May 5, 2024 • 20 mins
Billings Outlaws owner Steven Titus breaks down the issues facing the league and criticizes Arena Football League Commissioner Lee Hutton III. Titus is calling on Hutton to step down immediately and replaced with leadership that can help the league survive for the future.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
The best thing, the best thingthat can happen to the ANFL right now
is if Lee Hotton resigns this instantas commissioner. Welcome back to another episode
(00:25):
of Arena Cider Press Past. I'mAnthony Carter. On today's episode, we're
joined with Billings Outlaws owners Steven Titus. Steven, thank you so much for
joining us. How are you doinggood, Anthony? How are you?
I'm doing great. I'm doing great. So certainly a lot happening within the
league, as we've seen really overthe last few weeks or so. We'll
dive into that in just a bit, but first to kind of get fans
(00:47):
really just background about who you areand how you got involved with the Building
Outlaws. Tell us a little bitmore about that and eventually how you got
involved with the Arena Football League.Yeah. Yeah, my name is Steve
Titus. I'm in two I havean office in Gillette, Wyoming. I
practiced criminal defense and personal injury lawin Wyoming in South Dakota. It's funny
(01:07):
how I got into football was Iowned a team in Gillette, Wyoming the
last two years prior to this season, and at some point I thought that
it would be great advertising for mylaw firm, and it kind of just
screw into its own beast. Wepurchased the Billings Outlaws in late twenty twenty
two when it was in distress,worked hard in twenty twenty three to turn
(01:30):
the organization around. Had the opportunityto join the AFL and for the twenty
twenty four season, and thought itwas a great opportunity to bring the Billings
Outlaws onto a national stage. Andyou know, the Outlaws are a historic
franchise in the indoor in arena footballindustry. They've been around for nearly on
and off for nearly twenty five years, and we're the first two IFL champions.
(01:55):
So it was an opportunity to bringthe arena game to Billings. And
at the time, I thought itwas an amazing opportunity to showcase arena football
to Billings, Montana. And howis arena football like in Billings And how's
the community described that atmosphere? Well, based on our first regular season home
(02:17):
game, we had one of thebest turnouts, the best turnout we've had
in the last three years. Sojust talking to people at the game,
it was very receptive. The typicalfan doesn't necessarily know about the iron Man
system or that players typically play onboth sides of the ball, but they
are very enthusiastic about the rebound netsand the whole different playing system that comes
(02:43):
with the rebound nets, and sowe were very Billings was very receptive and
very excited to have Arena football andBillings and they were happy to have an
Arena Football League franchise in Billings,and we look forward to having that same
attendance keeper going going forward, havinggood competition and competing for an Arena Football
(03:05):
League championship in July. Now,obviously the AFO, it was really just
abandoned since twenty nineteen, started tomake its comeback coming into twenty twenty four,
whole lot of new teams, sixteennew teams. Obviously Billings was one
of those teams. What was thatlike getting involved with the AFL and what
(03:28):
was your reaction at the time.Well, at the time we joined,
I thought it was a great opportunity. The business model that was presented to
us is something similar to a NFLbusiness model, and it seemed like it
was a new business model that wouldmake the arena an indoor Football league business
more sustainable. And so at thetime we signed up along with our cohorts
(03:52):
and the CIF as well as joiningsome of the billings. Was the first
franchise that was introduced as an alteam, and so at the time we
thought it was a great opportunity.We didn't think it was anything too good
to be true or anything like that, because the numbers, the business model,
the presentation, all of that madesense, and we were excited about
(04:15):
the opportunities that joining the AFL providedfor the building's outlaws. Did you going
into obviously this is something new undernew leadership. Was there any for you,
like any kind of red flag thatyou called or was it just all
everything seemed like you say, likebought it books. Everything seemed to be
(04:36):
working fun well, I mean,to be honest, there was always a
good excuse for why something wasn't asit was planned. Everything was working out,
Things were predictable, Our schedules gotout very quickly, They made sense,
they worked for arenas. The presentationswere always there, the questions were
(04:59):
always answered, and up until probablya month ago, everything seemed on the
up and up and we were readyfor a season. I think things started
turning is when part so part ofour model that was presented to us was
really similar to an NFL business model, you know, seventy to eighty percent.
I would think of most NFL teamsrevenue are based on two things,
(05:25):
one season ticket sales and two theNFL broadcasting deal with the networks. And
so it was how we were presentedto a similar business model that the league
would pay for our pay, theywould pay for travel, and they would
pay for other expenses similar to theNFL if the league were going to be
(05:46):
keeping the network revenue, the gamblingrevenue, and some of the merchandise and
ticket sales, and so the modelmade sense as presented. It wasn't until
about a month ago when teams werenotified that the league wasn't going to be
paying for player pay. Some teamswere notified that the league wasn't going to
be playing paying for player pay,that red flags started to show up.
(06:12):
It was, you know, todayis Friday, May third, and even
as recent as earlier today, someof the teams were promised wire transfers for
pay and things like that, andthe money never came. And so I
was in a position that when Isaw the red flags coming up, that
(06:33):
the AFL may not be able topay on its promises. I was still
going to be able to pay myteam. I was still going to be
able to meet our contractual obligations withour players, even though the AFL couldn't,
And so I kind of turned ablind eye to it. And at
this point, there was no changingleagues, There was no making any other
(06:54):
plans. The other leagues had alreadystarted. So we were, for a
lack of a better term, potcommitted to the AFL and making it work
for the twenty twenty four season.Before we move into that a little bit
more, are you able to breakdown just some of about the contract that
you signed with the AFL, Whatwas greed upon? I think there's a
(07:15):
lot of confusion on, especially withsocial media and fair confusion where a lot
of people don't know how much theowners are involved when it comes to pay,
how much the league is involved whenit comes to pay. What is
what is the agreement with that?You know, I don't want to go
too much into that. Every teamhad a little bit of a different deal
with the AFL, but the primaryconcerns that the AFL was going to cover
(07:39):
were player pay. They were goingto cover travel and some other things that
we started seeing warning signs that theAFL may not be able to pull through.
I think that one of the thingsthat frustrating a lot of the owners
(08:01):
is that this was also sprung onus at the last minute, when a
lot of this was preventable with transparency, openness and honesty, but it was
Even as of today, there areteams in our leagues that are continually and
continue to be fed lies by ourcommissioner that they're going to be getting the
financial support that was that was contractuallyobligated to them, and they're still not
(08:24):
getting it. You know, Idon't need the AFL's money to help me.
We're going to be just fine herein buildings. But there are teams
that wouldn't have a team right nowif it wasn't for the promises of the
AFL. I mean, we've seenthe CIF contract that's out there where they
were promising, you know, sevenfifty a game per player to the CIF
teams. I can tell you thatno CIF team has received what was promised
(08:46):
to it by the league, andso the league is without a doubt and
breach of contract to those CIF teams. What were you what was your initial
reaction when you first started seeing portsof a lot of players and coaches coming
out, seeing that they haven't receivingany types of payment, going dealing with
(09:07):
shipment issues. As I Will mentionedin their statement, what was your initial
reaction, you know, the theshipment issues. You know, I don't.
We still got our jerseys here ontime. They may be in a
little bit later than we thought they'dbe, but we still had them for
our first home game, so Iwasn't too worried about that. But if
(09:30):
anyone I feel bad for in thisare the players and the coaches are Some
of our players are some of themost vulnerable in society, and the league
under its current leadership, under CommissionerHutton, under Lee Hutton, has taken
advantage of these these kids, theseguys, these men, these dads,
these brothers, these sisters. Wedon't have any females in our league this
(09:52):
year, but they've taken advantage ofthese people that are just vulnerable. And
it's sick nigue, and it's discussedto watch that. You know, a
lot of our guys gave up opportunitiesin other leagues. They've given up jobs,
they've given up careers for their opportunityto be in the AFL. In
the league, it looks like hadplenty of notice that it wasn't going to
(10:15):
keep its obligation, but continues,as of hours ago, to continue to
lie to people, continues to bedeceitful. He continues to do everything wrong
possibly can do. Every Friday morningwe have an owner's meeting. Lee Hunting
didn't call the owner's meeting today.He didn't even send an email saying he
was canceling the owners meeting today.He didn't ask the owners if he should
appear on the podcast, the AFLpodcast last night or not. You know,
(10:39):
when you need a leader, theyneed to be at the front showing
you the way that it needs tobe done and to lead us through any
kind of obstacle or hurdle that comesour way. Lee Hunting is nowhere to
be found right now. He won'tanswer calls, he won't respond to texts,
he won't show up to league meetings. He is doing everything wrong that
(11:00):
a leader can possibly do. Andhe needs to do the easy thing for
the AFL to sacrifice, to ensurethat we are not sacrificial and that we
have any path of price sparity,and do the manly thing in this situation
and to resign as commissioner. That'sthe best thing. The best thing that
could happen to the AFL right nowis if Lee Hutton resigns this instant as
(11:22):
commissioner. And when was the lasttime you spoke to Commissioner Hutton last week?
And what was the what was thatconversation? Like, what was the
what was going on that? Wasit positive or negative? No? It
was negative. Just yelling at people. I mean, that's all Lee Hutton
(11:43):
has done in the last week anda half to yell at people and tell
owners while they're wrong and and lie. In last week's league meeting that was
called, he promised that the playerswould be getting paid the cif contracts would
be upheld, and that we wouldbe on the NFL network and week two
lie, lie, Lie, lielie. All he has done as of
late to the team owners that arein our league calls is lie and give
(12:07):
continuous mistruth. Our teams are losingmoney because of his lies. Our teams
do not make as much money onThursday night games and Sunday games as they
do with Saturday games. Did yousee Albany's crowd last night? It was
scarce. But I bet if youhad that same game against Nashville on a
Saturday night with Jeff Fisher in thehouse, it would be packed. It's
(12:28):
just the thing. Thursday night gamesget terrible attendance. It's always been that
way indoor an arena football, andthat it will always be that way.
The only reason they're having Thursday nightgames is to make the NFL network happy.
If we knew back then that theNFL network did wasn't going to go
through, we could have saved thoseSaturday arena days so that we'd be financially
helping the team. We would belooking out for the best interests of our
(12:52):
individual playing partners, not the egoof some commissioner who has to have NFL
network when they know that obviously theNFL network or the league doesn't have the
know how or the resources to ensurethat our games are on the NFL network.
It's disgusting what we're going through rightnow. As team owners in the
AFL. We need new leadership assoon as possible. Have you been in
(13:16):
communication with other owners around the leagueand talks about that absolutely? And is
there anything moving that you're able totell us or you're just still kind of
in those discussions right now is everything. It's very I support Jeff Fisher as
our next commissioner. I wholeheartedly supporthim. Jeff Fisher will bring us back
(13:39):
to instant credibility. He will.He has the knowledge to save in the
connections to stay the NFL Network deal. He's extremely talented and smart. I
just hope that Jeff will Coach Fisherwill take the opportunity to be our next
commissioner because I think he would beabsolutely wonderful. Without a shadow of it
(14:03):
out. How have you been communicatingwith your players and coaches during his times
when you see everything that's that's goingon around the league. You know,
Coach Walker, our head coach herein Billings, I talked to multiple times
every day about things that are goingon. Him and I have a really,
really good working relationship. Coach Walkercommunicates well with the players what needs
(14:26):
to be said to make sure thatplayers know who's who and what's what.
You know, I meet with theplayers because I live part time in Wyoming
and part time in Billings. I'min Billings right now, and you know,
I met with the players this afternoon. Let them know that everything's good.
We're going to be okay and letthem know that they got their checks
today, they got paid, andwish them well on their trek to Washington.
(14:50):
They just are leaving in about fiveminutes from now, and really quickly.
To kind of add on to whatyou just mentioned about Washington, Washington
obviously wasn't on billings original schedule forthis week. It was supposed to be
Oregon. Kind of explained kind ofwhat happened with that. You know,
(15:13):
I got a call on Sunday fromthe league basically saying, case Steve,
we don't like Oregons, we don'tlike Organs playing surface, we don't like
Organs arena set up. Do youhave any problem going to Washington? And
rarely We already had the bus Oregonand Washington. You know, Salem and
Everett are about the equal distance awayfrom Billings, so it doesn't matter if
(15:35):
we went to Washington or Oregon.My understanding was there were three main concerns
why Billings couldn't play in the Oregonand that was one the field goal posts,
the rebound nets weren't up to par. They were painted, they were
painted black with black netting. Theywere hard to see. Two was internet
capabilities that were streaming issues with lastweek's game with the Washington in an Oregon
(16:00):
and three. Obviously, the playingsurface was unsafe. I mean, they
have cattle railing, kindle guard railingfor dasher boards, and it's I don't
want to say it's easy, butit's not unthinkable that someone's arm can get
caught in that open railing and forlack of better terms, just be ripped
(16:23):
off. You know, brakes canhappen and things like that with those unsafe
playing conditions, and so I thinkthat's a failure of Commissioner Hunting to not
properly inspect these facilities to ensure thatthey are safe prior to these games taking
place. I mean, I havenever seen a more disgusting playing surface than
(16:45):
what Louisiana had. I don't knowwhat those rebound nets were. The pads
were falling off the walls, andthat this is the AFL. I mean,
this was absolutely disgusting that I'm investingmy money into this product to have
semi pro players dressed in Philadelphia's Souluniforms. Philadelphia Soul is one of the
most historic franchises in Arena Football Leaguehistory, and that was one of the
(17:08):
most disgusting things I've ever seen.This is the problem with Commissioner Hunting.
If there were problems with Philadelphia,if there were problems with the Oregon playing
surface, he should have come tothe owners and go owners, what should
I do? This is your money, This is a brand that you are
heavily invested in. What do youwant me to do? Do you want
me to cancel the game? Doyou want me to change the area where
(17:30):
we're playing? What should I do? Instead? It's Commissioner Hunting just doing
whatever he wants and not telling anyone. How have the players been reacting to
all of this? And billings therefocused on Washington? Washington? Want to
know? I want to know inWashington, they don't care about all the
(17:52):
noise that's going out there. Theyjust want to make sure that they have
three meals a day, they haveproper housing, and their checks clear,
do all of that. But Iwant to make sure that we have an
opponent for the next week. Andthat's why I'm doing what I'm doing at
the league level to make sure thatwe have new leadership to get us through
the rest of the season. Andspeaking at the rest of the season,
are you optimistic as the season goeson, if we have new leadership,
(18:18):
we will have a great twenty twentyfour season. The connections that Coach Fisher
has are out of this world.I mean, he was in the NFL
for two decades. He has thebrand, he has the credibility with the
brands, he has the credibility withthe networks, he has the credibility with
numerous organizations that I don't think noone else can bring us in an instantaneous
(18:40):
manner as Coach Fisher, can youknow I see social media, I see
you know, the facebooks, theTwitters, the x all that stuff.
There is no reason why Commissioner Huntingshould retain his position. Things can only
get worse. And lastly, asan owner, what's your message to not
only the fans of buildings but alsoa ren a football fans everywhere. To
(19:00):
the fans of Billings, We're goingto do everything it takes to bring you
home an Arena Football League championship inJuly. To the fans of arena football,
We're gonna get this thing fixed andwe're going to give you one step
at the time. We're going tobring back the arena football to its The
AFL back to its glory days,one day at a time, one step
at a time, one correction ata time. I want to say,
(19:22):
as an owner, I apologize forI guess I don't want to say keeping
a blind eye to things, butbeing too trusting of the situation. I'm
sorry I believed people that were lyingto me. I'm sorry that I didn't
speak up and let things get towhere they were. I wish I would
have. I wish we would speakup sooner. I wish that, you
(19:45):
know, I would have. Iwish that I would have verified funds in
the checking account before I allowed themto make those promises that they made and
to hurt my fellow playing partners herein the Arena Football League. And we'll
do it whatever it takes to helpthose playing partners and to fulfill the obligations
of the AFL. But it onlywill start when Commissioner hut And resigns his
(20:08):
post. And again he needs todo this as soon as possible, and
we need fresh leadership in there toshow credibility to our organization, show credibility
to the rest of the league,and to get this thing moving forward.
Get the distraction out of the wayand let's get refocused on football. Steven
Titus, thank you so much forjoining us. Thanks Anthony, I appreciate
(20:29):
it. How getting me, ThanksSuza
The best thing, the best thingthat can happen to the ANFL right now
is if Lee Hotton resigns this instantas commissioner. Welcome back to another episode
(00:25):
of Arena Cider Press Past. I'mAnthony Carter. On today's episode, we're
joined with Billings Outlaws owners Steven Titus. Steven, thank you so much for
joining us. How are you doinggood, Anthony? How are you?
I'm doing great. I'm doing great. So certainly a lot happening within the
league, as we've seen really overthe last few weeks or so. We'll
dive into that in just a bit, but first to kind of get fans
(00:47):
really just background about who you areand how you got involved with the Building
Outlaws. Tell us a little bitmore about that and eventually how you got
involved with the Arena Football League.Yeah. Yeah, my name is Steve
Titus. I'm in two I havean office in Gillette, Wyoming. I
practiced criminal defense and personal injury lawin Wyoming in South Dakota. It's funny
(01:07):
how I got into football was Iowned a team in Gillette, Wyoming the
last two years prior to this season, and at some point I thought that
it would be great advertising for mylaw firm, and it kind of just
screw into its own beast. Wepurchased the Billings Outlaws in late twenty twenty
two when it was in distress,worked hard in twenty twenty three to turn
(01:30):
the organization around. Had the opportunityto join the AFL and for the twenty
twenty four season, and thought itwas a great opportunity to bring the Billings
Outlaws onto a national stage. Andyou know, the Outlaws are a historic
franchise in the indoor in arena footballindustry. They've been around for nearly on
and off for nearly twenty five years, and we're the first two IFL champions.
(01:55):
So it was an opportunity to bringthe arena game to Billings. And
at the time, I thought itwas an amazing opportunity to showcase arena football
to Billings, Montana. And howis arena football like in Billings And how's
the community described that atmosphere? Well, based on our first regular season home
(02:17):
game, we had one of thebest turnouts, the best turnout we've had
in the last three years. Sojust talking to people at the game,
it was very receptive. The typicalfan doesn't necessarily know about the iron Man
system or that players typically play onboth sides of the ball, but they
are very enthusiastic about the rebound netsand the whole different playing system that comes
(02:43):
with the rebound nets, and sowe were very Billings was very receptive and
very excited to have Arena football andBillings and they were happy to have an
Arena Football League franchise in Billings,and we look forward to having that same
attendance keeper going going forward, havinggood competition and competing for an Arena Football
(03:05):
League championship in July. Now,obviously the AFO, it was really just
abandoned since twenty nineteen, started tomake its comeback coming into twenty twenty four,
whole lot of new teams, sixteennew teams. Obviously Billings was one
of those teams. What was thatlike getting involved with the AFL and what
(03:28):
was your reaction at the time.Well, at the time we joined,
I thought it was a great opportunity. The business model that was presented to
us is something similar to a NFLbusiness model, and it seemed like it
was a new business model that wouldmake the arena an indoor Football league business
more sustainable. And so at thetime we signed up along with our cohorts
(03:52):
and the CIF as well as joiningsome of the billings. Was the first
franchise that was introduced as an alteam, and so at the time we
thought it was a great opportunity.We didn't think it was anything too good
to be true or anything like that, because the numbers, the business model,
the presentation, all of that madesense, and we were excited about
(04:15):
the opportunities that joining the AFL providedfor the building's outlaws. Did you going
into obviously this is something new undernew leadership. Was there any for you,
like any kind of red flag thatyou called or was it just all
everything seemed like you say, likebought it books. Everything seemed to be
(04:36):
working fun well, I mean,to be honest, there was always a
good excuse for why something wasn't asit was planned. Everything was working out,
Things were predictable, Our schedules gotout very quickly, They made sense,
they worked for arenas. The presentationswere always there, the questions were
(04:59):
always answered, and up until probablya month ago, everything seemed on the
up and up and we were readyfor a season. I think things started
turning is when part so part ofour model that was presented to us was
really similar to an NFL business model, you know, seventy to eighty percent.
I would think of most NFL teamsrevenue are based on two things,
(05:25):
one season ticket sales and two theNFL broadcasting deal with the networks. And
so it was how we were presentedto a similar business model that the league
would pay for our pay, theywould pay for travel, and they would
pay for other expenses similar to theNFL if the league were going to be
(05:46):
keeping the network revenue, the gamblingrevenue, and some of the merchandise and
ticket sales, and so the modelmade sense as presented. It wasn't until
about a month ago when teams werenotified that the league wasn't going to be
paying for player pay. Some teamswere notified that the league wasn't going to
be playing paying for player pay,that red flags started to show up.
(06:12):
It was, you know, todayis Friday, May third, and even
as recent as earlier today, someof the teams were promised wire transfers for
pay and things like that, andthe money never came. And so I
was in a position that when Isaw the red flags coming up, that
(06:33):
the AFL may not be able topay on its promises. I was still
going to be able to pay myteam. I was still going to be
able to meet our contractual obligations withour players, even though the AFL couldn't,
And so I kind of turned ablind eye to it. And at
this point, there was no changingleagues, There was no making any other
(06:54):
plans. The other leagues had alreadystarted. So we were, for a
lack of a better term, potcommitted to the AFL and making it work
for the twenty twenty four season.Before we move into that a little bit
more, are you able to breakdown just some of about the contract that
you signed with the AFL, Whatwas greed upon? I think there's a
(07:15):
lot of confusion on, especially withsocial media and fair confusion where a lot
of people don't know how much theowners are involved when it comes to pay,
how much the league is involved whenit comes to pay. What is
what is the agreement with that?You know, I don't want to go
too much into that. Every teamhad a little bit of a different deal
with the AFL, but the primaryconcerns that the AFL was going to cover
(07:39):
were player pay. They were goingto cover travel and some other things that
we started seeing warning signs that theAFL may not be able to pull through.
I think that one of the thingsthat frustrating a lot of the owners
(08:01):
is that this was also sprung onus at the last minute, when a
lot of this was preventable with transparency, openness and honesty, but it was
Even as of today, there areteams in our leagues that are continually and
continue to be fed lies by ourcommissioner that they're going to be getting the
financial support that was that was contractuallyobligated to them, and they're still not
(08:24):
getting it. You know, Idon't need the AFL's money to help me.
We're going to be just fine herein buildings. But there are teams
that wouldn't have a team right nowif it wasn't for the promises of the
AFL. I mean, we've seenthe CIF contract that's out there where they
were promising, you know, sevenfifty a game per player to the CIF
teams. I can tell you thatno CIF team has received what was promised
(08:46):
to it by the league, andso the league is without a doubt and
breach of contract to those CIF teams. What were you what was your initial
reaction when you first started seeing portsof a lot of players and coaches coming
out, seeing that they haven't receivingany types of payment, going dealing with
(09:07):
shipment issues. As I Will mentionedin their statement, what was your initial
reaction, you know, the theshipment issues. You know, I don't.
We still got our jerseys here ontime. They may be in a
little bit later than we thought they'dbe, but we still had them for
our first home game, so Iwasn't too worried about that. But if
(09:30):
anyone I feel bad for in thisare the players and the coaches are Some
of our players are some of themost vulnerable in society, and the league
under its current leadership, under CommissionerHutton, under Lee Hutton, has taken
advantage of these these kids, theseguys, these men, these dads,
these brothers, these sisters. Wedon't have any females in our league this
(09:52):
year, but they've taken advantage ofthese people that are just vulnerable. And
it's sick nigue, and it's discussedto watch that. You know, a
lot of our guys gave up opportunitiesin other leagues. They've given up jobs,
they've given up careers for their opportunityto be in the AFL. In
the league, it looks like hadplenty of notice that it wasn't going to
(10:15):
keep its obligation, but continues,as of hours ago, to continue to
lie to people, continues to bedeceitful. He continues to do everything wrong
possibly can do. Every Friday morningwe have an owner's meeting. Lee Hunting
didn't call the owner's meeting today.He didn't even send an email saying he
was canceling the owners meeting today.He didn't ask the owners if he should
appear on the podcast, the AFLpodcast last night or not. You know,
(10:39):
when you need a leader, theyneed to be at the front showing
you the way that it needs tobe done and to lead us through any
kind of obstacle or hurdle that comesour way. Lee Hunting is nowhere to
be found right now. He won'tanswer calls, he won't respond to texts,
he won't show up to league meetings. He is doing everything wrong that
(11:00):
a leader can possibly do. Andhe needs to do the easy thing for
the AFL to sacrifice, to ensurethat we are not sacrificial and that we
have any path of price sparity,and do the manly thing in this situation
and to resign as commissioner. That'sthe best thing. The best thing that
could happen to the AFL right nowis if Lee Hutton resigns this instant as
(11:22):
commissioner. And when was the lasttime you spoke to Commissioner Hutton last week?
And what was the what was thatconversation? Like, what was the
what was going on that? Wasit positive or negative? No? It
was negative. Just yelling at people. I mean, that's all Lee Hutton
(11:43):
has done in the last week anda half to yell at people and tell
owners while they're wrong and and lie. In last week's league meeting that was
called, he promised that the playerswould be getting paid the cif contracts would
be upheld, and that we wouldbe on the NFL network and week two
lie, lie, Lie, lielie. All he has done as of
late to the team owners that arein our league calls is lie and give
(12:07):
continuous mistruth. Our teams are losingmoney because of his lies. Our teams
do not make as much money onThursday night games and Sunday games as they
do with Saturday games. Did yousee Albany's crowd last night? It was
scarce. But I bet if youhad that same game against Nashville on a
Saturday night with Jeff Fisher in thehouse, it would be packed. It's
(12:28):
just the thing. Thursday night gamesget terrible attendance. It's always been that
way indoor an arena football, andthat it will always be that way.
The only reason they're having Thursday nightgames is to make the NFL network happy.
If we knew back then that theNFL network did wasn't going to go
through, we could have saved thoseSaturday arena days so that we'd be financially
helping the team. We would belooking out for the best interests of our
(12:52):
individual playing partners, not the egoof some commissioner who has to have NFL
network when they know that obviously theNFL network or the league doesn't have the
know how or the resources to ensurethat our games are on the NFL network.
It's disgusting what we're going through rightnow. As team owners in the
AFL. We need new leadership assoon as possible. Have you been in
(13:16):
communication with other owners around the leagueand talks about that absolutely? And is
there anything moving that you're able totell us or you're just still kind of
in those discussions right now is everything. It's very I support Jeff Fisher as
our next commissioner. I wholeheartedly supporthim. Jeff Fisher will bring us back
(13:39):
to instant credibility. He will.He has the knowledge to save in the
connections to stay the NFL Network deal. He's extremely talented and smart. I
just hope that Jeff will Coach Fisherwill take the opportunity to be our next
commissioner because I think he would beabsolutely wonderful. Without a shadow of it
(14:03):
out. How have you been communicatingwith your players and coaches during his times
when you see everything that's that's goingon around the league. You know,
Coach Walker, our head coach herein Billings, I talked to multiple times
every day about things that are goingon. Him and I have a really,
really good working relationship. Coach Walkercommunicates well with the players what needs
(14:26):
to be said to make sure thatplayers know who's who and what's what.
You know, I meet with theplayers because I live part time in Wyoming
and part time in Billings. I'min Billings right now, and you know,
I met with the players this afternoon. Let them know that everything's good.
We're going to be okay and letthem know that they got their checks
today, they got paid, andwish them well on their trek to Washington.
(14:50):
They just are leaving in about fiveminutes from now, and really quickly.
To kind of add on to whatyou just mentioned about Washington, Washington
obviously wasn't on billings original schedule forthis week. It was supposed to be
Oregon. Kind of explained kind ofwhat happened with that. You know,
(15:13):
I got a call on Sunday fromthe league basically saying, case Steve,
we don't like Oregons, we don'tlike Organs playing surface, we don't like
Organs arena set up. Do youhave any problem going to Washington? And
rarely We already had the bus Oregonand Washington. You know, Salem and
Everett are about the equal distance awayfrom Billings, so it doesn't matter if
(15:35):
we went to Washington or Oregon.My understanding was there were three main concerns
why Billings couldn't play in the Oregonand that was one the field goal posts,
the rebound nets weren't up to par. They were painted, they were
painted black with black netting. Theywere hard to see. Two was internet
capabilities that were streaming issues with lastweek's game with the Washington in an Oregon
(16:00):
and three. Obviously, the playingsurface was unsafe. I mean, they
have cattle railing, kindle guard railingfor dasher boards, and it's I don't
want to say it's easy, butit's not unthinkable that someone's arm can get
caught in that open railing and forlack of better terms, just be ripped
(16:23):
off. You know, brakes canhappen and things like that with those unsafe
playing conditions, and so I thinkthat's a failure of Commissioner Hunting to not
properly inspect these facilities to ensure thatthey are safe prior to these games taking
place. I mean, I havenever seen a more disgusting playing surface than
(16:45):
what Louisiana had. I don't knowwhat those rebound nets were. The pads
were falling off the walls, andthat this is the AFL. I mean,
this was absolutely disgusting that I'm investingmy money into this product to have
semi pro players dressed in Philadelphia's Souluniforms. Philadelphia Soul is one of the
most historic franchises in Arena Football Leaguehistory, and that was one of the
(17:08):
most disgusting things I've ever seen.This is the problem with Commissioner Hunting.
If there were problems with Philadelphia,if there were problems with the Oregon playing
surface, he should have come tothe owners and go owners, what should
I do? This is your money, This is a brand that you are
heavily invested in. What do youwant me to do? Do you want
me to cancel the game? Doyou want me to change the area where
(17:30):
we're playing? What should I do? Instead? It's Commissioner Hunting just doing
whatever he wants and not telling anyone. How have the players been reacting to
all of this? And billings therefocused on Washington? Washington? Want to
know? I want to know inWashington, they don't care about all the
(17:52):
noise that's going out there. Theyjust want to make sure that they have
three meals a day, they haveproper housing, and their checks clear,
do all of that. But Iwant to make sure that we have an
opponent for the next week. Andthat's why I'm doing what I'm doing at
the league level to make sure thatwe have new leadership to get us through
the rest of the season. Andspeaking at the rest of the season,
are you optimistic as the season goeson, if we have new leadership,
(18:18):
we will have a great twenty twentyfour season. The connections that Coach Fisher
has are out of this world.I mean, he was in the NFL
for two decades. He has thebrand, he has the credibility with the
brands, he has the credibility withthe networks, he has the credibility with
numerous organizations that I don't think noone else can bring us in an instantaneous
(18:40):
manner as Coach Fisher, can youknow I see social media, I see
you know, the facebooks, theTwitters, the x all that stuff.
There is no reason why Commissioner Huntingshould retain his position. Things can only
get worse. And lastly, asan owner, what's your message to not
only the fans of buildings but alsoa ren a football fans everywhere. To
(19:00):
the fans of Billings, We're goingto do everything it takes to bring you
home an Arena Football League championship inJuly. To the fans of arena football,
We're gonna get this thing fixed andwe're going to give you one step
at the time. We're going tobring back the arena football to its The
AFL back to its glory days,one day at a time, one step
at a time, one correction ata time. I want to say,
(19:22):
as an owner, I apologize forI guess I don't want to say keeping
a blind eye to things, butbeing too trusting of the situation. I'm
sorry I believed people that were lyingto me. I'm sorry that I didn't
speak up and let things get towhere they were. I wish I would
have. I wish we would speakup sooner. I wish that, you
(19:45):
know, I would have. Iwish that I would have verified funds in
the checking account before I allowed themto make those promises that they made and
to hurt my fellow playing partners herein the Arena Football League. And we'll
do it whatever it takes to helpthose playing partners and to fulfill the obligations
of the AFL. But it onlywill start when Commissioner hut And resigns his
(20:08):
post. And again he needs todo this as soon as possible, and
we need fresh leadership in there toshow credibility to our organization, show credibility
to the rest of the league,and to get this thing moving forward.
Get the distraction out of the wayand let's get refocused on football. Steven
Titus, thank you so much forjoining us. Thanks Anthony, I appreciate
(20:29):
it. How getting me, ThanksSuza
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