G.M. leads effort to purchase Force; Triple Crown to keep minority stake

A partnership headed by Amy Snider, general manager of the Fort Collins Force semi-pro soccer club, has agreed to acquire controlling interest of the team from Triple Crown Sports.
Fort Collins-based Triple Crown, which also owns the Colorado Chill women?s professional basketball team, has owned the Force since 2000. Triple Crown will continue to hold a minority stake in the Force, which plays its league season during the summer.
?Triple Crown is going to be one of our main sponsors for the next three years,? Snider said. ?They are providing us with a field for practice and games.?
The Force is a member of the W-League division of the United Soccer Leagues. Snider was a co-founder of the club in 1997 and previously played for the Force before focusing on management.
In addition to taking control of the Force, Snider?s company ? tentatively called Force LLC ? will also operate a Triple Crown franchise in eastern Colorado and Wyoming. The franchise will run a summer 3-on-3 soccer league, as well as 3-on-3 tournaments and soccer training clinics.
Currently, Snider and her staff run the 3-on-3-soccer league and other soccer operations as Triple Crown employees out of the company?s corporate office.
The franchise relationship is in step with Triple Crown?s core business model, in which franchisees produce amateur sports events such as softball, baseball, basketball and in-line hockey competitions. Snider?s franchise would be the first in Triple Crown?s network to focus on soccer.
In fact, the summer soccer leagues could be the key to Snider?s new enterprise.
The Triple Crown 3-on-3 league had 80 teams in Fort Collins during its first summer of operation last year. This year ,Triple Crown expanded to 150 teams, including a league in Longmont. The business generated about $48,000 in revenue, and also created part-time jobs for Force players, who served as referees and league administrators.
Snider thinks the growth of the 3-on-3 league ? in which teams pay entry fees to play ? is sustainable.
?We?ve found a really good product with the league,? she said. ?It?s during the week so it doesn?t interfere with weekends ? It?s fun, and it?s developmental, but it doesn?t totally interfere with the summer.?
Among Snider?s near-term goals are to set up 3-on-3 leagues in the Denver area.
?I have talked to a few people to get more involved with the Force team so I can focus on the piece that really brings in the revenue,? she said. ?I feel like I have an opportunity through the 3-on-3 to actually have something that can really be a generator.?
A profitable 3-on-3 league could then help to sustain the Force, which is roughly a breakeven proposition.
This summer, the team brought in about $45,000 in revenues from gate receipts and sponsorships, of which $38,000 was spent on team expenses, including travel and a salary for the coach. Those expenses did not include administrative salaries paid by Triple Crown.
Triple Crown president Dave King said he hopes Snider?s experience with the 3-on-3 format can become fruitful to his national franchise network.
In fact, he?s agreed to pay Snider as a consultant to prepare a franchise manual for the soccer structure.
?Our goal is by September to introduce it (the soccer league and tournament model) to our existing franchise owners,? King said. ?If a number of them pick up the 3-on-3 league structure and 3-on-3 tournaments in their territory, it could allow us to do a national event.?
Triple Crown?s other sports all include regional qualifying tournaments and national championship tournaments.
Under the proposed agreement with Snider and her backers, King said he expects to retain 20 percent ownership in the Force team and the Triple Crown franchise.
Snider, meanwhile, has also formed a nonprofit 501(c)3 division called Force for Women?s Sports. The foundation-like group will raise money for scholarships and other charitable causes for girls.

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