TMCVball:
Did, and if how much, did Gabrielle Reece's agent interfere with the WPVA turnaround?
David Williams:
To me it appeared that this was her sole mission! When I arrived in August we immediately put the WPVA "out for bid". Jane, Harry Usher, and Craig Elledge were one of the four groups presenting. Their proposal required the WPVA players to do "too much". They wanted us to bankrupt immediately, join forces with the 4's on an equal basis, surrender all equity in the operations. Craig was under a cloud of having bounced some checks to 4's players and our group was leery of Jane. Of the four groups presenting, they received the lowest score by our players and Board of Directors. It should have ended there, but it didn't. Without any real authority, Jane continued to solicit sponsors and television for her "all women's platform". She made several attempts to get something going but never was successful.
In early November, Harry Usher pulled out of his deal with Jane and she requested to talk with the WPVA Board of Directors. In that meeting, she committed to find a workable solution for 2's and 4's and she agreed to work through Management Plus, our agency. Unbeknownst to all of us, Jane and Craig Elledge we in negotiations with Spivak Sports to do a competitive 2's and 4's tour. We never heard back from her. In December, Jane presented Spivak Sports with a proposal that would make her President of the company and give her half of the equity. She was quickly refused and Spivak Sports went on to sign all but 5 of the 4 -person women's players.
In January, Spivak Sports and the WPVA began working together to merge schedules and go forward sharing costs. What's important to note here is that I was representing the 100 players of the WPVA and 25 of the 4's players were under contract to Spivak Sports. Jane clearly had no authority to "speak for the women". But that didn't stop her. She continued to solicit TV and sponsors with the veiled threat that "you won't get Gabby if you work with those other guys". The bottom line is that Jane muddied the waters so much that sponsors and TV backed away. She never got her deals done and we couldn't get ours done either.
TMCVball:
What was up with the Disney/ABC/ESPN deal? Was did it entail and how close were they to it happening?
David Williams:
Leonard Armato, Bruce Binkow and the team at Management Plus worked very hard to put this deal together. The "deal" would have been a partnership between Disney/ABC/ESPN, Management Plus and the WPVA. It was a reorganization plan that would have enabled us to pay all creditors while growing the sport. It was an exciting "big idea". It fell apart for a myriad of reasons. We misread the internal politics of the Disney companies. Several of the issues that were troubling them weren't uncovered until late in the game. There was unrelenting pressure from Jane Kachmer to not do the deal without the 4's and later, to do her deal instead. And finally, we lost their attention late in November when they moved into the Monday Night Football negotiations with the NFL. How close were they? Very close. They had given us our broadcast times and airdates for our schedule. We were in the process of developing the sales strategy with their sales departments. It was moving along.
TMCVball:
Why is ESPN so against beach volleyball?
David Williams:
This is a funny one. In April, Charlie Jackson was quoted in the San Diego Union Tribune quoting an ESPN executive who said "volleyball is worse than boxing". That executive was referring to all of the people who have contacted ESPN claiming to be taking over the sport. The truth is that ESPN likes women's beach volleyball a lot and they are looking at it for 1999.
TMCVball:
So now, Trident Media Group has come over with what is essentially a bailout plan. Instead of buying out WPVA, the WPVA is left intact and they instead create a new organization. By doing this, they avoid taking on the WPVA debt. What is this new organization going to be called?
David Williams:
Let's get this one straight. The WPVA had entered into voluntary dissolution before Trident Media Group showed up. We had already contacted our creditors and the wheels were in motion to wind up the affairs of the corporation. There was nothing to buy.
The new tour will be called the American Volleyball League.
TMCVball:
What do we have to look forward to with the new American Volleyball League? Which WPVA stars are going to be playing on the AVL tour?
David Williams:
The American Volleyball League should be exciting. All of the WPVA stars have signed. You will see the great teams like Arce/McPeak, Fontana/Hanley, and Kirby/Masakayan. Crowd favorite like Poppinga/Rock and the new team of Reno/Youngs are sure to draw enthusiastic support.
