Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - Fresh Start Challenge

revrew · 09-02-2014, 11:26 AM

It sounds simple, but this has proven more challenging than I expected. Making money the first and second seasons is not so hard, but then the desire to win, optimism about next year, or the desire to hang on to popular players or take that next ... little ... step, prove my undoing.

I've failed at this challenge 3 times and am now going on my fourth attempt.

The first time, I learned just how long and slow the process is of building a fan base, especially if you cut lousy but popular players (who knew cutting "fan favorites" can also devastate your attendance? I never really bothered paying attention before) and blew it by the third season. No problem; it was the first experiment.

The second time, I made it through the third season, but I was riding momentum, expecting to sell more tickets during the coming year, but when we lost some road games early in the season, it dampened fan enthusiasm, and we didn't sell as many tickets for the remaining home games. Curse you, scheduling gods! Finished 10-6, but attendance just didn't keep pace, and I lost $2 million. End of challenge.

The third time, I thought I had it figured out. By the third season, I traded the farm to draft a QB superstud who won the SuperBowl in his rookie season! But, oh, did the players want to get paid after that. I was pinching pennies, but in the attempt-to-repeat following season, I put up a 12-4 record and home-field advantage, so I figured I could grant fan favorite MJD the contract extension he was wanting and then franchise my stud LT the following year and thus, keep both of them for the next season. When the season concluded (we lost the AFC championship game), it turns out I lost money ... almost exactly the same amount as MJD's signing bonus. Aaaaaargh!

Now, it's on to my fourth attempt.

09-02-2014, 11:26 AM	#2
revrew Team Chaplain Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Just outside Des Moines, IA	It sounds simple, but this has proven more challenging than I expected. Making money the first and second seasons is not so hard, but then the desire to win, optimism about next year, or the desire to hang on to popular players or take that next ... little ... step, prove my undoing. I've failed at this challenge 3 times and am now going on my fourth attempt. The first time, I learned just how long and slow the process is of building a fan base, especially if you cut lousy but popular players (who knew cutting "fan favorites" can also devastate your attendance? I never really bothered paying attention before) and blew it by the third season. No problem; it was the first experiment. The second time, I made it through the third season, but I was riding momentum, expecting to sell more tickets during the coming year, but when we lost some road games early in the season, it dampened fan enthusiasm, and we didn't sell as many tickets for the remaining home games. Curse you, scheduling gods! Finished 10-6, but attendance just didn't keep pace, and I lost $2 million. End of challenge. The third time, I thought I had it figured out. By the third season, I traded the farm to draft a QB superstud who won the SuperBowl in his rookie season! But, oh, did the players want to get paid after that. I was pinching pennies, but in the attempt-to-repeat following season, I put up a 12-4 record and home-field advantage, so I figured I could grant fan favorite MJD the contract extension he was wanting and then franchise my stud LT the following year and thus, keep both of them for the next season. When the season concluded (we lost the AFC championship game), it turns out I lost money ... almost exactly the same amount as MJD's signing bonus. Aaaaaargh! Now, it's on to my fourth attempt. __________________ Winner of 6 FOFC Scribe Awards, including 3 Gold Scribes Founder of the ZFL, 2004 Golden Scribe Dynasty of the Year Now bringing The Des Moines Dragons back to life, and the joke's on YOU, NFL! I came to the Crossroad. I took it. And that has made all the difference.