Daytona Beach SpeedKings
Charter EISL team that relocated mid-season to Huntsville.
The Daytona Beach SpeedKings were a charter member of the Eastern Indoor Soccer League, based in Daytona Beach, Florida. The team played the first game in league history and, despite a winning record and the league's top offense, relocated mid-season to Huntsville, Alabama, becoming the Huntsville Fire.
Quick Facts
- Club
- Huntsville Fire
- Founded
- 1997
- Dissolved
- 1998
- Ground
- Von Braun Center; Huntsville, Alabama
- Capacity
- 6,500
- Owner
- Major League Indoor Football, Inc.
- Chairman
- Bryan Dresden
- Manager
- Scott Cooper
Facts from the source article.
History
The Daytona Beach SpeedKings were founded as a charter member of the Eastern Indoor Soccer League, playing home matches at the Ocean Center under head coach Scott Cooper. The team participated in the first-ever EISL game, a loss to the Savannah Rug Ratz before a crowd of 600 fans, which was described as disappointing. Despite a 5–3 record and the league's highest-scoring offense, the SpeedKings struggled to attract paying spectators. Owner Blake Cullen had told the Orlando Sentinel that an average of about 3,000 fans per game was needed to break even, but the official attendance average was 609, with fewer than 200 tickets sold per game.
Financial difficulties forced Cullen to sell the team to Major League Indoor Football, Inc., based in Clearwater, Florida. The new ownership announced a relocation to the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where the team was renamed the Huntsville Fire.
More in Defunct Indoor Soccer Clubs in the United States
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