Quad City Steamwheelers Change Ownership - arenafootball2 (af2) Football

MLN Newswire - September 27, 2006, (Davenport, IA) – The Quad City Steamwheelers in conjunction with the arenafootball2 league announced today that an investor group headed by Mike Bawden has been awarded the rights to operate the Quad City Steamwheelers franchise in the af2.

“We’re extremely excited for the opportunity to help keep professional football in the Quad Cities,” said Bawden.

There will be a transition over the next several weeks as the new group takes over the operation of the Steamwheelers from the former operators.

“The Quad Cities owes a lot to Jim Foster and Larry Bush for all the hard work they did to keep the Steamwheelers in the Quad Cities,” said Bawden. “While their groups will no longer have an ownership interest with the team, I really value their ideas and commitment to this organization and hope that they will continue to be an asset to this organization.”

 “Everything is on track to play for next season. The team has named Sean Ponder as their new head coach and they currently have a staff in place to run the front office,” said Bawden.

Bawden says he expects the team to be prepared to introduce their 2007 schedule and upcoming plans to the fans and the community by mid-October. The team plans to meet with the media and also hold several meet and greet with the fans to answer any questions and receive additional fan input on what they would like to see out of their Steamwheelers.

“We are committed to keeping this franchise in this community for the long term,” said Bawden. “The important thing for fans to understand right now is that the Steamwheelers will be playing football in the Quad Cities next season and that while there will inevitably be some changes, the coach and staff are in place and are hard at work building for next season and future seasons.”