Piranhas’ Troubles Are Not Confined to Those on the Field

HUNTINGTON BEACH — The Piranhas finish their second season in the Arena Football League tonight in Houston against the Texas Terror. Whether the Piranhas are finished as a franchise is suddenly open to speculation.

No one in the organization has said the team is folding, but there are signs it is in serious financial trouble:

* Senior Vice President Roy Englebrecht said the team is giving its depleted front office staff the month of August off without pay.

* The Piranhas are closing their Huntington Beach offices immediately and have not notified employees where the offices are being relocated.

* Englebrecht said the team is looking for new investors.

* Season-ticket sales were down about 33% this year from last year’s debut-season total of 3,400.

* Englebrecht said the Piranhas are planning to slash some season-ticket prices in half next year in hopes of regaining some of their fan base.

* The Piranhas went from 9-5 and a playoff appearance last season to a 2-11 mark through 13 games this season.

* Last year’s average attendance was announced as 13,225. The team announced its average attendance as 9,091 for seven homes game this season; however, that appears to be exaggerated. Several sources within the organization have admitted the average paid attendance to be between 3,500 and 4,000 most of the season.

If the Piranhas don’t play next season, Englebrecht said he would be shocked.

“Absolutely,” he said Thursday. “I have no reason to think we won’t play in 1998 in one form or another. They have me working on budgets for 1998.”

But when asked what would happen if the team’s managing owners, Dave Wilson and Robert Zinngrabe, do not secure new investors, Englebrecht deferred to Wilson and Zinngrabe. Phone calls to Zinngrabe’s office this week were not returned.

The Piranhas have a five-year lease with the Pond but Englebrecht said the team could break that lease by paying the Pond a security deposit. Organization sources have said the team has lost large sums of money in its first two years.

“It’s disappointing,” Englebrecht said. “You have a good first year and we expected a lot in the second year. This is not what we had hoped for, although some of it was beyond our control. Even though we are 2-11, I think we gave our fans a pretty good product.

“There’s nothing wrong with the product. I just think Orange County is a tough market. Tougher than I imagined.”

Some questions about the team’s future might be answered soon. A staff meeting is scheduled today.