockey, they would say, ‘Isn’t that the Thunderbirds?’ ” said Jeanie Buss, who co-owns the Los Angeles Blades with her father, Laker owner Jerry. “But now everyone knows what roller hockey is.

“Most people who buy tickets have never played the sport themselves, but this is how I think we’ll hit a home run: It will probably be about three or four years from now, but when we started, the kids who played the sport were 10, 11, 12. When they become 18 and start becoming the consumer, then we’ll know. If we’re still averaging 4,000 people then, I don’t think the sport will make it.”

Can roller hockey survive for four years?

“My goal is to dodge that bullet,” Buss said. “For us to be in our fourth season is good because usually ‘new’ or ‘start-up’ leagues have self-destructed by now because owners fight or another league starts up. But I’m very positive about our being in the fourth year. My hat’s off to Anaheim--they have done a great job. It’s tough to be in virtually the same market and [for them to] have the kind of attendance they have while we are looking for steady growth.”

The Bullfrogs lead Roller Hockey International in attendance with an announced average of 9,918 per game. But they are trying to trim their budget. Recently the Bullfrogs have let go several members of their front office staff, most prominently Bob Elder, who was vice president and general manager.

Elder may yet rejoin the team in a diminished capacity--he is expected to meet with the team owners in three weeks--because he has been with the Bullfrogs since the first day.

“Overall, I think a lot of people thought it was a fad, like the Hula-Hoop,” Elder said. “Was part of it the building? I think the first couple of years maybe you could have put two ladies sewing and it would have drawn. But not now. The newness has worn off.”

RHI as a whole averages 4,819 per game, about 1,200 less than what Buss estimates is needed to break even. The Blades have an announced average of 3,498 and Buss estimates that their losses will average between $50,000 to $100,000.

Included in that figure is the $70,560 the Blades paid the league to play this season. Each team pays the league $5,040 per player--based on 14 players for 28 games--before the season. Players are then paid by RHI, so the incentive is there for the teams to make their money back and the players to improve their $180-per-game salary by making post-season bonuses.

The system can exist precisely because the sport does not have stars. About 95% of the players come from minor league hockey teams, so the sport is marketed, not the players.

Indoor soccer tries to market a little of both.

With the emergence of Major League Soccer in stadiums, the top soccer players generally are outdoors. But the Anaheim Splash try to mix local names--14 of the 19 players played at Southland colleges--with the action of the sport. The CISL was founded six years ago by Weinstein, with the help of Jerry Buss and Phoenix Suns’ owner Jerry Colangelo, and the idea is that the ownership would have strong, stable financial backgrounds in sports.

Weinstein says that five of the 12 franchises turned profits after three seasons, whereas only one turned a profit in 14 years of the Major Indoor Soccer League.

“It wasn’t rocket science,” said Weinstein, who was a vice president with the MISL’s Los Angeles Lazers. “The fact is that the MISL averaged 9,000 for 14 years. We said ‘Hey, wait a second. You can make it work with 9,000 per game.’ So we went to the MISL board and asked them to restructure the finances and move the league to summer. Economics ran the MISL into the ground.”

The CISL isn’t exactly flying, but Weinstein believes it will work with a salary cap of about $180,000, including benefits and worker’s compensation costs. To keep salaries down, players are paid a maximum of $3,500 for a season.

“Friday of July 4th weekend is a tough date to sell, but hey, there were almost 6,000 to see the Splash,” Weinstein said. “Those are pretty good numbers. It can work.”

A 9,000-ticket block (the upper level at the Pond) has already been sold for two September games, and the start of youth soccer then is expected to create more blocks.

Roy Englebrecht, a Southland promoter and president of the Piranhas, does not believe people go to the Pond merely to go to the Pond.

“You have to market. I mean I consider the Pond the Eighth Wonder of the World, but you have to market the team,” Englebrecht said. “Then we have to prove ourselves to the media, and that is by the number of fans we draw.”

And the Piranhas have an announced average attendance of more than 9,000. Although attendance figures for all sports can be misleading because they often include complimentary and permanently owned seats, the amount of people showing up is still a bit surprising, if not significant.

Another important part of marketing is television. The Piranhas and Blades have contracts with Prime Sports in which the investment and profits are shared. The CISL has a contract with Prime Sports, although not specifically with the Splash. Roller Hockey International, which is threatened by a proposed NHL-backed league, has a contract with ESPN and ESPN2, although most games are shown on a delayed basis on Monday nights.

Prime Sports would not comment on ratings for the sports, but sources estimate that the Piranhas had nearly a 3.0 share and the Blades nearly 2.0 for the Los Angeles market.

That bodes well for next year. As a barometer, the Angels attract anywhere from a 3 to 4, depending on opponents.