News: Indoor Professional League ( IPL )

I recently got an odd message from a team employee who suddenly seemed overly 'concerned' about people criticizing the MASL on social media (yes, the message was from an employee of an IPL team). I don't want to 'troll' anyone or any teams, but it was strange - this team was recently SO anxious to leave the MASL and now this employee wants to 'protect' the MASL from online criticism? Maybe this employee just does not understand the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution, and/or they may know about a possible 'reunification' back to MASL of the teams who left to create the IPL (could be both). They may be a victim of their own misplaced enthusiasm. I don't think this employee is any closer to knowing the final outcome than anyone else.

Cardshopmd has added a possible piece to the puzzle that MAY explain this employee's perplexing attempts at censoring free speech on the internet (note to the employee - pound sand). Thank you for providing an update. More than I am hearing from my team at this point.

I would NOT be happy at all with any 'reunification' with the MASL. I am also not pleased with the lack of progress of the IPL. Time is running VERY short to get teams up and functional before a November season start. My enthusiasm for indoor soccer is diminishing by the hours that all these 'changes' are allegedly taking place. I am very glad I have not bought tickets yet for the coming year. For the sake of the teams involved, I hope everything works out to actually have a league(s) for next season. I don't know if I will attend many games if it is some redux of the MASL, or a 4-team IPL league. The word 'professional' has to be more than just a word used on a website.

 

I ran into a high-ranking employee of the Blast at the Minneapolis airport about three weeks ago. After some friendly chit-chat, I asked about the progress of the IPL. His statement said many things were still being worked out but that one option may include the IPL being it's own division with the MASL.

I initially hesitated posting this story here but since the topic has already come up, I wanted to let you know that there seems to be some credibility to this possible scenario. If this does come to pass, what it really tells me is that Ed Hale completely overestimated the willingness of current MASL teams to leave for the IPL and/or for new teams to come into the IPL.

 

I think he overestimated the willingness of the MASL teams to have the IPL as its own division, too.

 

The only circumstance under which I would even consider readmitting Baltimore to the MASL is within a structure where Ed Hale reports directly to Syd.

 

If any of this is to be believed, maybe we should FIRST try to discover who approached whom. It's easy to assume that since the MASL has more teams that they had the higher ground, but lets look at facts and details. I realize that facts and details take away from the narrative of some, but oh well.

For starters, with the creation of the IPL, the MASL was relegated to minor league status. Their attendance leaders were gone and any gains they made in the last 2 years, were for not.

With the creation of the IPL, the MASL had NO east cost presence. Lets keep it real, no way Syracuse would have/ or will play with no close rivals. We know that, debate settled.

With the creation of the IPL, at least 3 very strong franchises were gone. And with the expansion of the Tropics, that makes 4 strong ownership/ franchises gone from a league that desperately need STRONG teams. They have more teams; no one denies that, but they lack strong teams.

With the creation of the IPL, the MASL was/is minus 3 strong teams (4, with the tropics) and left with having at least 6 teams playing in practice facilities. Dallas is on the ropes, Tacoma and Chicago are just starting to rebound. They have more teams; no one denies that, but they lack strong teams. That's when strength is NOT in numbers.

I said all of that to say this; if it took the creation of the IPL for cooler heads to prevail, than thank you Mr. Ed Hale. Having minimum standards and owner background checks doesn't seem like it should be that hard to get everyone to agree. Also keeping promises made before the MASL was form would also help. If the lawyers are meeting, anything short of a franchise league is a non-starter.

 

Not funny. Not funny at all.

SHAME

 

I would still vote "no". lol

But if Ed would sell the Blast to Soccer Sam and step aside, I would be all for that.

 

That's funny, considering you've never had a firm grasp of facts in the first place.

To be fair, the MASL was fairly minor to begin with, and what, exactly, do you call a four team league where one guy owns two teams?

Oh, that's right. You call it "return to glory." Because you're an idiot.

That's cool, that you can settle debates with no clear evidence. Well done.

Tell me again which three strong franchises those were? The Blast, okay. The Ambush can draw (but can't win). Are you counting the frigging Harrisburg Heat as a "very strong franchise?"

Are you frigging serious right now, Paul?

See, this is why it's hilarious when you talk about facts.

How could the Tropics be gone from a league they were never in?

Why did you repeat that?

Oh, Jesus.

Here's the gymnastics your brain goes through.

Ed Hale bolts from a league when he doesn't get his way. You: "Can you blame him? The MASL is a joke."

Ed Hale can't get the AHL owners or all the teams YOU said he'd have. (Remember "I guarantee you the IPL won't be a four-to-six team league?" You may be right, though not in the way you intended.) You: "Yeah, but they're VERY STRONG teams.

Thwarted in his attempt to start his own league, Ed Hale has to come limping back to the table with the MASL people he spurned. You: "Thank you for your leadership, Mr. Hale. The gambit worked to get everybody back on the same page."

Last time, Paul: You're a moronic fanboy. Rockford is not Chicago. The Sprint Center is doing fine, thank you. The MASL 3 did not go into markets abandoned by Arena Football. The Comets didn't drive the Kings out of Kansas City. And your constant fanboy handjobs for The Honorable Ed Hale are embarrassing, even to you, a guy who has embarrassed himself on more than one occasion.

Go away now. You're not relevant. You never were.

You're just wrong. As you have always been.

 

I too have talked with a front office type of a MASL team who mentioned negotiations are going on for the renegade teams - and maybe the Florida franchise, but not mentioned specifically - to return to the MASL.
I hope so. It would be the best thing for professional indoor soccer. I would even take Ed Hale.

On another note the MASL has a new comissioner, Josh Shaub. I don't know a thing about him. I do know Kevin Milliken was working on several more expansion teams. I hope he hadn't been kicked to the wayside. He has always been up front and honest to me. I like El Paso coming into the league. Personally, since I go to New Mexico semi-often I would like to see a team in Albuequerque.

 

Talk about the IPL being its own division in MASL reminds me of the I-league, which never even played a game separate from the MISL. officially the two leagues merged. More and More. I think we could see the IPL as another I-League. one that merged (or was absorbed) into another league, without even playing an independent game.

 

Assuming the three IPL clubs are allowed to crawl back to the MASL, how would they treat the new "expansion" Florida franchise? Would the FL club have to pay a franchise fee to the MASL or would they accept it as is? Either way, the Florida club has no close clubs so it will pay alot for travel whether in the IPL or the MASL.

 

The MASL has been a train wreck in slow motion. If it is true that the IPL is not happening, will the returning teams be able to force the MASL to make the necessary changes to succeed? I am thinking of (to start): an immediate upgrade to a franchise model league-wide, independent background checks on new owners, fully funded reserve account for each team to pay for one season of team operation in case of owner failure, all teams in arenas of 2,000+, auditing to ensure all players & staff are paid properly, clarify game rules and fully train the referees, upgrade the online game broadcasts. It is probably a pipe dream but this is what real 'professional' leagues do.

While the MASL is at it, how about finally paying the players and staff of the folded Wichita team who played/worked for free for nearly a whole season? It was shameful that the MASL did not step in and fund Wichita's operation when their owner quit paying everyone early in the season two years ago. That to me shows the lack of professional commitment by the MASL. It is less of a league and more of a loosely managed collection of teams which happens to play indoor soccer. I know I expect 'too much', but I find the current level & quality of MASL to less than adequate. Indoor soccer is on shaky ground at best.

 

Call me a contrarian, but I like what Ed Hale is doing with the IPL. He ruffled a few feathers with some people, but hopefully this whole process will bring some semblance of professionalism back to indoor soccer. Ed has had the vision to see a better future for indoor soccer. So do the owners of the Ambush/Tropics, and Harrisburg Heat (and the other two as-yet-unidentified teams).

The sub-par league our teams have been forced to play in the last 2 seasons, in its current state, is not acceptable to me or many other fans. I would take a 6-team IPL that has actual professional standards over the MASL of the last couple years. At least I have other sports and outdoor soccer to watch in case this IPL/MASL drama does not end well. Life goes on. If I don't feel like indoor soccer has risen in its professional standards, it will be harder for me to justify the investment of time and money as a fan.

 

I know some Chicago Riot players who would have a field day with the irony of your comments.

 

Anything you perceive the IPL is doing is purely a mental projection. It is a barely-four-team league with no events, schedule, initiatives or history and may have already folded.

You are like someone would would vote for an obscure fourth party candidate you barely know anything about because they "get it" and they can "make a real difference."

 

A fellow fan in Saint Louis knows a retired Goalkeeper who played for the one-and-done Omaha Vipers - same thing, he is owed thousands of dollars of unpaid wages. Likely other players from that short-lived team are also owed money. I had heard an interview with Jeff Kraft, who coached the Chicago Riot, and he also confirmed that he and players were not paid fully.

Yes, I was aware of the Chicago and Omaha examples. I brought up the Wichita situation as it was the most recent (that we know of - how many others are there?) example of a team owner skipping out on paying people, and that it happened under the watch of the MASL. The MASL did nothing (that we know of) to help compensate those staff and players. If any of the Wichita staff/players were made whole on their pay, I would love to know about it. In other sports, including NBA and NHL, teams are occasionally 'wards of the league' and the staff and players continue to get paid, the organization continues to run until new owners are found (I know, they are major leagues, not a great comparison).

I had thought that the owners of these teams were required to have a 'reserve account' to help pay for team operations for one season were they ever unable to continue their financial commitment to their team. But this is the MASL we are talking about. As long as your check for the expansion fee clears, you can have a team. SMH. This is part of the reason that I am done with the MASL, as a fan. I admire the fact that the players, coaches, and staff for Wichita basically volunteered for more than half or two-thirds of the year (confirmed in local newspapers) without pay, but there should have been a league-managed contingency plan to continue their pay through the end of that season.

 

Actually, I am on the right side of this debate. Say what you want, but there are still indoor fans who would like a league with standards for all teams. You're either all in, or you're apart of the MASL (in its present form).

SHAME

 

Amen Brother. Fully agree.

 

Your own owner in St. Louis owes about a bazillion dollars to maybe dozens of people in four states. No one is getting rich doing this.

Everyone is just trying to survive and make it work.

What I don't like is the blatant hypocrisy from the IPL and its dozen supporters.

 

A lot of players on a lot of teams that folded didnt get paid. I figure it would require at least 2 million dollars, if not more to make all players coaches etc whole. This is indoor soccer we are talking about here, there's not an extra 2 (3?4?5?) million lying around to settle those accounts. Yes the MASL should be more stringent on who it lets in ( no more TAGs , Seattles, etc) and there needs to be funds set aside to pay players coaches etc, if a team folds midway though the season or after it concludes. If an owner of a team is a major sleazebag (Again , TAG) then the league needs to go to court to get money from them, to make the players, coaches etc, whole. just my thoughts on the matter.

 

True statement. Very true. However, having standards and vetting potential owners should be a no brainer. Situations like Seattle will scare any successful business person from a single entity set up. Owners like Mr. Hale and Soccer Sam wanted a franchise league before the MASL was created. After that Seattle debacle they were adamant about it. Who could blame them.

Indoor owners may not be "getting rich doing this," but they shouldn't have to possibly pay the price for some un-vetted owner of pick a city Kickers. That position to the best of my knowledge never deviated; thus no hypocrisy.

 

Which is fine, but if you're being honest the MISL3 and IPL didn't/don't have any better vetting process than the MASL.

 

As far as the vetting process goes the past twenty years of indoor soccer history speaks for itself.

It will be interesting to watch the IPL in how and who they bring on board if they do go forward with their own season.

The MASL now has El Paso. Who the owners are and how they run their operation will be equally as interesting to watch. Baja, appears to be a lower-level franchise. But, Sonora, who wouldn't want that franchise in your league? So there is effort being put forth. At least it seems that way to the casual observer.

 

A couple of folks have mentioned the IPL has two additional franchises lined up. Can you give us a hint?

And how about the MASL, are there other expansion franchises joining the league along side El Paso?