Region ready for some football

Last edited 2:17 p.m., June 3, 2024 [Editor's note: A photo misidentified Danielle Rapp. The image has been removed.]

The Ozarks Lunkers were scheduled to take to the field for the home opener of their debut season June 1 against the Iowa Woo.

Committed to toss the coin before the start of action was College and Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith, a three-time Super Bowl champion for the Dallas Cowboys.

A sneak peek of the Lunkers was offered to a select audience at a preparation and scrimmage event May 28. Mark Burgess, owner of the six-on-six arena football team, greeted visitors at the entrance.

“Right now, they’re trying to get the referees a chance to look at what the plays look like – what the field looks like,” he said.

Laid out on the concrete floor of the arena for the first time, the 50-yard field’s 10 five-yard turf segments alternated between spring and forest green with the logo of the helmeted largemouth bass, Lunky, at midfield. The end zones were bright red – Burgess’ favorite color, according to Vice President of Team Operations Monica Henderson.

Henderson owns 10% of the team to Burgess’ 90%, Burgess said during the Springfield Business Journal 12 People You Need to Know interview series last month.

For the game, padded dasher boards will surround the playing surface to protect players headed out of bounds.

Practicing in their workout gear were the 15 players on the roster and the six-person Lady Lures dance squad. After the scrimmage, as players filed out – a few with family members in tow – they retrieved their brand-new uniforms from boxes.

Asked about the teams’ investment in uniforms, Henderson said that was one of the expenses covered through sponsorship or advertising exchange.

“We tried to do a lot of trades to keep our costs down,” she said.

Players’ kits cost approximately $1,000 apiece, according to Burgess. According to past SBJ reporting, team members will earn a minimum of $200 and a maximum of $400 per game, and the team has a roster budget of $4,500 per game.

The team’s website offers logo opportunities on the field itself and on the dasher boards – the padded side walls to be erected during game play, though they were not in place for the scrimmage, as well as on banners throughout the arena. Other sponsorship opportunities are on the game ball itself and on player jersey patches, as well as printed items. In-game promotions were also available.

“There’s always a place to put advertisements or pictures, and there’s always places to hang banners – we can take everything we can possibly get, and we need it,” Burgess said, declining to disclose his or sponsor investments.

The Lunkers website lists 63 sponsors, ranging from an official hotel (Oasis Hotel & Convention Center) and dentist (Elevate Dental Studio) to restaurants like Nakato Japanese Restaurant, ReRico Brazilian Grill and El Purple Burrito.

Support needed
Burgess said the team needs support to keep it in place – in the newly opened Wilson Logistics Arena and in Springfield.

“Ticket sales alone are not going to keep it here,” he said. “We need sponsorships, we need ticket sales, we need people to come to the game.”

At the time of the preview, Burgess said about 2,500 seats were spoken for, including seats and the field boxes offered through sale or in exchange for sponsorships. The arena boasts regular seating for 6,300 on its website.

“Maybe you bought a big sponsorship and I gave you a field box or I gave you eight seats – it’s kind of that co-mingling type of thing, and then we anticipate quite a few walk-ups as well,” he said.

Burgess said taking in a game would be a perfect outing for a business.

“It’s a circus wrapped around a football game,” he said.

Individual tickets start at $15, or $10 for children ages 3-12, with children 2 and under admitted free. Other single-ticket pricing ranges $25 up to $250 for box seats. Season tickets for four games range $90-$6,000.

The games offer opportunities for family fun, Burgess said, noting the first game would feature a dinosaur on site from the Discovery Center, and Disney Princesses would be inviting kids to dance with them on the field. Additionally, a pontoon fishing boat sponsored by Bass Pro Shops will be raffled off to support Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks, he said.

Burgess, who owns jet charter company Burgess Aircraft Management LLC, doing business as OzAir Charter Services, as well as other local businesses, said he expects the spectacle to be a draw – both to the games and, on a larger scale, to the region.

“We did this to add something else for the economy in Springfield,” he said. “It’s hard to get employees right now – everybody’s having trouble getting employees, so every city wants to give as many things as they can to businesses to say, ‘We’ve got professional football, we’ve got professional baseball’ – it checks all those boxes, right? We’ve got a symphony, we’ve got a nice performing arts center – all that stuff is something that employees will come around for.”

He added that some businesses are eager to buy blocks of tickets for their employees.

“It’s a very inexpensive thing to reward your employees with,” he said. “You get all these people in the stands, and it’s good PR for you.”

Danielle Rapp, marketing and communications manager for SRC Holdings Corp., said SRC has purchased 250 tickets for the July 13 home game against the Kansas City Goats.

“We try to do these things for our associates in the community when we can because they hold so many leadership and volunteer roles throughout the community – they go above and beyond, on boards and as Little League coaches and things like that,” she said. “It’s a way to give our associates a way to have fun in the community.”

SRC associates also take outings to Springfield Little Theatre performances and Springfield Raceway events, she said.

“It’s a way to say thank you to them, and it’s also a great way to support other businesses in the community and help them thrive,” she said.

Rapp said the outings also help to encourage retention of the company’s employee-owners.

Ready to go
It’s the inaugural season for The Arena League, which has four teams in 2024: the Springfield-based Ozarks Lunkers; the Duluth, Minnesota-based Harbor Monsters; the Kansas City Goats; and the Waterloo, Iowa-based Iowa Woo. Two more teams, based in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and Eau Claire, Wisconsin, have signed on to join the league in 2025.

The league will host a nine-week regular season, culminating in a championship game called ArenaMania, set for Aug. 10, according to The Arena League’s Facebook page.

Former Indoor Football League Commissioner Tommy Benizio of Dallas provided financial backing to get the league going and is listed as league adviser. TAL commissioner and chair is Tim Brown, former wide receiver in the National Football League.

Burgess said he is hearing a lot of enthusiasm in the community for the team itself and for the first game and the appearance by Smith, a football legend.

He said Smith was a good get, made possible by a relationship between the NFL veteran and trucking company Wilson Logistics Inc., for which the team’s home arena at the Ozarks Empire Fairgrounds is named.

“He’s coming in to do some stuff with Wilson Logistics that weekend, and so we’re going to fly him up here and then he’ll do this for us,” Burgess said.

Most of the Lunkers players come from the area, Burgess said, and many have experience playing for Division I or pro teams.

Jackson Mitchell of Rolla said he played some semipro ball last season, and before that he was a Mule at University of Central Missouri.

“I am a linebacker, D-line, a little bit of nickel – they just move me wherever they need me,” he said.

Mitchell called his experience so far with the Lunkers “off-the-charts awesome,” noting the organization is very professional.

“Our GM definitely prides himself in creating a cool experience for us,” he said, referring to Caleb Scott. “He said from the jump he was going to be all about player experience. He’s held true to that, and it’s been awesome.”

The Lunkers’ head coach is Cam Bruffett, who was hired as head coach of the Parkview Vikings high school squad before the 2023 0-10 season.

Bruffett also has playing experience as a former defensive back in the Arena Football League and as a four-year player for Evangel University.

Bruffett said he takes an academic approach to the Lunkers coaching position, since there is no precedent for it within the brand-new league. He said he is enjoying the Lunkers experience.

“From top to bottom – the ownership, the staff, anyone that’s helped with the Lunkers, they’re all top-notch, and it’s been a real joy to be part of it,” he said. “Mark Burgess is as good as it gets.”

Bruffett said the team fills a gap in Springfield, which he said he would classify as a sports town, with college teams and the Springfield Cardinals whetting audiences’ appetites.

He noted the team’s prospects for the first game were good.

“We’re fully prepared,” he said. “The past two weekends we’ve had camp, and we’re ready to hit someone else at this point.”

Bruffett said he is excited for the launch of the league.

“It’s pretty fascinating to see what occurs on Saturday, because you can’t Google what this game is. It’s solely up to the mind of the head coach, and we’ll see who prepared and who’s ready to go,” he said.

His own team is ready, he said.

“I think I would go on the record saying I know more about six-v.-six pro football and the rules in this league than anybody,” he said.

“Our players are well equipped for every situation, and I think that will be on display Saturday.”