Schaumburg Flyers: The Madden Curse Has Nothing On This

My last venture in the independent baseball world dealt with how, out of all the Independent leagues that are now in play, one champion can be determined and whether that was even a possibility. 

Now that the baseball season is nearly upon us, the news is fast and furious, good and bad. 

The Schaumburg Flyers of the NAL are literally a team without a home after receiving their eviction notice to leave Alexian Field. A deadline of March 6 to find a new home is bad enough; on top of that, a court order states the Flyers are nearly $600,000 in debt. 

It’s not like this appeared out of nowhere. The village and park district sued the club for almost $1,000,000 earlier in the offseason.    

The Flyers, with no home and drowning in unpaid rent, leave the North American Baseball League with a unique problem: Finding a new team to fill the void on very short notice. 

Bringing together three leaders in the indy industry—Golden Baseball League, Northern League and United League—under one roof is a tremendous achievement.

Unfortunately, losing a franchise and trying to establishing a new one at the same time does make you wonder if the new league can conquer this mountain. 

Reports in the Daily Herald state that a sale is imminent, giving us some hope that all or some of the schedule can be salvaged. 

It’s unfortunate for Schaumburg and the community. This is just another example of how hard it is to run a successful Independent franchise. Despite a long run of consistency, the Flyers are one of many befuddled by this bad luck or curse that doesn’t discriminate. 

We will find out in days who the mystery buyer is and a seamless transition is one that I’m sure everyone is hoping for. 

Devon is the founder of The GM’s Perspective