Vol. 4, No. 6, June 2007
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Surf’s Special Season
Celebrating 10 years, the baseball team switches leagues
Amid high stakes from nine financially losing seasons (no minor league team in this market has ever made money) Atlantic City switched from the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball to the more seasonal-friendly CanAm League.
The radical change gives this club a chance to survive. Beyond its novel Thirsty Thursdays, Sunday free food for kids and Comcast giveaways lies a business plan that will dictate the future.
Financially, the Surf has become a contender. The new format lets the team shed its biggest albatross—April, most of May and post-Labor Day baseball. Small crowds during these “shoulder months” annihilated the spread sheet. The new league runs from late May until Labor Day, with franchises in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Quebec and New Jersey. The Nashua Pride, which faced similar problems to Atlantic City in the Atlantic League, made this move last year.
The 2007 Surf campaign, which began May 24, carries 53 home dates, 19 less than last year. That’s music to the ears of owner Mark Schuster, who exercised an option to purchase the Surf with the short-season stipulation.
Schuster, who has rescued financially ailing franchises, selected a season that reflects Atlantic City’s summer market.
“Most of the reason this team has under-performed is the position it was in,” Schuster says. “The team was in a league that did not make sense for them. When kids are in school in April and September, nobody is coming out to the ballpark. We did well during the summer months, but not enough to overcome April and September.”
If a team can’t become profitable under these new circumstances, it never will. The Surf represents a community staple, but it is owned by investors and must improve its bottom line to remain here. Odds are, the organization will.
Atlantic City holds a sweetheart deal for stadium use with the CRDA. The team owns its own concession company. There are about 40 fewer games in which to pay salaries, 20 less nights to operate a stadium and pay help. Many Surf employees have taken a substantial cut by working fewer days.
The right scenario has emerged for this team. For the first time in its history, the Surf has the support of every casino.
“One thing I heard about this club before signing the option to buy was that casinos didn’t support the baseball team,” Schuster says. “That’s not true today. We’re delighted to have the casinos involved. One of the top 20 objectives we had in taking over the team was to have relationships with all the casinos. It’s nice for us that we can put a check mark by that item.”
Minor league baseball represents affordable, interactive family entertainment. Ticket prices range from $5 to $11. Ballpark concessions and merchandise play the same role as popcorn and soda at the movies, creating alternate revenue streams.
Unlike the movies, however, baseball involves its fans. Kids run the bases, jog to positions with the players at the start of a game or chase the small sponge balls fired air-gun style into the stands by Surf mascot Splash. Minor-league ball is a slice of Americana.
“When you make a decision to come out to Bernie Robbins Stadium, it’s not so much for baseball, but for other reasons,” Schuster says. “Baseball is background music in a nice outdoor venue. When you go to a major-league game, you sit, watch the game and go home. But in the minors, baseball is fun, it’s interactive. You might even get a chance to be on the field.”
Minor league clubs offer few personnel constants, but Atlantic City has some. Jeff Ball, the winningest manager in its history, became the assistant general manager. Brendan Fairfield, a former Atlantic City lifeguard, has returned to the Surf as its general manager. Chuck Betson, the team’s director of marketing and media relations, is the only administrator to be with the team since day one. As for the new manager, Chris Carminucci pledges a fiery, fundamental style. Team play, rather than individual stats, should rule the day.
“This team had better love the game the way I do,” Carminucci says. “You will see many young, hungry players.”
Heavyweight Showdown
Shannon Briggs, boxing’s most pleasant personality, makes the first defense of his heavyweight championship June 2 against Sultan Ibragimov at Boardwalk Hall. Briggs produced boxing’s most memorable 2006 finish, rallying for a knockout with one second left against Sergei Liakhovich in Phoenix last November.
Knocking the defending champion through the ropes, Briggs did the improbable. Few boxers can actually score a knockout when they have to.
The matchup is fitting. Ibragimov fought on the 2000 Russian Olympic team and was marketed with his cousin Timor as a new version of the successful Russia-based Klitschko brothers. Briggs broke up the Eastern Bloc heavyweight championship cartel and is the only American heavyweight titleholder.
A local, heavily personal angle develops on the undercard. Unbeaten Atlantic City welterweight contender Shamone Alvarez dedicates his NABO title bout against Jose Luis Cruz to the memory of his friend, Leavander Johnson. In September of 2005, Johnson, a world champion, died from injuries sustained in a title fight against Jesus Chavez in Las Vegas. Promoters will donate a portion of the proceeds of the evening to the trust fund set up for Johnson’s family.
Alvarez, who viewed Johnson as a mentor, salutes Johnson before the biggest fight of his own career.
“Leavander was a good friend of mine and I think about him every day,” Alvarez says. “He was a true warrior and a good family man. That’s why I’ve dedicated this fight to him.”
Mercer Mixes It Up
Former heavyweight champion and Olympian Ray Mercer opts for a new venue June 23. He indulges in a Cage Fighting championship at Boardwalk Hall against underground fighting stalwart Kimbo Slice.
Talk about an interesting hybrid. Mixed martial arts, with its blend of jiu-jitsu, submission holds, tapouts and knockouts, has become a phenomenon. It has become a staple in Atlantic City and a huge presence in Las Vegas. Boxing versus MMA creates an interesting matchup. Mercer is a superior puncher, but what happens if this bout goes to the ground? That’s the wild-card element which would produce the most interest. Boxers traditionally fare badly in MMA because of ground strikes.
Could this one be different?
