June 10, 2024 • 8 mins
On this episode of Arena Insider Press Pass, Anthony reports on the latest news surrounding the Arena Football League including a familiar face back in the league's front office, teams ceasing operations, Blackbears' ownership legitimacy questioned, and more.
Tune in exclusively on podcast platforms every Thursday for news about the league heading into game week
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Tune in exclusively on podcast platforms every Thursday for news about the league heading into game week
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arena-insider-press-pass--6123695/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:16):
Welcome back to another episode of ArenaInsider Press Past. I'm your host,
Anthony Carter. Thank you always forsupporting this show in X one Media.
In case you haven't already, beshort to like and subscribe to this show.
Also, if you're listening to usover podcasts, you can subscribe to
us on the podcast all podcast platforms. That way, new episodes will download
directly to your device. So I'mappreciative of all the continued support, any
(00:41):
increase in subscribers each and every day. So I do want to appreciate you
all for that. Now kind oftook like a bye week, I would
call it for a Reena Insider,So we were all a week, didn't
have an episode last week, soof course a lot of stuff has happened
since our last episode, but wewere in Nashville. Salute to the Nashville
(01:02):
Cats. I did want to givea special things to the ownership group.
They really welcomed me with open armsthere and we got a lot of interviews
done, so I'm excited to rollthose interviews out to you all. But
I do want to appreciate the ownershipgroup that were there for the game against
the Albany Firebirds. Good game,good defensive game by the way. Ultimately
(01:25):
Albany Firebirds did win thirty two totwenty five. Albany still undefeated, so
that was a good defensive game.Nice time for Saturday night, and I
had a good time in Nashville.That was my first time visiting Nashville,
so I really enjoyed it out there. A lot of scenery, music.
I think all of America was inNashville that Saturday. It was insane to
(01:45):
see how many people were down Broadway, So I did have a good time
there. I did also want toshout out World of Football Columba Zoo.
I had a good time meeting withthem and we just caught up and chat
about arena football. I like whatthey doing their site and vice versa with
our site. They appreciate what wedo, so it was good meeting them.
(02:06):
So I do want to give ashout out to them. Go check
their page out World of Football columbizillSo he drove all the way from Michigan
to Nashville. That's when you toldme, so that was really cool to
see and see how much arena footballjust continues to grow and continues to expand.
So but in the meantime, wedo have a lot to talk about.
(02:27):
Again, we didn't have that episodelast week, so we got a
lot to catch up on, solet's go ahead jump right into it.
Speaking of we will also show youa clip of an interview that I had
with Chris Chetti, who's the managingmember of G six Sports, which is
the owner of the Arena Football League. So I have a clip from that
interview. I won't have the fullinterview yet and not sure where we're going
(02:50):
to roll that out, but I'llkeep you posted on when that will be
released. So let's jump right backinto our developing news. Jerry Kurz is
back with the Arena Football League now. On Tuesday, G six Sports,
owners of the Arena Football League,announced Kerz as its newest General Counsel and
Senior Advisor of Player Operations. Inthis role, the league says Curves will
(03:15):
be in charge of legal compliance,player contracts, player welfare, and other
positions. Now, this isn't Kurr'sfirst time in the AFL. He was
commissioner from twenty ten to twenty fourteenbefore stepping down to become league president.
Curves was once at the center ofcontroversy in lawsuits surrounding previous league ownership and
(03:36):
including one that involved his successor,former commission of Scottpluterra so Curis filed a
suit over a breach of contract andseek compensation of more than fifty thousand,
but the suit was later dismissed byan Illinois court. The league says,
quote Jerry Kurz's appointment marks a significantmilestone for the AFL, ensuring that the
league continues to thrive under his seasonleadership and commitment to excellence. End quote.
(04:00):
Now this move comes as the leagueis in the middle of rebuilding.
It recently added former AFL champion GaryCompton as its director of football Operations and
Jared Widman as its president and chiefoperating officer. So in a follow up
(04:21):
again, because we were off lastweek, look, just going to catch
you up on some of the othernews in case you haven't heard already.
First, with the Rapid City Marshalls, the team ceased operations on May twenty
fourth, called owner West Johnson sharethe statement with fans, blaming the previous
league ownership under former Commissioner League Hutton. He claimed the league put them in
(04:43):
a terrible position which ultimately killed trustbetween the players and organization, along with
unmet financial obligations and other promises.The Marshals became the sixteen to fold this
season in the third to seize operationswith an ownership group in place. You
can go ahead and check out ourlast video with more on attentions between the
(05:03):
players and the organization. That's rightthere on our YouTube channel or on our
podcast channel. Now switching over toOregon, Now, this is a confusing
situation really, just on all threelevels. So we'll just break that down
for you really quickly, so tryto stay with us. Now, let's
go with the first one. Sothe Oregon Black Bears will not compete the
(05:27):
rest of the twenty twenty four seasonin the Arena Football League. Now,
I'm phrasing it that way for areason. So on May twenty ninth,
the AFL announced its new president andchief operating Officer, Jared Woman As I
just mentioned. Now, in thatsame announcement, the league shared it's moving
forward with nine teams with Oregon notin the picture. So prior to that
(05:48):
announcement, I asked team president PatJohnson if the Black Bears folded or have
plans to, and he said no, So I since reached back out to
him for a response and he didnot reply, so adding on to that
is where the news gets a littlebit confusing. So Humble, which signed
(06:08):
on to Arena Football Management LLC underformer commissioner Lee Hutt, and shared it
extended its partnership with the Oregon BlackBears, but before the season, Humble
agreed to be the league's exclusive digitaltechnology platform, which includes ticket sales.
So late last month, Humble CEOBrian Foot said the situation with Arena Football
(06:29):
has been confusing and frustrating for them. He said, the Black Bears have
been working with its team and hasquote elected to sign a renewal for any
remaining twenty twenty four home games,no matter what opponent or league. So
in that press release, they nevermentioned the Arena Football League, so that's
important to note there. So thendays later the league noted it was moving
(06:53):
forward without Oregon, but Anthony Rossi, CEO of Force one Capital, which
is the main part of the ArenaFootball League, posted on x that there
was never a deal in place betweenthe AFL and Humble. So there's a
lot to the story, so muchmore details that it didn't include. Didn't
have time to include in this recording, but you could go ahead and read
(07:15):
that story on our website right now, Arenainsider dot com. So, adding
on to the Black Bear situation,questions still linger about the team's ownership,
so Arena Inside a confirmed with NewYork Giants linebacker Kaevon Thibbodeau that he was
never involved with the team or theleague, and Thibodeau told us that quote
(07:35):
my name was used for publicity,so before the season he was announced as
the majority owner of the team.According to a release sent by Hutton,
Thibbodeau declined to provide further details aboutthat situation. So something we're still keeping
an eye on here and Arena Insiderand continues to develop along with other stories
(07:57):
around the league. So of coursewe will all ways continue to update you
both online and on air. Butin the meantime, thank you so much
for tuning in to this episode ofArena Insider Press Past. Remember for all
the latest breaking news and developing news, you can visit our website at Rina
Insider dot com, or you canfollow us on social media at Arena Insider.
(08:18):
I'm Anthony Carter. Have a greatday,
Welcome back to another episode of ArenaInsider Press Past. I'm your host,
Anthony Carter. Thank you always forsupporting this show in X one Media.
In case you haven't already, beshort to like and subscribe to this show.
Also, if you're listening to usover podcasts, you can subscribe to
us on the podcast all podcast platforms. That way, new episodes will download
directly to your device. So I'mappreciative of all the continued support, any
(00:41):
increase in subscribers each and every day. So I do want to appreciate you
all for that. Now kind oftook like a bye week, I would
call it for a Reena Insider,So we were all a week, didn't
have an episode last week, soof course a lot of stuff has happened
since our last episode, but wewere in Nashville. Salute to the Nashville
(01:02):
Cats. I did want to givea special things to the ownership group.
They really welcomed me with open armsthere and we got a lot of interviews
done, so I'm excited to rollthose interviews out to you all. But
I do want to appreciate the ownershipgroup that were there for the game against
the Albany Firebirds. Good game,good defensive game by the way. Ultimately
(01:25):
Albany Firebirds did win thirty two totwenty five. Albany still undefeated, so
that was a good defensive game.Nice time for Saturday night, and I
had a good time in Nashville.That was my first time visiting Nashville,
so I really enjoyed it out there. A lot of scenery, music.
I think all of America was inNashville that Saturday. It was insane to
(01:45):
see how many people were down Broadway, So I did have a good time
there. I did also want toshout out World of Football Columba Zoo.
I had a good time meeting withthem and we just caught up and chat
about arena football. I like whatthey doing their site and vice versa with
our site. They appreciate what wedo, so it was good meeting them.
(02:06):
So I do want to give ashout out to them. Go check
their page out World of Football columbizillSo he drove all the way from Michigan
to Nashville. That's when you toldme, so that was really cool to
see and see how much arena footballjust continues to grow and continues to expand.
So but in the meantime, wedo have a lot to talk about.
(02:27):
Again, we didn't have that episodelast week, so we got a
lot to catch up on, solet's go ahead jump right into it.
Speaking of we will also show youa clip of an interview that I had
with Chris Chetti, who's the managingmember of G six Sports, which is
the owner of the Arena Football League. So I have a clip from that
interview. I won't have the fullinterview yet and not sure where we're going
(02:50):
to roll that out, but I'llkeep you posted on when that will be
released. So let's jump right backinto our developing news. Jerry Kurz is
back with the Arena Football League now. On Tuesday, G six Sports,
owners of the Arena Football League,announced Kerz as its newest General Counsel and
Senior Advisor of Player Operations. Inthis role, the league says Curves will
(03:15):
be in charge of legal compliance,player contracts, player welfare, and other
positions. Now, this isn't Kurr'sfirst time in the AFL. He was
commissioner from twenty ten to twenty fourteenbefore stepping down to become league president.
Curves was once at the center ofcontroversy in lawsuits surrounding previous league ownership and
(03:36):
including one that involved his successor,former commission of Scottpluterra so Curis filed a
suit over a breach of contract andseek compensation of more than fifty thousand,
but the suit was later dismissed byan Illinois court. The league says,
quote Jerry Kurz's appointment marks a significantmilestone for the AFL, ensuring that the
league continues to thrive under his seasonleadership and commitment to excellence. End quote.
(04:00):
Now this move comes as the leagueis in the middle of rebuilding.
It recently added former AFL champion GaryCompton as its director of football Operations and
Jared Widman as its president and chiefoperating officer. So in a follow up
(04:21):
again, because we were off lastweek, look, just going to catch
you up on some of the othernews in case you haven't heard already.
First, with the Rapid City Marshalls, the team ceased operations on May twenty
fourth, called owner West Johnson sharethe statement with fans, blaming the previous
league ownership under former Commissioner League Hutton. He claimed the league put them in
(04:43):
a terrible position which ultimately killed trustbetween the players and organization, along with
unmet financial obligations and other promises.The Marshals became the sixteen to fold this
season in the third to seize operationswith an ownership group in place. You
can go ahead and check out ourlast video with more on attentions between the
(05:03):
players and the organization. That's rightthere on our YouTube channel or on our
podcast channel. Now switching over toOregon, Now, this is a confusing
situation really, just on all threelevels. So we'll just break that down
for you really quickly, so tryto stay with us. Now, let's
go with the first one. Sothe Oregon Black Bears will not compete the
(05:27):
rest of the twenty twenty four seasonin the Arena Football League. Now,
I'm phrasing it that way for areason. So on May twenty ninth,
the AFL announced its new president andchief operating Officer, Jared Woman As I
just mentioned. Now, in thatsame announcement, the league shared it's moving
forward with nine teams with Oregon notin the picture. So prior to that
(05:48):
announcement, I asked team president PatJohnson if the Black Bears folded or have
plans to, and he said no, So I since reached back out to
him for a response and he didnot reply, so adding on to that
is where the news gets a littlebit confusing. So Humble, which signed
(06:08):
on to Arena Football Management LLC underformer commissioner Lee Hutt, and shared it
extended its partnership with the Oregon BlackBears, but before the season, Humble
agreed to be the league's exclusive digitaltechnology platform, which includes ticket sales.
So late last month, Humble CEOBrian Foot said the situation with Arena Football
(06:29):
has been confusing and frustrating for them. He said, the Black Bears have
been working with its team and hasquote elected to sign a renewal for any
remaining twenty twenty four home games,no matter what opponent or league. So
in that press release, they nevermentioned the Arena Football League, so that's
important to note there. So thendays later the league noted it was moving
(06:53):
forward without Oregon, but Anthony Rossi, CEO of Force one Capital, which
is the main part of the ArenaFootball League, posted on x that there
was never a deal in place betweenthe AFL and Humble. So there's a
lot to the story, so muchmore details that it didn't include. Didn't
have time to include in this recording, but you could go ahead and read
(07:15):
that story on our website right now, Arenainsider dot com. So, adding
on to the Black Bear situation,questions still linger about the team's ownership,
so Arena Inside a confirmed with NewYork Giants linebacker Kaevon Thibbodeau that he was
never involved with the team or theleague, and Thibodeau told us that quote
(07:35):
my name was used for publicity,so before the season he was announced as
the majority owner of the team.According to a release sent by Hutton,
Thibbodeau declined to provide further details aboutthat situation. So something we're still keeping
an eye on here and Arena Insiderand continues to develop along with other stories
(07:57):
around the league. So of coursewe will all ways continue to update you
both online and on air. Butin the meantime, thank you so much
for tuning in to this episode ofArena Insider Press Past. Remember for all
the latest breaking news and developing news, you can visit our website at Rina
Insider dot com, or you canfollow us on social media at Arena Insider.
(08:18):
I'm Anthony Carter. Have a greatday,
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