The Dorados Likely Shutting Down Shouldn’t Surprise Anyone

On Wednesday, The Monitor’s Henry Miller broke the news that the RGV Dorados were suspending all football operations until further notice, terminating the remainder of their lease with State Farm Arena.

In January, the International Arena Football League, comprising of arena football teams from the US and Mexico, announced that the Dorados were holding tryouts for the league’s inaugural season with 10 games (7 at home) slated on their schedule.

Now, 5 months later, Primetime Sports and Entertainment LLC, who owned the Dorados, abruptly terminated their lease with State Farm Arena after facing a $31,000 bill that, according to a State Farm Arena spokesman, they could not pay. To satisfy the remaining debt, Primetime Sports agreed to forfeit all the property that was left behind such as the playing surface, sideline walls/padding, and all other football equipment such as shoulder pads and helmets to the City of Hidalgo and State Farm Arena.

On Wednesday, Primetime Sports, managed by Mission’s Juan Arevalo and his wife Erika Arevalo, as well as Domingo De La Garza all agreed to transfer ownership of the franchise to Mindy Garza.

With 3 games remaining, the other IAFL team owners as well as Garza have been left scrambling to try and salvage the remainder of the Dorados’ season. One such move is to try and swing an incredibly quick deal with Alonzo Cantu’s group and Bert Ogden Arena.

Meetings between the two have already taken place and according to Bert Ogden/RGV Vipers CEO Rene Borrego, it’s a “hard no.”

To make matters worse, during the ownership shift, Bennie King was replaced as head coach of the team. The problem? King actually owns the rights to the Dorados name and logo.

Alright, so let’s go to buygenericambien.org over the things that need to happen for the Dorados’ season to continue:

1. A new home to play their games with Bert Ogden being out of the question.
2. A new name, logo, and uniforms.
3. Equipment such as new helmets and pads.

So, basically, nothing short of a miracle will do to get them back on the field.

If any of this has come as a shock to you, then you must be living under one dense rock because you should already know that we can’t ever have good things.

With the exception of the Vipers, who are backed by a legitimate league, the Valley has become a graveyard of failed and upended professional/minor league teams.

Remember the Edinburg Roadrunners? The Rio Grande Valley Giants? The Harlingen White Wings? The RGV Sol? The Rio Grande Valley Magic? The Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees? The Rio Grande Valley Bravos?

Exactly.

Even the Dorados came back from the dead after folding back in 2009.

That’s not to say any of these teams didn’t fold because their leagues went under, but does anyone, honestly, think the Dorados, or whatever they’ll be called next, will make it out of 2019?

We’re talking about a climate where the American Alliance of Football had a record setting inaugural week where people legitimately thought it could actually succeed as a minor/feeder league for the NFL, only for it to run out of cash just weeks into the season and subsequently fold a short time after that.

With high school football, college football, the NFL, the Arena Football League, the Canadian Football League and now the return of the (Jesus..) XFL, does anyone really think that people still have an appetite for even MORE football?

It’s just not a feasible enterprise and even UTRGV Football is a God awful idea.

For the players’ sake, I hope they find a way to finish this season, but our track record and my sense tell me that probably won’t happen and that sucks.