October 2007 - The financial numbers were in, and the league had lost money. Not a lot, about $700,000 all told, but most of the teams had lost money, so there were plenty of unhappy owners. Even the Glacier Pilots lost close to $40,000. The only teams that made money were the Juneau Senators, Mat-Su Miners, and North Pole Nicks. The Goldpanners and Bucs led the way with losses around $250,000 apiece.
The owners decided to make some changes to economize for next season, while still trying to maintain fan excitement.
First, there would be a total reorganization of the Alaskan Training League. All teams would be relocated into the Tok-Fairbanks-Anchorage highway triangle to minimize travel costs. The panhandle teams objected strenuously to this decision, fearing a loss of fan loyalty in outlying areas, but Commissioner Paul Fulfer made the call, and it would have taken a majority of owners to veto his decision - the panhandle was outvoted.
Aerial view of Bethel
Second, the owner of the Valdez Vortex decided to move the club to Bethel. Bethel was a larger town, although somewhat more isolated, and the town had a bigger baseball field. (Incidentally, league bylaws actually prohibited the use of taxpayer money to fund stadiums - the owners thought they could build greater fan loyalty to the league as a whole if individual owners could not twist taxpayers' arms with the threat of leaving). Bethel would be the first Alaskan League team in the vast region of Western Alaska. The move was uncontroversial in itself, but the issue of divisional realignment was an extremely thorny one.
Geographically, Bethel should move into the Seward Division, while Mat-Su should probably be the team to switch to the Denali. However, the other Denali teams were not thrilled about the prospect of trading a losing club for the newly crowned league champions. The issue of divisional realignment was therefore postponed for a year, over the vociferous objections of the Bethel owner. Staying in the Denali would mean longer travel times for his club, but it was a take-it-or-leave-it situation, so he relented eventually.
The Vortex held a local vote over what to rename the club. The two options were the Bethel Mushers and the Bethel Huskies. As of this writing,
the vote is still ongoing.
Third and finally, the league bylaws were changed to allow the Commissioner a veto over any new player contract, including extensions. A two-thirds supermajority of owners believed that this radical step was necessary to keep player salaries from getting out of control. A particular concern was the decision by some owners to sign long-term contracts with players, some of them extending as long as six years. In a league with high uncertainty about the future and extreme revenue variability, contracts of this length simply seemed irresponsible.
Some of the players grumbled about forming a union, but the fact was that their biggest bargaining chips were: 1) their day jobs, which typically paid better but were more difficult, and 2) for the superstars, the possibility of success in the minors - and maybe a shot at the majors - in the Lower 48. The effort faltered.