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THE San Jose Sabercats’ pending return to the Bay Area is a welcome breath of fresh air for a thin San Jose sports market

by Staff on Jun 30, 2010
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THE San Jose Sabercats’ pending return to the Bay Area is a welcome breath of fresh air for a thin San Jose sports market, where cash-strapped fans could soon have two indoor football teams to choose from.

Attendance figures for the San Jose Wolves are lower than the organization predicted, with the team drawing around 3,000 fans per game, according to head coach and general manager Bennie King. Despite the low attendance figures, King said that the team was in good shape financially.

“We’ll stay afloat,” King said. “First and foremost, when you start any organization, primarily here, you have to be financially stable regardless if you have five fans show up. We have a very strong ownership group that will allow us to stay financially afloat.”

The Wolves are playing in their inaugural season, and at 9-4 just clinched a spot in the American Indoor Football Association playoffs, but the team’s success may be overshadowed by the return of the Sabercats next season. King said the organization is focused on the playoffs for now and will concentrate on organization decisions in the off-season. The Wolves may drop the San Jose moniker come off-season.

“There are other buildings in this area that we definitely want to possibly pursue and that could possibly affect the name change as well,” King said.
The Wolves play at the Cow Palace in Daly City, about an hour’s drive from San Jose.

The Sabercats are part of the Arena Football League, which went out of business in 2008 and reopened under new ownership last year. The Sabercats were one of the best run AFL teams, winning three championships and consistently drawing more than 10,000 fans a game.

King said the Wolves had talked about making the jump to the AFL before the Sabercats announced their return to the league and the Sabercats return wouldn’t affect the Wolves’ decision.

“The Bay Area is big enough for two teams,” King said.

The team won eight of its first nine games, but has only won one game in the last four and that win came from a forfeit.

“We have had a rash of injuries during this run here,” King said. “We haven’t been executing like we had earlier in the season. We have to just handle our business, not turn the ball over and execute. Once we do that we will be fine.”

The San Jose Wolves play their last regular season game against the Wyoming Cavalry in Casper, Wyoming on Sunday, July 4.



by Staff on Jun 30, 2010
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