Ownership change ready for Twisters
Posted on Thursday, November 20, 2008
Two central Arkansas businessmen have purchased the Arkansas Twisters, the Arena Football 2 team based in North Little Rock.
Jeff Everetts of Batesville and Jim Smith of Bryant have replaced Steve Clary and Jim Guy Tucker as majority Twisters owners, and are scheduled to be introduced at a news conference in the Twisters’ North Little Rock offices Friday.
Twisters President Jack Lankford and General Manager Mackie McDonald hold small shares of the franchise, McDonald said Wednesday. They will remain in their positions with the team, Everetts and Smith said.
Everetts, 52, owns and operates Background Information Systems in Batesville. Smith, 59, recently sold a Direct Buy franchise in Little Rock and owns one in Bentonville, along with other investment properties, he said.
“I’ve been a sports fan all my life, and the main [inspiration for purchasing the Twisters ], for me, Jim and everybody else, is to keep a professional football team in central Arkansas,” Everetts said. “It helps business in central Arkansas and helps raise taxes, but first and foremost, it was to keep its entertainment value to the community in place.”
Smith said he is a friend of Lankford’s and responded to Lankford’s request for help.
“I said, ‘No problem,’ ’’ Smith said. “ I’ve been going to the games for the last four or five years. I’ve been a sponsor, and it seemed like it’s a good purchase, too a good play toy and a good investment.”
Everetts said Lankford and McDonald will remain in their positions and Lankford will continue to run the franchise’s day-to-day operations.
“We’re not going to change any of the people in place,” Everetts said. “They have experience. They’re good people and they have done well in the past, and I don’t see any reason why they won’t continue to get better.”
The Twisters are one of three franchises in continuous operation since the AF 2, an indoor football league, was formed in 2000.
Clary, owner of Clary Development Co., and Tucker, the former Arkansas governor who resigned from that position in 1996 after a fraud conviction, purchased the Twisters in October 2004, but told Lankford in September they would sell their shares.
Lankford said Oct. 28 that he was confident the Twisters would secure new owners and play their 10 th season at North Little Rock’s Alltel Arena in 2009.
McDonald said he did not know Everetts or Smith before they said they were interested in buying the Twisters.
“I’m comfortable as hell with them,” McDonald said. “They’re the money guys. [Lankford ] and I are part of it. We’re the ones who know how things are going, but this is a go. It’s definitely a go.”
The Twisters have a record of 79-74 in nine AF 2 seasons and have made the playoffs five times, including the past three seasons. They advanced to the AF 2 National Conference championship game in 2003 and 2006.
Chris Siegfried, who coached Arkansas to an 11-5 record last season, has been retained for 2009 and will attend the news conference Friday, McDonald said.
The average per-game attendance at Twisters games at Alltel Arena peaked at 13, 766 in 2000. It dropped below 6, 000 in 2006 and reached its low last season with an average of 5, 218.
“I really don’t look a this as a gamble,” Everetts said. “We’re going into our 10 th year. We went to the playoffs last year. We have one of the best coaches in the league. I think we have every opportunity with our coach to bring a championship to central Arkansas. I don’t look at it as a gamble, just a chance at an investment in central Arkansas.”
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