Predators Indoor Football League team to Kent: We’re coming back for season 2

A co-owner of the Kent Predators professional Indoor Football League team said the team will return for a second season at the ShoWare Center.

“I’m willing to say we’re coming back,” said Predators co-owner Ken Moninski in a July 6 phone interview. “Everything is in place to do that.”

Moninski met last week with Tim Higgins, ShoWare general manager, to discuss the future of the team.

“Based on my discussions with Ken, I am very confident they will be back next year,” Higgins said. “I’m excited. It was a really good meeting. It’s going to be a good year next year.”

The Predators finished the 2010 season with a 5-9 record after a 49-42 loss June 12 at Fairbanks. They were fourth out of five teams in the Pacific North Division and failed to make the 16-team playoffs in the 25-team league.

The Predators drew an average of about 2,000 fans per game at the ShoWare Center. They played seven home games from March through June at the 6,000-seat arena.

Moninski co-owns the team with Chris Kokalis. Kokalis said in an interview last month with the Reporter they needed a few weeks to figure out whether to return the team to Kent.

“Our plan is to come back,” Moninski said. “We have asked the ShoWare for dates for next season.”

Moninski said he also has talked to the coaching staff, including head coach William McCarthy, about renewing their contracts for 2011.

“We have that in motion to bring them back,” Moninski said.

The Predators plan to resign many of the same players.

“Under league rules, we have the first right to resign players on our roster for 2011,” Moninski said. “We were pretty happy with the team so our intentions are to bring the majority of the players back.”

Moninski said the team also expects to hold tryouts prior to next season in an effort to find a few new players.

Moninski, of West Seattle, owns Tukwila-based Global Aircraft Services, a company that provides flight crews and logistics for the managed movement of commercial aircraft around the world.

Kokalis is president and chief executive officer of CKME Group Marketing & Entertainment, a full-service marketing firm with offices in Milwaukee, Wis., and Los Angeles.

Kokalis and Moninski also are two of the three owners of the La Crosse (Wis.) Spartans, which joined the IFL in November. The cost of a franchise is about $300,000.

Moninski said he took a more active role in overseeing the Predators part way through the season while Kokalis focused on the La Crosse franchise.

The IFL, based in Richmond, Va., was created in 2008 with the merger of the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. The league runs a 14-game schedule from March through June followed by playoffs. The league has teams in 13 states from Maryland to Alaska.

The Predator owners are seeking additional investors in the team.

“We are not looking to sell the team but we are looking for investors,” Moninski said.

With ties to Seattle, Moninski said it’s important to him to keep the team in Kent.

“My involvement was predicated on having the team play in Kent at the ShoWare,” Moninski said.

Although the team lost money its first season, the owners remain confident indoor football can work in the city. They hope to help persuade the IFL to expand in the Puget Sound region.

Kent played in a division with Billings, Mont., the Tri-Cities and teams in Fairbanks and Anchorage. The Alaska Wild of Anchorage folded partway through the season when the owner ran out of money and failed to pay players their $225 fee per game.

“We believe the Kent team would be in a stronger position with a closer rival,” Moninski said.

The owners plan to use the next eight months to build a larger fan base and to find more businesses to sponsor the team.

“We’ll be talking to sponsors and going to events in the summer,” Moninski said. “We want to keep the Predators name out there. We’re planning to come back next season.”