SMOKY MOUNTAIN FRANCHISE INFORMATION

The 4BL is looking for serious businessmen and businesswomen determined to start a franchise for the Smoky Mountain team.

The Smoky Mountain team name has been selected.  The team colors are orange and white. 

Smoky Mountain will share its market with the proposed Knoxville team.

Smoky Mountain of course is a reference to the Great Smoky Mountains, with its beautiful scenery, and its diverse wildlife, from grizzlies to wildcats.

Sevierville hosts the Tennessee Smokies baseball team.  East Tennessee State has been a solid basketball program in the past in the Southern Conference, and currently play in the "mini-dome" in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Now you can help form a 4BL franchise to represent Smoky Mountain!

 

WHY BRING A 4BL FRANCHISE TO SMOKY MOUNTAIN?
  • We are a building an economic model that will withstand the "tough times," and prosper in better times.
  • We play mostly Saturdays, like semipro football, when it is most likely players are available to travel.  Games will be promoted with as much importance as football games.
  • We play in a league where teams are close enough to build strong rivalries.
  • Can partner with local colleges and high schools, as our season starts right when their season ends, maybe get boosters as owners in the 4BL.
  • Can partner with local semipro football teams, as our season ends right before their season begins, for real cross-promotion, maybe get semipro football owners to join us as owners in the 4BL.
  • Far less costly than arena/indoor football, roller hockey, or just about any other sport.
  • Less insurance liability than other sports.
  • Easier setup and changeover.
  • Uses equipment mostly already owned.
  • Fewer players needed to play, increasing quality of play in higher level leagues.
  • Fills your local venue with much needed Spring and Summer activity.
  • Increased potential revenue from ticket sales, parking, concessions, sponsorships, and more!
  • Brings more traffic for after game business in your downtown.
  • Game day promotions are taken very seriously in the 4BL.  We ENCOURAGE audience participation.  Lukewarm fans stay home!
  • Affordable to enter, affordable to play, affordable for fans.
  • We reject deceptive business practices, like false attendance numbers, false ticket sales, and giving out free tickets, which devalues our product. 
  • ALL teams will have secured a lease before gaining full entry in the 4BL.  The lease will contain provisions that protect the building, including guarantees of insurance and rent paid up-front.
  • We reject putting teams in venues that cannot possibly fill up.  It's better to have 1,000 fans in a 1,000-seat venue than in a 10,000-seat venue.
  • It is our policy that people who are untrustworthy have no place in the 4BL, ever!
  • We support and root for ALL LEGITIMATE minor basketball leagues! 
  • Each team will eventually have a "sub-league" of 4-6 teams in their city, in which players who didn't make the main 4BL team can compete to increase use of venue, increase your revenue, stay in touch with your community, and build a player reserve pool.

And most important of all:

OUR GAME WILL BE TO BASKETBALL WHAT ARENA FOOTBALL IS TO FOOTBALL, ONLY WAY COOLER!

With your franchise package comes:

  • Your own professionally done logo similar to the 4BL logo above.

  • Rights to advertising and ticket revenue for your team.

  • Immediate recognition in the community, which can help any other business venture you have.

  • A press conference for your team (once the franchise is granted, we try to announce both teams in the market at once to start building the rivalry immediately).

  • A website run for you by the 4BL.  (Must update the league with information.)

  • The youth outreach program and booster club the 4BL asks you to form by season two will greatly help the team directly and indirectly.

  • League advice on maximizing revenue with game day promotions.

  • A percentage of league advertising package revenue.

 

Each team has certain responsibilities, including but not limited to:

  • Must establish the team as a non-profit, LLC, or partnership, as permitted by state law.  No sole proprietorships or unorganized entities.

  • Must provide proof of facility rental, with lease and liability insurance paid up front, with sufficient dates to schedule a season.

  • Must provide 24 second shot clocks. 

  • Must adhere to our franchise agreement.  The 4BL takes this very seriously.

  • Must help establish (or 4BL can recognize if already existing in partnership) a non-profit youth outreach program by season two.

  • Must help establish a non-profit booster club to support the players by season two.

  • Must demonstrate the ability to recruit interns from sports management programs at local universities.

  • Must demonstrate ability to fully fund a season of play.

  • Must demonstrate ability to travel the teams to various cities to play.

  • Must demonstrate practice facility agreements (usually but not always the same as the game venue).

  • Must provide equipment and/or use equipment sanctioned by the 4BL.

  • Can partner with the other team in the market to accomplish most of these things.

  • The 4BL can offer cost-effective advice to accomplish all of these things.  That's what we are here for!

 

This is a startup league.  We know we're not "the big time."  (We believe in brutal honesty.)

We are building a league with teams the local communities will care about.

We know the game and concept is go great, with the right management, a well-run league will take off.

So we will run as professionally as possible and grow the game from the grassroots. 

People serious about starting a team from the ground-up only, please.

       If you would be interested in bringing a 4BL franchise to Smoky Mountain,

contact Dennis Justice at info@the4bl.com, or call (828) 681-0391.