Comments (0) | |

Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008

Return of the Knights: Macon football team could re-emerge in af2

An investor is just steps away from bringing arena football back to Macon, and it could mean the return of the Knights.

D.J. Daniels, who helped start the South Georgia Wildcats in Albany, has been in contact with an investor who is "deeply interested" in bringing another arenafootball2 league team to the Macon Coliseum.

"He and the league, they've gotten some formal things done as far as obtaining the franchise to be put in there, and I know he's got some rights that he's purchased already to go into the Macon area," said Daniels, who would not reveal the name of the investor because a deal is not official yet. "He's right now tabulating whether he'll be able to get in there for 2009, or he may lie dormant for one year. It depends on what the league is allowing him to complete by the end of October.

"He's still deeply interested in putting a team there."

Daniels said he has been in contact with af2 and the Coliseum, and only a few kinks between the investor and the league need to be worked out before an official announcement would be made.

The investor, who started this process while living out of state, has recently moved to Georgia, Daniels said.

"It's a very good sign that it is going to go down," Daniels said. "Now, my thing is, talking to him, if it doesn't go down in 2009, it's definitely going down in 2010. That's what him and the league are dealing with now."

The af2 league office in Chicago did not return a phone message left Friday afternoon.

Daniels and the investor are still trying to sort out whether a team will start from scratch or whether an already existing af2 team will be moved to Macon.

Regina McDuffie, general manager of the Macon Centreplex, said she has had conversations with someone interested in bringing a team to Macon, but she hasn't had any contact with them in the past month or six weeks.

"The ball's in their court right now, and I've tried to meet with them as much as I can, talk to them as much as I can and be available to support, but I don't know," McDuffie said. "They've kept their dealings pretty much close to their cuff, so I really hadn't been involved in that. But we're kind of standing by saying, 'Hey, we'll do what we can to get you in and help you out,' and we want to get them in. We hope they'll come into Macon."

Daniels said the deadline for an official announcement would be later this month, and he said it would be tough to start up a team after November. McDuffie said the Coliseum would be able to get things set up in time if the decision doesn't come until as late as December.

"We could map out a schedule at any point in time," McDuffie said. "Usually, by December, we're trying to make sure we have a schedule done if they're in place. But mostly, what they need to get started is their front office operations and their marketing effort, because that is more critical than what we can do."

The Macon Knights' first stint lasted six years, with the team making it to the playoffs three times. In 2006, team president Ed Olsen announced the Knights would cease operations.

"We will miss the contact with our fans, players, coaches and partners, but realize that closing the Macon Knights is necessary at this time," Olsen said on the team's Web site at the time.

The Knights mascot could be used if a team does return.

"Now, when I was talking with him, he was looking at revamping and bringing back the Knights - the Macon Knights, because af2 does own the name," McDuffie said. "So I don't know about some team that may be relocating, but I think what they would do is just to move an operation that's already set up instead of creating one here."