It's been a month - what have we been up to in the Panthers' organization? Brian fills in some of the gaps and gives hints to the next steps we're about to take.
So it’s been almost a month since my last blog post. What’s been going on since then? We’ve had some good developments both in the Panthers’ organization as well as the NAFL in general.
First, there’s been some great news for the league – the Cleveland Buccaneers (Bucs) joined the league as the second team and we now know our first opponent. Chandler Holguin has started to sign players as well – good for him, and congratulations for his signees! It’s exciting to see the rosters begin to get filled.
Also in the context of Good News for the NAFL – the third team (or as I like to say, “Opponent #2”) will be announced next Monday night. I’m really excited to see how the league expands next as Ryan Connor, League Commissioner, keeps us owners in the dark about potential ownership negotiations – as he should, by the way! This is a business and he is trusting us owners to see to business and make this more than a hobby.
So in Fort Worth, what has developed? Most importantly, we launched our Team Store(https://shop.ftwpanthers.com) and released two items so far: our Inaugural Season T-Shirt and Panther Scream Face Mask! I will tell you that the mask is pretty cool – it’s also very distinctive when you’re in a crowd, as I’m the only one with bared fangs in a crowd of people when I wear the prototype!
Besides the swag additions, I’ve cleaned up some taxation issues and filed our initial sales tax reports. I’ve also heard back from the US Copyright Office on our logos and gotten those approved for copyright. Finally, as I indicated in my last blog, I did a lot of work on a sample contract, even to the point of getting an engagement letter from a lawyer for review. However, after the Buc’s came aboard, Chandler and I spoke and had a gentlemen’s agreement to do two things: honor each other’s tender offers and work together with the next owners to craft a standard league contract.
This let me do two things – get ready to sign players to tender offers and have a better legal review of our most important document, the contract. A tender offer in the NAFL is essentially an agreement to sign a player to a formal contract when the league finalizes one. It’s really only enforceable between owners by handshake, but I respect those kinds of business-friendly deals as things that advance the ball. I actually have two tender offers signed, but we’re waiting a bit while my marketing backdrop gets done and then I can have a couple of announcement videos made to introduce our players!
So what’s next? There are a couple of other swag items I’d like to put into the shop, like a water bottle, embroidered ball cap, collectable pins, and a sticker set. On the website side, I need to improve some of the pages (and post more blogs) with pictures and graphics, like the Floorball 101 page. Finally, I need to finish up my formal marketing plan – once we have four teams, I have two big deals to cut: the primary sponsor of the team and the venue in which we’ll play! I think I have a lot of great ideas to offer a primary sponsor, especially since I’m a marketing executive in real life and I know what they will be looking for in a sponsorship.
All in all, it’s another great day in the NAFL! Plus, we’re only eight months and one week away from the first weekend match! WOW –how fast time is flying. Until next time, my friends!
