Finally, area football crazies will have something to fill the void left by the end of each Ravens? season.
The Great Lakes Indoor Football League has announced plans for the Chesapeake Tide to enter the league as one of two expansion teams for the 2007 season, which will kick off next spring.
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League co-founder Eric Spitaleri, along with Tide owner Martin M. Johnson, made the announcement at a news conference last week at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, where the Tide will play all of its home games.
“It?s not easy to get out of the game once it?s in your blood,” said Johnson, 37, who played football at Salisbury University and then for the semi-pro Anne Arundel Admirals.
“The itch is still there. This is a great thing for the community.”
This season?s six-team GLIFL will wrap up its inaugural season with the Great Lakes Bowl championship game July 2.
Next season, the league will add the Tide and the Muskegon (Mich.) Thunder.
According to the league?s Web site, the GLIFL promises to “deliver fast-paced, action-packed football” with a 7-vs.-7 style that?s played on a 50-yard field.
“When you see this game, you realize how exciting it is,” Johnson said.
The league-wide average for combined points per game is a staggering 82.
Johnson said the average ticket price will be in the high teens, and no ticket will exceed$30.
In the Show Place Arena, which holds about 4,500 people, league Director of Media Relations Josh Stein said attendance is expected to exceed the 2006 league average of 2,400.
The original six franchises are the Battle Creek (Mich.) Crunch, the Lehigh Valley (Pa.) Outlawz, the Marion (Ohio) Mayhem, the Port Huron (Mich.) Pirates, the Rochester (N.Y.) Raiders and the New York-New Jersey Revolution, which plays all of its games at opponents? arenas.
Tide File
Owner: Martin M. Johnson
General Manager for football operations: Jeff Golas
Home arena: Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro
