Wednesday, November 01, 2006

The Everett Jets - (Oxymoron series ongoing)


The Everett Jets

I have really never thought of myself as being entrepreneurial ...

... by that I mean I never thought much about starting a business or a franchise or anything like that (recent ideas such as Keeper Studios and Jefferson’s Brewery notwithstanding).

However ... in the early / mid 90s the USISL - now USL of various divisions - was expanding at a rapid rate. I thought to start a team in Everett. So, I wrote to the USISL and received a franchise package ... I started the basic work at writing up a business plan and tossed around a bunch of nickname ideas, settling on the Jets. I thought, here come the Everett Jets ... Of course at that stage I did not have the money (still don't) or any sort of understanding how to acquire capital (I have at least a clue now) ...

... but was beaten to the punch by the rise of the Everett Bigfoot. The Everett Bigfoot unfortunately only last 2 seasons and there isn't a team playing soccer at that level in Snohomish County. I think they were a smidge ahead of their time, but I still think a team that marketed to the naval base and played on the growing Everett Sports market could really find a niche in the PDL ....

Everett has changed over the last decade: with the population cracking the 100k threshold, an arena bringing in minor league hockey, arena football, and hoops ... but no one has brought back the PDL. Perhaps if Tacoma FC does well that might change ... I hope so.

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