Ozarks Lunkers pick up victory for season opener

Season two for the Ozarks Lunkers launched May 31 with a win at Wilson Logistics Arena in Springfield.

The Lunkers narrowly defeated the St. Joseph Goats, 54-50, in the closing moments, providing a thrill for the home team’s fans.

“The first game went great,” General Manager Stacie Wells said via text. “Big win all the way around – an incredible last-second catch in the end zone to clinch it, and amazing fans who came out and stayed loud to support the team.”

Official attendance figures weren’t shared by Lunkers officials by deadline. The arena, which is at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds, has a 6,400-person capacity and is leased by the team each season for an undisclosed amount, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. The team averaged roughly 3,000 people in its home games last season, officials said.

In its debut season, the Lunkers, which are part of The Arena League, compiled a 3-6 record. Its first game opponent, the St. Joseph Goats, relocated from Kansas City for the second season of the six-team football league, which expanded this year from the original four squads.

Saturday’s game was the first of four home contests for the eight-game schedule of the Lunkers, who won’t be back at Wilson Logistics Arena until June 28 for a matchup against the Hot Springs Wiseguys.

While Lunkers officials declined to disclose season ticket sales, Vice President of Team Operations Monica Henderson told SBJ in March that nearly three-quarters of the available field box seats for the upcoming season were sold. At that time, Henderson, who also is a minority owner, said only 11 of the 39 field boxes, which contain eight seats and surround the field, remained available. The price is $6,000, and the field boxes are sold only as season ticket options. The field boxes come with free valet parking and waitstaff.

Wells said there were still a few field boxes left for upcoming home games but didn’t have a solid number by deadline.

“For this game, they were all full because we upgraded some of the fans,” said Wells, who was hired in January, replacing first season GM Caleb Scott. “That won’t necessarily happen for future games because we had a few reach out about their availability after seeing how close to the action they are.”

In March, team owner Mark Burgess declined to disclose revenue but said the Lunkers finished last year in the black.

“We’re not talking about acquisition costs and all the stuff we had to put in to get going. But operationally we ended up in the black,” he said. “We obviously didn’t make a ton of money, and we gave a lot of that money back to our players at the end of the year as more of a profit sharing-type thing.”

He said building on last year’s financial performance by adding more sponsors and boosting attendance, “hopefully, we’ll push well into the black this year.”

The Lunkers website lists roughly 40 sponsors, including Gold Mountain Communications LLC, Retro Metro and Rick’s Automotive Inc.

Coming off a season-opening victory, the Lunkers are hitting the road for the second game, heading to Wisconsin to play the Eau Claire Axemen.

“The coaches and players are fired up and ready to keep it going,” Wells said.