Chop Block: Where Semi-Pro Went Wrong, Part Two

Chop Block: Where Semi-Pro Football Went Wrong, Part 2

September 8, 2016 by Terrance Biggs

Building a reputable semipro league requires a strong management foundation with a dedicated group of professional. While the on-field product is what brings people into the stadium, those who toil away from the field will keep fans returning. A football league is many things, monolithic isn’t one of one these traits.

Tiara Doxey worked as the GDFL Travel Director. She lent her expertise, time, and effort into making the GDFL travel work smoothly. Ms. Doxey, by her own admission, did not obtain what she thought the league offered. In the following interview, Doxey articulates her opinion and circumstances surrounding her interactions with the GDFL.

Q: What was your role in the GDFL?

Doxey: Travel Director for of the GDFL, responsible for booking hotels, cars, and busing.

 

Q: How did you become involved with the league initially?

Doxey: A friend of mine played in the league eventually got tired of seeing the hotels and busing not being booked for the teams. Most of the time they didn’t know where they were staying until the day before they left.

 

Q: At what point, if any, did you see a shift in the way you perceived it?

Doxey: In 2014, I booked hotel rooms for both teams going to the championship. One team trashed the hotel and had drugs in the rooms and left half naked females passed out in the room and housekeeping found them. Last year, I secured several hotels in New Orleans, based on what the league and hosting team said what they were going to have that weekend. Needless to say, the hotels rooms didn’t get filled and left a bad taste with the hotels about the GDFL and other teams.

Recently, I secured a hotel for the team coming to Oklahoma to play in the championship game. The coach/owner didn’t pay the hotel bill, which is over 5k. He cancelled his credit card and left his players and coaches high and dry. The hotel had to lock them out of their rooms because the payment kept declining. He told the hotel that he promised to pay it after the championship game was over. He never kept to his word. Instead he told the front desk clerk that the GDFL was going to pay for it. Then he said the Oklahoma Thunder was going to pay. He knew that he didn’t have any intention of paying for it. But, he gave the whole team the impression that he was going to. Some of the players showed me the text that he sent saying that their hotels were already paid for. Now, this could turn into a legal issue. Again, it ruins the name for the GDFL and everyone else that was involved in it.

 

Q: What was your relationship with the executive management team?

Doxey: I don’t talk or do business with the executive team. When I didn’t get paid for the New Orleans Championship hotels rooms, they pretty much stopped calling and didn’t even offer as a league to pay me for my work.

 

Q: What led you to stop working for the league?

Doxey: There is a lot of dishonest and shadiness going on. They are not all on the same page of doing business. They don’t hold people such as players, coaches and owners accountable for their actions. They want to be treated like the NFL, but some of them act as bad at junior high teams. On conference calls, you’d hear a lot of yelling, cussing, fussing and pointing fingers like little kids. I can’t jeopardize my name or reputation for one client. The sad thing is that I have several hotel chains that want to partnership with the league. But I can’t take the chance that they will get messed over. I just don’t do business in the USA, but I also book internationally.

 

Q: Who was the easiest/most difficult to deal with in the league?

Doxey: Director of Operations Tracey Hardney-Scott was awesome to with. She gets it. CEO Charles Thompson was the hardest.

 

Q: Did any of the hotels pursue legal action?

Doxey: Yes, cases may still be pending.

 

Q: Where did the league go wrong?

Doxey: People act like they have a lot of money to spend, but they really don’t. They want everything for free. Don’t believe everything you hear. Some people want to look like they are bigger than what they are. When you see the signs that they are not being honest, remove yourself immediately. It can save you a lot of headache in the end. The league could run a lot smoother, if the right people were in place. The league does not hold people accountable for their actions. Most of these teams don’t have the funds or sponsorship to keep going throughout the season. Most of the teams make the players pay for their own rooms.

 

 

Q: What did you learn from your time in the GDFL?

Doxey: Who to trust. Oklahoma Thunder has always stayed true to their word. They’re honest and are true Christians. They are willing to help and will give you the honest truth about anything. If I do business with any teams ask for a retainer fee before I even start. Learn to ask a lot of questions.

Q: Were you ever paid?

Doxey: No

 

Q: If you were billing a normal client, what would you’ve charged the GDFL for your services?

Doxey: Everything depends on several factors. If my client picks up all their room nights at the hotels I would get 10% commission off the room rates. I would charge them for my travel time, gas, food, hotel, and airplane ticket. That fee would be $5000 upfront. Since they owe the hotels and didn’t get payment from the hotels. All of my time, travel, airplane ticket, food, rental car, and hotel we are looking at $65k-$70k. Most clients will put you on payroll.

 

Q: There is a circulating story about the OKC Bounty Hunters trashing a room and leaving a slew of underage girls behind after they left. Would this be true? If so, can you describe the events after discovering?

Doxey: Yes, that is true. The hotel found two girls in the bed passed out and half naked. They didn’t know where they were or how they got to the hotel. Housekeeping found them. They had drugs that they left in the rooms. I think that I might still have the pictures from it. They had candy all on the walls and ceiling. The hotel found me and told me what happened while I was in the lobby talking to Tracey Scott. Out of the 20 rooms that they had, ten were either trashed, drugs in them or things missing out of the rooms. They were only going to charge the team $800.00 out of the $4k that they messed up. Only reason what they were going to charged them $800.00 is because of the relationship that my company has with Hyatt. We called Bounty Hunters Coach Brian Kelly and the other owners. Their response was “boys will be boys, and who cares”.  Kelly was so disrespectful. I’m surprised anyone would play for him. Nothing never happened to them for this event happening.

 

Q: Was the 2016 team you mentioned the Nashville Storm? A lady posted a video of players being locked out. Who cancelled the rooms?

Doxey: Yes, it was Nashville Storm. Charles Hunter, the head coach of the team cancelled his credit card and didn’t pay for the rooms. The hotel locked the team out of the rooms until they got payments. They would let one person in at a time to get their money and or credit cards to come down and pay. The hotel system went down. They couldn’t take payments until they came back up. That’s how the team got back into their room. So, they promised that they would pay in the morning, which never happened. Now,they owe $5300 to the hotel right now. I will not get paid until the team pays the hotel. If the aren’t paid, my company could get sued by the hotel. Coach Charles Hunter will not accept phone calls from the team. The hotel gave the team until September 15, 2016 to pay the bill. The team stopped paying coaches by the third week in June.

Note: Note: The Nashville Storm was the reigning GDFL Champions.

Doxey seems clear on her details and facts. Logistics are a difficult beast to master. A league the size of the GDFL needs someone to coordinate travel. Apparently, Doxey held her end of the bargain. What was she left with? She was never paid and her reputation suffered damage due to her affiliation with the league.