ORLANDO, FLA – When Tim Kerr accepted the job of Chairman of the Board of Governors for the SPHL, he did so with the knowledge that he was being entrusted with the immediate future of the seven-year old league. Little did he know that it would lead him to making an even bigger financial investment than he ever imagined.
Last Wednesday, the SPHL announced that the former NHL star and owner of the Pensacola Ice Flyers had formed a group, Surge Ice LLC, to purchase the Mississippi Surge franchise from Coast Hockey LLC. The sale not only saved the franchise from closing but also added stability to the league ahead of possible expansion in the next 12-15 months.
“I really wasn’t looking to own another team but it (Mississippi franchise) is obviously very important to not only Pensacola but Louisiana and what we’re trying to do in the SPHL in growing,” Kerr said in a phone interview. “I believe Mississippi is a market like Pensacola and I certainly believe that it can get back on stable ground.”
Kerr’s Pensacola franchise was the lynchpin for the I-10 expansion that occurred in 2009. Despite the fact that the Ice Flyers were not signed, sealed and delivered until later that summer, the teams in Biloxi, Mississippi and Lafayette, Louisiana came along to reignite the fierce rivalry that the three cities enjoyed in the ECHL.
Since joining the SPHL, Pensacola has flourished at the ticket window. The Ice Flyers have averaged more than 3,000 fans per game each of their first two seasons. On the ice under the guidance of head coach Todd Gordon, the team has made the playoffs both years.
Mississippi’s major successes have come on the ice with a pair of William B. Coffey trophies as regular season champions. This past season, the Surge earned their first President’s Cup title, sweeping the Augusta RiverHawks in the finals.
The positive strides by the hockey operations staff were not shared by the front office. Attendance dropped from year one to year two despite the winning team, causing financial issues. Corporate sponsorships were also down. Even more surprising was the notion that members of the local ownership were not being as active as they could when it came to team operations. For Kerr the businessman, the situation was far from operable.
“I feel that I’ve had some success in minor league hockey with the businesses and the model that I tried to put in and certainly what I learned of the model in Mississippi certainly is not what I would do as far as the business side. The hockey side is easy. The business side is I would say the most difficult and the most important,” he said. “I think they had multiple owners that I don’t think had the time to go in and really manage it and work it to get it to the point where it would be on level ground.”
Kerr said that he was in contact with the Mississippi ownership who told him about the problems and their search for other investors. As more and more details were made clear, Kerr had to change his role from helping to fix the problems to buying the franchise outright.
“Obviously I knew they were having financial problems. It’s been a process. They were trying to find an investor through the process and they were unable to do that,” he said. “I was in contact with them, giving them my budget and how we had done things. They certainly did a lot of the right things but they were just never able to get over the hump of staying in. Obviously they didn’t want to throw any more money at it and that’s when there was a decision to be made – was Mississippi a market that we wanted to lose or was it something that we wanted to try to work at and get it back on stable ground.”
The answer to the question was a resounding yes. A big part of it is Kerr’s belief that Biloxi and Pensacola are more similar than they are different.
“I think it is the same type of environment for the teams. There’s not a lot that goes on in Mississippi or Pensacola in the winter time and both are areas where hockey was successful before. There’s a military presence in both spots,” Kerr said. “I think the real thing is believing that you can get marketed properly to get people to buy in and want to help keep hockey there for a while. I don’t think that was done (by the previous owners).”
Two of the things that Kerr wants to address initially are the attendance and lagging corporate sponsor figures. He noted that the on-ice success should help with that but that it is never a certainty.
“Their attendance is down. Their corporate partnerships are down. They are obviously two areas that need to get back on track. The team needs to be marketed the right way. I think it certainly doesn’t hurt getting back out there in the public and trying to create new corporate partners and season ticket holders when the team has been as successful as it has. That is certainly a bonus going in. The work that needs to be done is on the business side not the hockey side and hopefully that’s what we’ll be able to accomplish,” he said. “One of the myths in hockey is that if you have a winning team, people will come. That’s not necessarily true. You are always going to have your die-hard fans. It’s the ability to bring people in that wouldn’t normally come to a hockey game and hopefully create some fans. It’s something that needs to be done there.”
Since the announcement of the sale, many fans have wondered about how the day-to-day operations for both the Surge and the Ice Flyers will be handled. Kerr said that on the Pensacola end, he has complete faith in the staff that has guided the Ice Flyers to this point. He hopes to build the same thing in Mississippi but stopped short of guaranteeing that either the entire staff would stay or that a total house cleaning would take place.
“I don’t believe the fans (in Biloxi) will see much of a difference than what they’ve seen on the hockey side. Both Todd (Gordon, Pensacola coach) and Steffon (Walby, Surge coach/general manager) have been good coaches and they’re strong people in the community. They work hard at what they try to do. I’m more of the business side. Obviously we have calls every day with both offices. We’re working together to try to put a model in place that will change things (in Mississippi),” Kerr said. “I’m not going to sit here and say there’s not going to be any changes. I would say that everybody (in Mississippi) is going to get an opportunity to stay within the organization and to turn it around. Whether that happens where everybody stays I certainly wouldn’t be sitting here saying that there couldn’t be any changes but everybody is going to get the opportunity. We’re putting a plan in place to go out and execute. Everybody that works for both teams is accountable every day for what they do.”
Kerr said that he was appreciative of the support he has gotten from the other members of the Board of Governors in relation to owing the two teams. He said that everyone seems pleased with the safeguards put in place – Kerr only getting one vote on BOG matters and no trades between the two teams – to keep everything above board.
“I believe that the governors are comfortable with the situation. I totally understand the no-trade between the two teams and having one vote on issues. I have no problem with any of the things that they have done,” Kerr said. “Obviously my credibility is at stake in this just as the other governors are in working together. Actually it (stipulations) is the least of any concerns in moving forward.”
In the end, Kerr’s passion for the game and his wish to see the SPHL flourish and continue to grow far outweighed any selfish thoughts he could have easily had.
“A lot of the owners in our league have put in money to help other teams before that were struggling to continue. They’ve all kind of paid their dues. I look at this as a way that hopefully I can help the league sustain a good market with a team,” he said. “I have a lot of passion for the game. I have a lot of passion for these young kids that come up and want to work hard. I feel good about my ability to hopefully motivate and get the business side turned around to where these teams in the SPHL stay stable.”
Even if it means not knowing which team to root for when the Surge and Ice Flyers meet.
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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