Summer 2005

Semi-pro teams need money to be successful

Pueblo is just one of those places where teams need to have a history to be successful. If that history doesn’t exist, teams will need deep pockets to be successful in the future.

“I’d say Pueblo definitely has a loyal fan base to the teams that already exist in the area and new teams will have a hard time making it a go here,” Hildner said. “The Pueblo Crusaders (a men’s semi-pro team in the late 1980s) were mostly made up of Pueblo people and still had a rough go of it, but they had a good run.”

The semi-pro baseball team The Pueblo Chieftains is a perfect example. The attendance is still lacking and not much money is flowing in. However, the team, which has been very successful over the years in the National Baseball Congress, is sponsored by the deep pockets of Chieftain Publisher Bob Rawlings and most of the players are college players who can’t accept any form of payment if they wish to remain eligible to play baseball in the NCAA.

“The Pueblo Chieftains baseball team are another example (of a semi-pro team seeing success in Pueblo),” Hildner said. “In terms of what it takes to operate them, I couldn’t comment on that, but I am sure (having a sponsor like Rawlings) makes a difference.”

Pueblo BigHorns 1995

(photo courtesy of The Pueblo Chieftain)

Pueblo not completely responsible for team failures

As for the failures of the semi-pro teams, Hildner believes Pueblo gets a bad rap because it isn’t the people’s fault that franchises can’t afford to stay longer than a season or two.

“I think you would have to look at it as an industry-wide problem,” Hildner said. “It is a tough go for semi-pro sports to make it, especially in large markets. I think it is difficult for semi-pro teams to come in and establish themselves.

“Even though Pueblo has over 100,000 people, the fact that it is on the Front Range makes it a tough place to market. You are still so close to other things like the professional teams and major college teams, and that makes it hard for semi-pro teams to establish themselves.”

Another reason for these semi-pro teams leaving could be the quality of play. Hildner believes many Puebloans are scared to get attached to a team, identify with it and support it and then have it run out of town.

“Sometimes these leagues are recognized as legitimate places, where minor leagues can pick up players. Other times they are fly-by-night operations, and I think fans recognize that,” he added.

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