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Marcum 'My No. 1 Man' Nucci says

Tribune file photo by JASON BEHNKEN

Tim Marcum thinks the Tampa Bay Storm's days are not over.

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By EDDIE DANIELS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 3, 2009

TAMPA - If Arena Football League returns to action in 2010, Tampa Bay Storm owner Bob Nucci says Tim Marcum will most likely be on the sidelines as coach.

"If we come back, Tim is always a consideration," Nucci said in a telephone interview today, speaking from a symposium he's attending overseas. "A lot will have to do with where Tim is at that point in his life and career, but he's always been my No. 1 man. And I'll always be considering him at the Storm. What exactly will happen, it's too soon to tell."

Some media had reported that Marcum, who has more wins than any other coach in the league, would be out if the league revived.

"I am hopeful the Storm will come back; it's really up to the Arena Football League to decide," Nucci said.

After the league canceled its 2009 season in December, Nucci told Marcum in March he could only pay him for 120 more days. Day 120 passed on Tuesday with Marcum continuing to stay busy — albeit without pay — at the Storm's office in the St. Pete Times Forum.

A league comeback for 2010 may hinge on whether the 15 team owners sign a collective bargaining agreement offered by the league's Players Association. The association says the owners would have to sign by July 15 to put the league on the field next year.

Marcum said the league could return by next season even if the owners don't sign by July 15.

"I think it can. I think each and every one of those [owners] could start up," Marcum said. "It's just about ESPN. Shoot, we'd have no problem getting players. So if they tell us in November, we can play in March or April."

What would it take to make that happen?

Marcum says three factions of owners need to come together: one that just wants to play; another that wants a centralized business plan; and a third that doesn't want a centralized business plan.

"Trying to put those three together has been very, very difficult," he said. "But they're still working on it and you know what? Until they officially say no, I'm going to keep believing that that glass is half full."

According to some, the AFL's then 17 owners lost a combined $41 million last season. Two of those teams, Los Angeles and New Orleans are now defunct. How could a league that had a boost in attendance and ratings on ESPN in 2008 lose that much money?

Because many of those in attendance didn't pay for their tickets. The Tampa Bay Storm gave away thousands of free tickets in February and March 2006, including 9,365 freebies out of 16,315 distributed tickets for a Storm-Georgia Force game on Feb. 10.

It probably wasn't the only team boosting its audience that way.

When the big player and coach contracts began to multiply in 2004, Marcum said he started to worry about the league's financial future.

"I worried about it, especially from the time I saw all of the things that were happening with the union," Marcum said. "You look around and say, how many more years can this happen? How many more years can we stay in business if this is what's going to happen?"

After the Storm won the 2003 championship, Marcum pointed out, six of his players left to pursue big contracts. Four of those contracts were for $100,000-plus. Marcum said the players should get what the market will pay, but he worried it might break the league.

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