MINOR (LEAGUE) INTEREST

Minor-league sports have blossomed into a major-league industry.

Indoor football is up to 70 teams and could double by next year. Professional basketball is exploding in the Midwest, targeting Missouri towns as small as Sedalia and St. Joseph for new teams.

Even hockey has saturated the South and Midwest, where three pro leagues are racing to enter untested waters.

Maybe it's no wonder Cape Girardeau -- with a potential fan base of 200,000 people within 40 miles -- holds so much appeal for a variety of leagues with expansion goals.

But the feeling may not be mutual.

"We've done nothing to pursue or support a minor-league franchise," said John Mehner, president of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce. "The population base is here for it."

Finding a financier, home, sponsors and long-term fan base are challenges that, so far, no one's ready to take on even though some local fans are ready.

"We'll support it," said Kay Riek, 25, a teacher. "We have so many Cardinals fans here, but I haven't even been to a game this year because those ticket prices are so high."

The Show Me Center, jointly owned by the city and Southeast Missouri State University, turned away the United Hockey League when it came to Cape Girardeau to look at a possible franchise three years ago. The problem, Mehner said, was that the building couldn't accommodate the league's plans to play a winter schedule.

The hockey games, as many as three dozen of them at home, would conflict with other events, including Southeast basketball. In addition, Mehner said, a quick survey revealed that a new professional team would compete for existing entertainment and sports ticket sales and sponsorship rather than develop a new fan base.

No studies were completed to determine economic impact on the city's restaurants, hotels or retail businesses, and not everybody is convinced the fan base exists.

"With about 60,000 people in the immediate area, that's stretching it thin to get support for a minor league sports franchise for a full season," Show Me Center director David Ross said. "If we weren't a college town and that were their only sports outlet, maybe we'd say yes."

Ross said the Center also has examined the possibility of indoor football and minor league pro basketball, but in addition to the fan base problem, scheduling during the winter could be a challenge.

"You'd have to take something out of the mix to accomplish it," Ross said.

The Show Me Center's sports arena was booked for 160 days in the last fiscal year. Groups reserved meeting rooms for another 158 days.

Place to call home

Frontier League president Bill Lee insists Cape Girardeau is a prime spot for an addition to his 12-team independent baseball league. The thriving River City Rascals in St. Charles and the first-year Gateway Grizzlies in Collinsville, Ill., both would provide geographic rivalries. A former St. Louis resident, Lee said Cape Girardeau is "a good baseball area."

"The market in Cape Girardeau is good," he said. "I'd like us to have a club in Cape Girardeau. Can it work? Yes. Would Cape support it? Yes."

Would it be costly? Definitely.

Lee estimated the cost of a new stadium with the league-required 3,000 seats could be as much as $8 million. A one-time franchise fee is "close to seven figures," Lee said. The team's typical operating budget would range from an additional $750,000 to $2 million annually.

Because the Frontier League is independent of Major League Baseball, its teams are wholly responsible for their expenses.

"The first step is getting the facility," Lee said, "and that's usually the big bugaboo."

Cape Girardeau's closest alternative to building a new stadium could be Capaha Field at Broadway and West End Boulevard. The baseball park, used now by Southeast Missouri State University in the spring and by the Capahas semi-professional team in the summer, could seat 2,000. There is room for expansion, says Parks and Recreation Department head Dan Muser.

More city-owned land in the new Shawnee Sports Complex could accommodate a new baseball stadium, but the mayor says the city council has never discussed funding for a new stadium.

"There would have to be substantial improvements at Capaha Field, and that's if the team chose to play there instead of pursuing a new park," Mayor Al Spradling III said. "We'd certainly be interested in exploring the option, whether it's baseball or an indoor team at the Show Me Center."

Trying to attract an independent baseball team could prove an easier task than luring a Major League Baseball-affiliated farm team. The major league's farm system includes 178 clubs from the largest Class AAA teams to the smaller-market rookie and developmental teams.

Cape Girardeau could gain a team through expansion or private purchase, said Southern League president Don Mincher, whose Class AA league includes the 3-year-old WestTenn Diamond Jaxx in Jackson, Tenn. "There's really no talk of expansion any time soon, and I don't know of any teams for sale."

But some sports fans believe a minor-league team affiliated with the majors would see more success.

"If you could attract people from Perryville, Sikeston and Southern Illinois, you might be able to support a minor-league team," said Matt Boxdorfer, 28, a Cape Girardeau sales representative. "Especially if the Cardinals or the Braves had a team here."

Taking it indoors

Representatives from at least three minor leagues said they could find a suitable home at the Show Me Center.

Dan Ciarametaro, whose Phoenix-based Western Professional Hockey League expanded east to Tupelo, Miss., three years ago, said Cape Girardeau is similar to other markets in which the league now thrives.

"We're discussing a merger with the Central Hockey League for next year, and that would make Cape Girardeau a nice fit for us," Ciarametaro said. "I didn't even realize they had an arena there. We'd certainly like to take a look at it."

Installing ice at the Show Me Center could cost as much as $1.5 million. Ross said the Center could accommodate ice as well as the turf for indoor football with little or no retrofitting.

The installation of either surface would drop seating capacity from 7,189 for basketball to 5,500 for hockey and football.

Ciarametaro and other league officials say 5,500 is a number with potential.

"A smaller arena works better for us," said Carolyn Shiver, whose National Indoor Football League began its first season in late March with 18 teams. As many as 35 cities have applied for new franchises.

"We're designed for small cities," she said. "We keep the initial investment down to teams that can put money into developing the market."

Paying the price

Franchise fees and operating costs vary from league to league. A WPHL team owner, Ciarametaro said, must pay a $1.5 million license agreement and have $300,000 for annual operating expenses. The NIFL is a less expensive option, Shiver said, since a $180,000 start-up fee pays for an entire operating system that includes a playing surface, dasher pads, advertising campaigns, television ads and uniforms for players and cheerleaders.

"You open a box and out pops a team," Shiver said.

Attracting an International Basketball Association club would require a $150,000 expansion fee with an annual operating budget of up to $600,000, although even the IBA's Brian Seimen said his league could be a tough sale against an existing winter basketball program like Southeast. None of the league's 10 teams share a facility with another basketball program.

And some fans wouldn't want to see a minor league compete against Southeast sports.

"It would be unfair to SEMO until their sports are fully supported," said Dr. Mark Hosler, a pathologist who is a regular at Southeast's football games.

Ciarametaro, Shiver and Seimen each said their leagues help interested cities find ownership groups and develop financing plans.

Making it work

Bringing minor league sports to Cape Girardeau could take the work of a regional sports commission, Southeast athletic director Don Kaverman said. The group, possibly modeled after one Kaverman was involved with in St. Joseph, would be responsible for attracting amateur, recreational and professional sporting events to the area.

"We have a captive audience here and a beautiful community whose infrastructure is constantly improving," he said. "This area supports athletics very well."

Stephen Powell, who has seen mixed results from his position with the Greater St. Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau, said any potential team and its investors should be examined closely. Know their motives and their plans up front, he said, and avoid the pitfalls that St. Charles knows firsthand.

"We've had minor league basketball, indoor football, hockey and soccer all move into St. Charles in the past three years," he said. "Only one of them is making it financially. Much of it comes down to how the team wants to market itself, and I'm not so sure some of our teams did that.

"My advice: Interview potential teams like you'd interview a candidate for a job. Your whole town's success as a reliable venue could depend on how that team does."