The University of Louisiana at Lafayette is owed more than $30,000 by a now-defunct Arena Football League team that was set to use facilities on campus.
The Lafayette Travel Commission has agreed to give the AFL's Louisiana Voodoo a $20,000 grant toward renting Blackham Coliseum. However, the team was disbanded after former AFL commissioner Lee Hutton failed to pay the balance.
According to the email, illuminator According to information obtained from Lafayette College in Louisiana, $20,000 of the AFL's bill will go to Ben Bartello, chairman and CEO of Lafayette Travel, and Voodoo will pay Blackham's rent. was supposed to support the.
Records show Hutton has not paid the remaining bill, which is more than $30,000. ULL sent Hatton a letter demanding a 50% payment by May 9, or warned that the AFL would be banned from entering Blackham Coliseum. Voodoo coach James Shiver said: Illuminator AFL Deputy Commissioner Travell Gaines paid the $6,000 before the team's first and only game on April 27. Gaines has since: resigned.
An insurance policy filed by the AFL with the university lists another AFL team, Minnesota Miss, as an insured. The mistake was then Lack of funds.
The team's financial problems are the latest in a series of setbacks for the AFL. The team's next home game was scheduled for May 25, but an AFL press release on May 14 did not include the Louisiana Voodoo among the teams to be retained in the new restructuring, which included the firing of Commissioner Hutton, who was replaced by an interim commissioner. Jeff Fisher.
ULL also said that if payment is not received, the AFL's outstanding balance will be sent to Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill for collection.
Voodoo started the new AFL season as a venue in Lake Charles, but was forced to head to Lafayette due to trouble with ASM, the company that manages the Lake Charles Event Center. became.
In a public statement, ASM's lawyer, Gene Thibodeau, claimed that AFL “failed to pay rent or provide proof of insurance as specified in the signed contract and the contract was terminated.”
