Around the League: Austin Ice Bats

Ice Bats sitting out season; Considering move to Beaumont for 2009-10 season

Ford Park Event Center General Manager John Hughes has been talking to Austin Ice Bats owner Randy Sanders about the possibility of moving the team to the 8,500 seat Ford Arena.

The venue is the former home of the Texas Wildcatters, an ECHL team that is moving to Ontario, California and will play as the Ontario Reign this season. The arena is the current home of the Beaumont Drillers Arena Football team and also hosts concerts, rodeos, circuses, motor sports, ice shows and many other events.

"They like the building, but they're looking for local investors,” Said Hughes.

Earlier this month, the Ice Bats announced that they are looking for a new arena and will not play in Austin next season.

The Ice Bats were very successful in their early days and were the first team in the now defunct WHPL to draw over one million fans by their fifth season in 2000-01.

Despite their successes on the ice, the teams’ attendance steadily began to fall and accelerated once the team moved after ten years from the 7,000 seat Luedecke Arena at the Travis County Expo Center to the much smaller Chaparral Ice Arena which seats about 2,000. The Bats had hoped that the central location of the Arena and lower operating costs would help with their financial problems.

"We had hoped that (the fans) would support us at Chaparral, but when they saw the venue that we were playing in, they said no," said team owner Randy Sanders who also owns the Amarillo Gorillas. Attendance was under 61,000 for the 2007-08 season. "It is not financially feasible for the Ice Bats to continue playing in Chaparral Ice, even though they have been a great supporter of our team." Sanders said.

With the Dallas Stars moving their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars to a brand-new $55 million, 6,800-seat multipurpose event center in nearby Cedar Park and with diminishing local media coverage and fan support, the Austin area has become less conducive to supporting a CHL franchise that is looking for growth.

The Wildcatter’s website states that local investors hope to bring a CHL franchise to the Beaumont area but details are yet undetermined. "There's been encouraging things, but when you get new people into the plan, they have new ideas, and it takes time to figure things out," said Sanders. Hughes said that Sanders could return to Beaumont soon and meet with more people for a chance to put a team in Beaumont for the 2009-10 season.

Hughes also said that Sanders had confirmed with him that the Ice Bats will sit out the 2008-09 season. “It wasn't a matter of terms. It's just he was unsuccessful in the time frame he had, which was a month, in finding a local investor."

Image Credit: Austin Ice Bats