Rich and looking for a tax write-off?  Buy the Indiana Firebirds

            By Ross Leslie, THG Sports

September 12, 2004

The Arena Football League’s (AFL) Indiana Firebirds are up for sale.  Owner Dave Lageschulte has shut down the team after running it into the ground after only two years. 

The franchise had celebrated 13 years of financial success under other owners in Albany, New York and Indianapolis. 

Lageschulte is looking to sell the Firebirds to the highest bidder in hopes of cutting some of his losses.  He estimates the team has lost several million dollars under his ownership.

Think you can do a better job than Lageschulte?  You can purchase the team for a bargain-basement price if you meet the league’s criteria.   Normally it costs around $16 million to buy an AFL team.  As of this writing, the highest bid Lageschulte has received on Ebay.com is just over $2.7 million.  Bidding ends on Thursday at 3:55 pm.    

AFL rules state an owner must have $60 million in net worth and be approved by 75 percent of the board of directors.  You must also have $6 million dollars available at your disposal to run team.

Come on rich guys (and gals); what do you have to lose?  Even if you are as inept as Lageschulte at running the team, the worst that can happen is you lose a few million bucks.  This would be a drop in a bucket if you meet the league’s ownership criteria.  At least you would have a shot of being a poor man’s Jim Irsay. 

To place a bid on the Indiana Firebirds, click on this link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2024&item=5519718868&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

For more information about the Indiana Firebirds, check out their website (if it is still running) at www.firebirds.com.

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