Q & A with EPHL Commissioner Jim Riggs, Part I

I had the luxury of chatting via-telephone with EPHL Commissioner Jim Riggs this past Wednesday and for nearly a half hour, we discussed what’s in store for the league.

Here’s the first part of that interview, with the next part to follow sometime during the upcoming week.

Aces Over Brooklyn- What is going on in terms of the expansion process the league is involved in?

Jim Riggs- Well, it’s actually a couple of things. First of all, we finished the year with four teams and we’ve been telling people that we’re going into the new season with at least four teams and maybe more. That is what we’ve been truly working on since the end of the regular season. The process, I will admit, has been slower than we would have liked, but I think we are dealing with something that no other minor league has to deal with.

AOB- What kind of things?

Riggs- I don’t want anyone to pull out their violins and cry me a river, but when we started this league, it was under the idea that we were going to try and emulate the Southern Professional Hockey League. I’ll be the first to admit that we’re not there yet. But as the league grows, hopefully we can get to that level. I was a part of the startup of that league and there are some very fine people that operate that league, who operate knowing that it is a business. I think our people are slowly, but surely learning that this more than just running a hockey team and that there’s a business side. [Brooklyn Aces Owner] Alan Friedman is a great example of someone who understands this process and despite the fact that he’s the biggest hockey fan in that area, he understands that it’s a business, dedicated to selling tickets and building corporate sponsorships.

With that being said, starting all the way back in late February and late March, we wanted to start this New England Division as I call it. Since the end of the season, I’ve been on three trips, speaking to people in New England, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. We have two or three legitimate ownership groups up there, but the hard thing is to convince buildings that have been traditionally recreational type buildings, if they want a minor league hockey team. Most of them have said yes, but then getting the building to understand that it’s a little different than renting ice to a youth hockey program or an adult hockey league. Professional teams have some very specific requirements like being able to practice three or four days a week. We are also trying to focus on getting 90-95 percent of our games next season, in all of our markets, to be played on Friday, Saturday and after football season, some Sunday afternoon games. We want to get away from the weeknight games as much as possible.

So again, we’re in a process where we’re trying to get buildings that aren’t used to working with professional teams or a league before, to understand our needs. Sometimes that process takes longer than some of us are frankly used to. Whether people want to accept it or not, it’s just the truth.

AOB- Speaking of the people, many fans have wondered why there haven’t been more announcements on the website. Can you answer that?

Riggs- I don’t think it’s beneficial to announce that we’re talking to a specific building or ownership group because that may scare somebody off. A lot of people like to negotiate under the radar and if it happens, it happens, if not, no harm no foul.

AOB- Are you optimistic that the league will be expanded next season?

Riggs- I am. I had a couple of phone conversations today with an ownership group from New England. The last group has been going over a lease with a building trying to work out the finer points of it. Is the lease done? No, but they told me today that they are very encouraged. There’s another group in Massachusetts that I met with last week, actually at the proposed arena, that needs to only be signed off by one guy. It’s hard to get people to understand that this is a different kind of animal, but on the plus side, as many saw last year with Aviator, a building can get a lot of positive publicity out of this. It’s just a matter of explaining this whole routine to people, that we’re not just going to come into a building and play a bunch of games, we’re going to try and promote the heck out of it. We definitely want to do more of the promotions we did last season with Nick Fotiu, Ron Duguay and Howard Stern for the upcoming year. In return, these buildings will get more publicity.

Stay Tuned for the rest of the interview where Riggs discusses the situations with the Danbury Mad Hatters, the Hudson Valley Bears and more!

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