Gladiators committed to winning in Vegas

Brian Hilderbrand

Wednesday, May 24, 2006 | 7:09 a.m.

Four years into their existence in Las Vegas, the Gladiators never have qualified for the Arena Football League playoffs and never have finished in the top half of the league in attendance.

But the outlook for the team is not all doom and gloom, according to general manger Dan Dolby. In fact, he said the future looks pretty bright.

"Attendance has increased over the past few years and our revenues are up over the previous three years," Dolby said, "but we need to put a winning product on the field."

Although the Gladiators struggled to their worst season on the field (5-11), the team posted its second-best attendance total (80,920 in eight games) this past season.

"We are happy, but we are not gushing," Dolby said of the team's attendance, which ranks in the bottom third among 18 AFL teams.

"Over and over in this community - I've seen it with numerous sports - if you're not putting a good, winning product on the field, people have a hesitancy to sit in the seats. (Fans) want to see a winner."

Toward that end, Dolby said, the Gladiators are in a position to spend more freely this off-season without the salary-cap constraints that hamstrung the team this year.

"We were just strapped - we spent every dollar that we possibly could against the cap, but unfortunately we were cleaning up a mess from a couple years beforehand," Dolby said.

Dolby and team owner Jim Ferraro also must finish weeding through about a dozen potential head coaching candidates to replace Ron James, who was fired with one game remaining in his second season as Gladiators head coach.

Dolby said he would like to have a head coach in place by the league's championship game, which will be played June 11 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"Mr. Ferraro is committed to this city and we will be here next year - that's not even a question at this point," Dolby said.

Dolby said he and Ferraro have a pretty good idea of the type of coach they will be looking to hire.

"It's somebody that has some coaching experience in the Arena Football League (and) it helps if they've played in this league," Dolby said. "It's somebody that has real leadership characteristics ... somebody that the players want to play for but will make the tough decisions also.

"It's also somebody that has what I call a community presence, somebody that will get out in the community and talk with our fan base, our potential fan base, our customers, our sponsors and really be an extension of the front office."

Dolby said the ideal coach also would have a keen eye for talent because the Arena Football League does not have a player draft.

Arena Football League rookies on the Gladiators' opening-day roster this season

29-35

Gladiators' overall record in four seasons in Las Vegas