EVERETT – The most exciting action with the Everett Hawks did not occur on the turf Saturday night in their season finale against Spokane.
It came before the game when Michael Tuckman, a Seattle attorney and business entrepreneur, announced he’s acquired a 49 percent interest in the arenafootball2 team from owner Sam Adams.
Tuckman, introduced to the Events Center crowd prior to kickoff as team president, said he and Adams started discussions in February.
“A big part of the problem (in Everett) is Sam Adams is an absentee owner,” Tuckman said. “That’s why I got involved. Now you’ve got a real marketing guy – myself – as team president.”
The discussions between Adams and Tuckman developed into a business partnership known as West Coast Sports LLC. Tuckman said the organization intends to operate as many as five minor league sports franchises – including two af2 teams and three Continental Basketball Association teams – by 2010. Adams is the organization’s director of football operations and Tuckman is director of basketball operations.
In addition to the Hawks, the group expects to operate a CBA team known as the Everett Admirals by the 2009 season, but Tuckman stressed no lease agreement has yet been reached with the Events Center or Global Spectrum which manages the facility.
The CBA season runs November through March, but Tuckman said he did not foresee any major scheduling difficulties with the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League.
“It’s done all over the country, the Pepsi Center in Denver is a good example,” Tuckman said. “The Silvertips really run this building and we acknowledge that. They get first choice of dates, but they do have to go on the road once in awhile, so we can work around their schedule.”
Tuckman said he anticipates a CBA team in Everett will draw an average of 2,500 to 3,000 fans per game.
West Coast Sports also anticipates operating af2 and CBA teams in Kent where ground breaking for a new 6,000 seat arena is scheduled next month, Tuckman said. The WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds are scheduled to move to that facility during the 2008-2009 season.
Additionally, West Coast Sports will operate a CBA team in Vancouver, B.C., starting in 2010.
“Our business model is to operate football and basketball in multiple markets,” Tuckman said. “You get an economy of scale if you have one staff that operates both teams … you get more buying power and offer more inventory to corporate partners.”
Terms of the deal to purchase an interest in the Hawks were not disclosed, but Tuckman said he has contributed $500,000 in working capital to West Coast Sports.
Tuckman said much of that money was earmarked to revitalize the team, which has struggled on and off the field.
After averaging more than 4,000 fans per game in 2005 when the team played in the lower-level National Indoor Football League, the Hawks have had two consecutive losing seasons and have seen their attendance plummet since joining af2 in 2006.
Tuckman, who previously founded KONG-TV and was president and general manager of the station from 1993-2000, said he is well aware of the problems the team has experienced.
Tuckman said he and Adams spent the past several days meeting with sponsors and potential sponsors, assuring them the Hawks will be here for the long haul.
Tuckman indicated the team will soon move its headquarters to a Hewitt Avenue location in close proximity to the Events Center.
“Monday morning it starts all over again,” Tuckman said. “We’re going to have a whole different attitude.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
