8/30/2007 12:01:00 AM
Gwinnett ready to negotiate for Force
Arena football team looking for home

By Camie Young
Senior Writer / Gwinnett Daily Post

DULUTH - The chairman of the county's Convention and Visitors Bureau board is ready to sign on the dotted line, if officials with the Georgia Force decide to bring arena football back to Gwinnett.

"It's not a done deal," Arena at Gwinnett Center Director Preston Williams told the board Wednesday. "When and if it happens, I'd like to move very quickly."

The board voted unanimously to give board chairman Richard Tucker the authority to approve negotiations.

Force officials have said they have been in negotiations with staffers at Philips Arena in Atlanta, where the team played the past two seasons, and at the Gwinnett venue, which hosted the team from 2003 to 2005.

"Hopefully, we'll get that opportunity" to bring the team back, Tucker said.

The arena football team was one of the first attractions at the Duluth arena when it opened in 2003. The Arena at Gwinnett Center is also home to minor-league hockey team the Gwinnett Gladiators.

On Wednesday, the board also discussed the possibility of building a minor-league baseball stadium in the county.

"We are trying to make a determination as to the best course of action to get baseball in Gwinnett County," Williams said.

Board members said they were encouraged by a feasibility study released this summer that said Gwinnett is a prime market for the sport, although officials with the Atlanta Braves have said a team affiliated with Major League Baseball is not likely.

"We're just at that first step. The great news is the first step has been very, very positive," Tucker told the board. "Let me assure you, there are a lot of people interested."

Minor league baseball team?!!! Here?!!! Woo Hoo! sign me up for season tickets for that! Much better than MLB. These kids play because they love the game, not the money.

Yeah.....minor league baseball rocks. I received the survey on this and promptly filled it out..........strange, but I didn't get a survey when I was a Force STH before the "ill advised" move..........and they wonder why they can't sell tickets. Go figure.