Anaheim Indoor Soccer Franchise Folds

A month after opening offices and three months before it was to participate in the inaugural season of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, the Anaheim franchise is closing shop.

The club could not come to terms on a lease with the Anaheim Arena.

Brad Mayne, general manager of Ogden Corp., operator of the arena, said he was informed Wednesday the team will not play a 1993 schedule. A CISL source said the club’s five-person front office also was informed that day by owner Stu Lichter that he was pulling out.

Lichter, who could lose his $200,000 letter of credit and $85,000 in assessment fees, could not be reached for comment.

Mayne said he doubts Lichter is trying to gain concessions in lease negotiations, which had been ongoing since November.

“If he is,” Mayne said, “it didn’t work. I already pulled the dates out of the book.”

Ron Weinstein, founder and commissioner of the CISL, said he was unaware of Lichter’s decision.

“Wow,” Weinstein said when informed of Mayne’s comment. “(Lichter) told him he didn’t want to play, and Brad took the dates out of the book?”

Although employees are closing the Anaheim front office, Weinstein would not confirm the demise of the franchise, which was considered a cornerstone of what will now be a seven-team league.

“As far as I know,” Weinstein said, “that’s not true. It’s still up in the air . . . You’re catching me off guard. I never knew the door was slammed in Anaheim.”

But talk has been swirling since last weekend that Anaheim is out and that Weinstein is trying to replace the team with one in Atlanta.

Weinstein confirmed that placing a franchise in Atlanta is a possibility, but denied he is trying to kindle interest from the Southern city in the wake of Anaheim’s failure.

“I’ve been working on Atlanta since the beginning,” Weinstein said. “They’re a possibility.”

A source said negotiations in Anaheim hit a snag after Disney secured its lease for the Mighty Ducks hockey club, but Mayne denied that.

“I don’t think that’s the only reason,” Mayne said. “In fact, we had special language written into Disney’s contract to help the indoor soccer team sell dasher-board signage.”

But the CISL source said Ogden had virtually signed away all advertising rights in the building to Disney, and that the soccer team would be unable to adequately display its sponsors’ logos.

“Let’s not get into finger pointing,” Mayne said. “The team simply chose not to sign the agreement on the table. It’s unfortunate. We were looking forward to their 14 home games.”

Weinstein said the league’s other owners will go ahead despite a clause in the CISL’s operating agreement stipulating that a minimum of eight teams be fielded.