THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 5, 1995 TAG: 9511050223
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C12 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 177 lines
Bill Haase is executive vice president for the Shreveport (La.) Pirates of the Canadian Football League. The Pirates hope to play next season in Norfolk and plan to start a season-ticket drive late this week.
Haase, a Detroit native and a graduate of Western Michigan University, has been an accountant, served a tour in Vietnam with the U.S. Marine Corps, and was an executive with the Detroit Tigers for 18 years, including a stint as executive vice president.
He spoke for an hour recently with Virginian-Pilot sports writer Harry Minium.
You've been to Hampton Roads three times in the last two months. What are your impressions of the area and its enthusiasm for the CFL?
I haven't had a chance to talk with that many people, but there seems to be a real, genuine, basic enthusiasm for football and the prospects for CFL football among the people I have seen. I love the area. In our contact with cab drivers, people at the airport, people in restaurants, when you mention the word football, their eyes light up. I think it can be a real good match here.
What were you duties with the Tigers?
I pretty much handled everything at one time or another on the business side of the operation. I was involved in contract negotiations and all other business facets of running a sports organization, from marketing to your ticket department, your stadium and concession operations, television and radio, public relations, front-office staffing.
What are your duties with the Pirates?
All of the financial and accounting functions, the ticketing functions, public relations, marketing. I'm basically head coach of the business side of the operation.
How did you wind up in Shreveport?
The Tigers went through an ownership change in 1992 and at that time the owner decided to clean house. In fact, 25 people in one fell swoop found themselves on the streets looking for work. I was one of those people. I was out of professional sports for almost two years when I talked with a friend who told me that the Pirates were looking for someone with my background. We met and came to an agreement and so I moved to Shreveport, rolled up my sleeves and went to work. I never got my family moved there. I've been with the club for eight months.
Will you move your family here?
Yes I will. This is a place I think I could sink my teeth into, a place where I could transplant my roots. We want a long-term relationship with Hampton Roads. We want to call this home, throw the anchor in the water and stay here. To do that, we need to know that the community really wants professional football and we already sense that that's the case. We need to bring on board a lot of community leaders, the local political people. We want those people to join with us and say yes, we want the Pirates and professional football in the Hampton Roads region and we're willing to roll up our sleeves and get it done. In return, we want a long-term relationship. I know there's been a lot of talk about the Pirates moving from Shreveport. Believe me, it's no fun moving. It's one of the most stressful things that individuals go through, much less companies. We don't ever want to move again.
Pirates president Lonie Glieberman has come under a lot of fire for his management of the franchise in Shreveport. Some people there blame him for the team's failure. What went wrong in Shreveport?
It should be remembered that the Pirates moved into Shreveport in February of 1994. And even though I wasn't with the club, I've learned a lot about what happened. To try to launch a season-ticket campaign, to launch your operations, to bring in people who don't know anything about an operation like this, to get your coaching staff together, all in this short period of time, mistakes are going to happen. Lonie is the first to admit mistakes were made. They were honest mistakes. But since that time, they brought on Forrest Gregg, which was a tremendous move. He brings a lot to our team. He's slowly but surely brought in the coaching staff he's needed and wanted and has developed his talent on and off the field. Even though our record (5-13) wasn't the best in 1995, there was an improvement. Off the field, the Pirates had some problems, too. But most came from inexperience and start-up problems. But we've come a long ways. We've cleaned up our act internally.
Some in Shreveport said you didn't listen to the community and that you won't here.
We listened to the community and tried to get a feel for the market. If anything, we tried to do too many things. Sometimes when you try to please everybody, it's a sure way to fail. We lowered prices, we took over concessions ourselves and lowered prices there. We made it totally affordable while still trying to maintain a revenue base. We were involved in the stay-in-school program. We had players go to school to encourage kids to stay in school. Most of our games were televised and we had an extensive radio network. We promoted the team in every way we could. In the long run, I think maybe numbers were against us.
Do you think that was the bottom line, that Shreveport was just too small to support a CFL team?
I really do. From talking to a lot of people in the area there confidentially, they believe the same thing. It's a great community. The people were good to us, the city administration was great to us. It just wasn't a fit and didn't work. If you don't have the people in sufficient numbers to support you, then it isn't going to work. You can't keep pouring money into something where you know it's not going to get better.
What kind of boss is Glieberman?
Lonie is a good boss and a good person, and a lot of the criticism I've read of him here has been unfair. Lonie by his own admission becomes a little impatient and impulsive. He kind of looks to me to be that equalizer to say, ``Let's sit down and talk about this,'' to make sure we do the right thing. You can't question the man's honesty and integrity. His heart is in the right place. Sometimes he tries to explain things to such an extent that people get confused and misinterpret what he's trying to say. But everything he says comes from the heart.
Many in Hampton Roads are cynical about pro sports teams, especially those run by outsiders, because of some bad experiences. The Virginia Squires were run by an owner who made money by selling players, such as Julius Erving and George Gervin, then left town. A World Football League team set up shop here, hired Jack Pardee as coach, then went out of business before the season began. We had three hockey teams fail and the old Norfolk Neptunes were successful at the gate, yet went under. How do you overcome that cynicism, especially since your team is moving from Shreveport after just two seasons?
It's difficult to bridge that, especially when people have gone through that more than once. But I think it's something that can be done. We need to talk to the leaders in the community, to find out what we need to do to make sure people understand we won't be here today, gone tomorrow. We don't want that. We want stability. We can't continue to move around the country. It costs a lot and it does not provide stability. We want a long-term solution to football in Hampton Roads.
Glieberman has said you will soon start a season-ticket drive and that you need to sell 15,000 to ensure you'll succeed here. What if after three weeks you've only sold 2,000 season tickets? Is it too late to go to another market, such as Milwaukee?
I look at what this team went through in 1994 and know we don't want to be in that same position again. We don't want to move somewhere in February. Obviously, if things don't work out in one community, it's never too late to look. If after three weeks we've only sold 2,000 tickets, then we have to take a serious look at ourselves. But we're here because we think it will work here, because we want it to work here and we're going to do everything we can to make sure it happens.
Had you heard of Hampton Roads before coming here?
No. I'd heard of Norfolk and Virginia Beach. I also understand that Hampton Roads is somewhat of a new concept in trying to bring the region together. I think it's a great name and has an awful lot of attraction to people.
Will the team be called Hampton Roads? We've heard that Norfolk and Virginia are names you've considered.
We've kicked that around a lot. We've had as many names on the wall as you can think of. But when it comes down to the final analysis, we want to talk to the people in this region who know the community best to be sensitive to what fits the community. We're not coming in with any preconceived notions as to how this should be done or what should be done. We want to reach out and solicit input from those in the community who live here and work here to do the right thing.
Will Pirates be your nickname? There is an awful lot of sentiment here for your team to be called the Neptunes.
We like the name Pirates. And as we understand it, there is some history here that would support that. We think it could be a natural.
The CFL is having major problems. Most, if not all, teams are losing money, especially those in the United States. Will the league solve its problems?
The CFL has been around for over 100 years but has only been in the United States three years. Anything new will have heartaches, headaches and growing pains. That's what the CFL is going through. But the dedication is there.
Hampton Roads is not a united area, but most especially, there is a gap between the Peninsula and Southside. Will you make some special efforts, including holding some practices or perhaps put a satellite office on the Peninsula, to market your team across the water?
Absolutely. It makes sense to do all of those things. We're looking at this region as one community. A body of water should not be a dividing line between people sharing professional sports. Whatever we can do to bridge that gap and make people feel this is a total community team, that's what we intend to do. We want everybody to feel that this team belongs to them.
Do you know Hampton Roads Admirals president Blake Cullen and Norfolk Tides general manager Dave Rosenfield, and what kind of relationship will you have with the area's other pro sports teams?
I know of Dave, but have not met him. I have met Blake Cullen, though it's been quite a few years. I think a lot of Blake Cullen. What he has done with the Admirals is well known. The Tides have been here a long time and have always had a first-class organization. I think it's essential to develop a good working relationship with both organizations. Lonie and I have talked about how to get together with them, to let them know we're here to be part of the community, to let them know that we're not here to threaten anyone. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
JIM WALKER/The Virginian-Pilot
Pirates executive vice president Bill Haase: ``We're here because we
think it will work here.''
by CNB