The accompanying documents amply speak to the degradation, the exploitation and the cheapening of women as a result of Lingerie Football.
The City signed an agreement with the U.S. based Global Spectrum to run the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre. Jason Blumenfeld is Global's hireling.
The Contract presumably is a two-way thing. Global Spectrum profits, and the City of Abbotsford should profit too.
The Contract contains a moral clause: Page 12, B MORAL CLAUSE "Licensee shall not use or attempt to use any part of the facility for any use or proposed use which would be contrary to law, common decency or good morals or otherwise improper or detrimental to the reputation of Licensor. "
The contract with Global should have been terminated a long time ago. Global Spectrum gets paid, no matter how little money the AESC generates for the City, the tax-payers who must pay the loan and the interest on the borrowed money, as well as upkeep of the building.
The money has not flowed both ways, as seen in the annual reports. Global Spectrum has not lived up to the promises made to us.
Jason Blumenfeld is an American citizen, and an employee of a foreign company. No one in Abbotsford voted for him, or expects him to set policies that determine our moral compass.
Jason Blumenfeld has no right to override the moral clause signed between the City and Global Spectrum.
Our elected Mayor and Council have the authority and the duty to implement and enforce rules, regulations, and legally-signed contracts on behalf of the rest of the City.
City staff, most certainly, cannot be held accountable for the lingerie debacle. The decision to allow a renter into our publicly-owned centre rests solely on the men and women who asked for and got the votes, that entitle them to govern our communal lives.
Michel Mortaza's Lingerie Football League violates and is contrary to, "common decency or good morals or otherwise improper or detrimental to the reputation of Licensor. "
To date no one has given me a written response to this obvious point. Much of the secular media calls Abbotsford, and the Fraser Valley, "the Bible Belt". Thousands of people in hundreds of churches, have legitimately confirmed that it really is a Bible-based community. Does anything about women in underwear, tackling each other and pulling away the scant bits of clothing they wear, belong in our public building? On something so obviously out of sync with the general value system in Abbotsford, you need to adhere to the contract you signed with Global Spectrum - both ways.
I want this abuse of my tax-dollars, and the tarnishing of my/our building and community to stop.
Gerda Peachey
October emails from Bill Flitton: 1. Staff advises that the arrangement between Global Spectrum and the LFL is a rental agreement only and as such the facility charges a rental fee and LFL is responsible for all operational costs of the facility for the specific event. There is and there will be no agreement between the LFL and Global Spectrum in future years other than a rental arrangement, from to time, if the LFL chooses to schedule time at the facility.
2. As has been explained to you previously the City is not directly involved in contractual/rental discussions or negotiations with Global Spectrum and any its prospective tenants. Therefore, the City, at any given time, may not know the specifics of any upcoming events. Certainly Katie and I aren't notified of upcoming events. Nor do we typically follow the AESC calendar events, especially with the LFL. And, no we did not ask Global when the next LFL event was taking place Ten reasons why the Lingerie Football League sucks
November 3,2011 tags: lingerie football league
It's no secret that I find the Lingerie Football League completely repulsive. A lot of people do. The emphasis on the "lingerie" is a deliberate push-back against the ascendancy of female athletes by reminding them that, once again, their most important calling on this planet is to serve as spank material for hetero men. Because we as a society are totally deficient in spank material, amirite?
But it turns out that the uniforms worn by the players are the least of what's wrong with the Lingerie Football League. I came across an article by Andrew Bucholtz at Yahoo! Sports Canada the other day, and, well, to say it was eye-opening is an understatement. My eyes were so wide open my eyeballs nearly rolled out oftheir sockets and landed with a thud on my desk.
I was inspired to go do some more digging around and what emerged was a horrifying portrait of an organization with no concern for matters like safety, an organization built entirely on the exploitation of female athletes. I was seriously repulsed by what I came across, and I'm going to share it on my blog because I think it's important that feminists know that the sins of the LFL do not begin and end at those tacky uniforms they make the athletes wear.
1. Those uniforms. My god, the uniforms.
Have you ever touched Astroturfbefore? It's not pleasant. Can you imagine playing full-tackle football on it? Can you imagine playing full-tackle football on it while wearing a bikini? The epic amounts of turf burn those women must experience on a regular basis makes me wince just thinking about it. And evidently the women themselves are not the biggest fans ofthe uniforms. Angela Rypien, the quarterback for the Seattle Mist, recently said on Fox News that she would like to wear a less-revealing uniform one day. But hey, as long as straight dudes can have as many places to ogle ass and titties as they want, who cares? Right, Gretchen Carlson?
2. And the names of the teams!
A commenter in the afore-linked Jezebel post said the names sound like they were thought up by "Danielle Steele after five wine spritzers." I-mean, the Mist? The Seduction? The Sin? These are women who are crushing each other on the field, and yet the teams' marketers are treating them like commercials for Designer Imposters perfumes.
3. The athletes don't get paid.
This should actually be tJ.?e top ofthe list, because oh my god. The players are not paid; their compensation is limited to travel expenses. This, despite the fact that the league officials say the LFL has been "highly profitable." There's a word for this people, and that word is "exploitation. "
When I learned about this, I was reminded of Amanda Hess's article about the Washington Redskins cheerleaders. The cheerleaders are part of the squad at considerable personal expense, and their images are licensed for merchandising by the NFL for calendars and such. How much of the NFL's multi-billion dollar pie do these women get? About $75 per game.
This was evidently not always the case. The players originally received a cut of net revenue, but the commissioner changed the league to "amateur status" in 2011, which exempts the LFL from having to pay them. What's more, the players now have to pay to participate.
4. The league management uses union-busting tactics on the players.
When players for the Toronto Triumph expressed dismay about the firing ofthe only member of the coaching staff with pro football experience, the league commissioner responded with threats to fire the players who complained. The rest of the team called his bluff, and ultimately 22 of the team's 26 players quit. Now that's some fucking female solidarity.
Here's the email exchange between the league commissioner and some of the players. I particularly like how the commish brags that the LFL is the most popular women's sports league in the US. *gag*
5. The league has threatened to sue players for asking about health coverage and wages.
This is a sport where the players get seriously hurt. They break bones and tear ACLs and separate joints, and yet the league doesn't provide them with health coverage? Even though the league is "highly profitable" because of these women and their willingness to get hurt? Can you imagine if the NFL told their players, Sorry bro, I know you ripped your knee to shreds for the pleasure of a national audience, but you're on your own with that one. And then not only doesn't cover them, but then threatens to sue them just for bringing it up.
6. Players say the league provides subpar equipment.
Deborah Poles, who played for the Chicago Bliss and was once the league's defensive player of the year, said the league cut costs wherever they could - including the protective gear for the players:
"We were sustaining really severe turfburns ... because we had basically elbow pads and knee pads that you could just buy at the dollar store," said Poles, who added that she got a staph infection from the burns after the league's championship game last February.
When you don't pay your players, skimp on their gear and refuse to provide them with health coverage - well, it's no wonder the league is "highly profitable," right?
7. The players are set up to be physically violated and sexually exposed for the audience's entertainment.
The Toronto Triumph recently held a contest in which the winner was given the privilege of tackling one of the players at half-time. Need I say more? Okay, I will. The contract signed by the LFL players said the athletes cannot wear anything beneath the uniforms, like underwear or bras, because the "accidental nudity" is enshrined as part of their contractual obligations. Basically, the league wants the players to be okay with being naked and groped. SWEET.
8. The league is aiming to hit the underage market as well.
It's one thing for a grown-up woman to make the decision to play in the league. It's another thing for a young girl to take part. I don't even know what to say about parents who would approve of their teenage daughters suiting up in underwear so they can go play tackle football. Will the "accidental nudity" clause remain intact?
This is the thing - the idea to expand the league is fueled by the fact that more and more girls (like Michael Jackson's daughter!) want to play tackle football. And why shouldn't they? The informal prohibition against women and girls playing tackle football comes from an idea of women and girls as delicate and in need of protection, but if there is anything we've seen in a post Title IX world, it's that women and girls love to get rough and rowdy, just as much as the boys do.
9. Players say the league has low standards for coaches.
Want to show how little you regard the physical exploits of your players? Make sure they have shitty coaching staffs! As one of the players told me, it's troubling that the league doesn't have higher standards with regards to their coaches.
"Mitch needs to ask himself what the requirement is to become an LFL coach!" she said. "These guys pick up any Tom, Dick and Harry offthe street. Those interested should go through a series oftests to qualify just like the players do."
I was happy to see that the league at least bothered to find some coaches with pro football experience, unlike the Toronto Triumph, whose coaching staff consists of a high school basketball coach and a flag football ref
10. The league exploits the genuine desire of these women to play football.
Quotes I found from athletes during my research: "I just appreciate playing football, I don't care what they put me in." When a player's friend was drafted by the NFL: "But I kept thinking: 'That could be me. That should be me. I can do this. I know I can play. I know I'm next.' " "If there's ever a place where I can play professional football, you'll see me there." "And I was like, 'I don't care. I just want to play football.' I'd play football naked if! had to. I just love the sport."
These women want to play football. They want to play football for an audience. They want the bright lights shining down on them, the roar of a crowd, all the trappings that go along with being a professional athlete. They want the same thing generations of male football players have dreamed of. The league management knows this, and they treat the players like crap, knowing their desire to play football is so strong that they will put up with it.
This is what is saddest about all of this to me. These women want to play. They are legit athletes. And look at how they are treated.
Listen, I'm a third-wave baby, born and bred. I respect that women will make different choices than I will. I respect women who choose to strip, who do sex work, who perform in adult movies. That respect extends to women who say, "Sure, I'll play football in my underwear." But I believe in backing that respect up with action. I believe people should get paid for their work, and that they should be able to do their work in safe environments. I do not think this suddenly becomes optional just because your work takes on an "adult" nature.
I respect the athletes of the Lingerie Football League. The problem is, the Lingerie Football League does not respect its athletes. Lingerie League Gets Litigious
Ex-players threatened with lawsuits over beefs aired online
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By sigrnirng l1!~lis Agreement, l~bllyn agrees trur,t 1~'lm3'elf slilailI mot dnS£!lose My inilb1'MilfiiolT. .fo:ncf!lmfing Qh:f! lEvem.t andl/oll' l[>,oodue~l'.IProrlu~r·s piIDJilrietary trade secrreflS or Producer's otMi" ¢Oii.:f:ldeattihiI oii.:fCnmatoO'.l'll 011 Materilflis ~o sny 1hird. party Or.' tHtnly Councillor Simon Gibson: to a friend, who asked him how we as a City could have allowed lingerie football in our publicly-owned Abbotsford Sports and Entertainment Centre: ...... "your thoughts regarding the City of Character are entirely appropriate. The decline of a community - in particular as it relates to values and respect - happens incrementally over time until many people are numbed to the impact. This is the situation in which we find ourself today... " From Google, Getty Images: "Could this be the best sport on earth? Babes ripping clothes off eaeh other, and all in the name of'sport'. Bring on the super bowl. " From Triple M Sport-Google.... Photo of four players, ofthe Toronto Triumph, posing with no clothes, only shoulder pads. From Google LFL photos: An LFL player pulling the pants off another LFL player. The caption reads, ''A massive thank you to the founder ofthe greatest visual sporting event in history. " Google "Bonus Pies" An LFL player with one breast exposed, under the heading "Bonus Pies". Playboy magazine "THE YEAR IN SEX - Hit the showers with the LFL - the sexiest show on turf" CTV Feb. 9/12: Abbotsford expects to see up to 7,000 fans at each game the first year. And Mortaza said the event is completely kid-friendly. While it's called a lingerie league, he said what the women actually wear is a sports bra and boy shorts. Steve Bucholz: Yahoo Sports - Yard 55 Line Feb. 9/12 The Lingerie Football League's inaugural season in Canada went about as poorly as it could have. In addition to the league's pre-existing issues with attire, player selection and not paying its athletes, several new ones popped up with the LFL's lone Canadian franchise. Despite all that, the LFL not only is keeping its Toronto franchise for 2012, it's still planning to expand across Canada, and the first shoefell on that front Thursday with the announcement of a new, as-yet unnamed team in Abbotsford(approximately an hour's drive east of Vancouver). A city-owned arena striking a deal to bring a LFL team to town suggests that the problems of the LFL, and particularly the issues it ran into in Toronto, have been largely ignored across the country. The LFL had plenty of notable issues long before it ever came to Canada, of course. The league picks its players based on looks, doesn't pay them (despite the league itself being "highly profitable"), cuts them on a whim and often claims not to be responsible for their resultant medical issues. It's also a league run by Mortaza, a man whose record includes arrests for drunk driving and public intoxication, a guy most famous for a creepy appearance on 'Blind Date', where he described himself as "the king of one-night stands", and a guy who threatened legal action against former players upset the league didn't pay their medical costs. None of that exactly screams "well-run sports league". Things got even worse after the LFL headed to Toronto, though. The inaugural season of the Toronto Triumph was anything but triumphant, with 22 of the 26 players (including team captain Krista Ford)quitting after just one game over coaching and safety issues. That led to fl series of threatening e-mailsfrom commissioner Mitch Mortaza over the defections, demonstrating a troubled league in disarray. It also led to the revelation of significant safety issues that had prompted the player revolt, including players being forced to hold full-contact practices without helmets and then being told to drill holes in hockey helmets and use them instead of football gear. The Triumph somehow found new recruits and finished the season in perfectly appropriate fashion, getting into a bench-clearing brawl in their season-ending 74-0 loss to Philadelphia. After all that, you might think Mortaza would be humble, admit mistakes were made in Toronto and vow to do a better job with this second Canadian team. You'd be extremely wrong, though. As evident from his comments to Cam Tucker and Evan Duggan of The Vancouver Sun, Mortaza still believes the way to sell his football product is by picking women based on looks and encouraging them to volunteer to sacrifice their scantily-clad bodies: The league wants women with a "healthy marketable look," but who can also play, according to Mortaza. "It is absolutely a high level [of] football," he said, adding that game play is "intense" and players suffer everything "from concussions, to broken collar bones, to you name it." In every other football league, officials are doing everything they can to lower the risk of concussions. In the LFL, they're a selling point. That's just another reason why attempts to market this as wholesome, sporting entertainment are ludicrous. It's the equivalent of going to a strip club, except that tickets are more expensive (league-wide prices apparently average $48), performers can and do get hurt, and they aren't paid for their efforts. Mortaza is betting that that formula will prove profitable in Canada and elsewhere (he apparently wants to add four more Canadian teams this year, then expand to Australia in 2013 and Europe and 2014), and the desperate-for-money city-owned arena apparently thinks this is a good idea. Mortaza and the city of Abbotsford (including arena GM Jason Blumenfeld, who called the LFL "an exciting sport with a proven track record in the States") clearly haven't learned anything from what went wrong in Toronto. We'll soon see if the local women he expects to volunteer to play for him and the local people he expects to buy tickets have. (By the way, if you're interested in complaining about this, contact information for Abbotsford mayor Bruce Banman and his city council is here.) October emails from Bill Flitton: 1. Staff advises that the arrangement between Global Spectrum and the LFL is a rental agreement only and as such the facility charges a rental fee and LFL is responsible for all operational costs of the facility for the specific event. There is and there will be no agreement between the LFL and Global Spectrum in future years other than a rental arrangement, from to time, if the LFL chooses to schedule time at the facility. 2. As has been explained to you previously the City is not directly involved in contractual/rental discussions or negotiations with Global Spectrum and any its prospective tenants. Therefore, the City, at any given time, may not know the specifics of any upcoming events. Certainly Katie and I aren't notified of upcoming events. Nor do we typically follow the AESC calendar events, especially with the LFL. And, no we did not ask Global when the next LFL event was taking place. Excerpt from the Feb. 14/12 contract signed between the City and Global Spectrum,...... Page 12, B MORAL CLAUSE "Licensee shall not use or attempt to use any part of the facility for any use or proposed use which would be contrary to law, common decency or good morals or otherwise improper or detrimental to the reputation of Licensor. " Feb./12 email from a friend: "1 have found time this morning to read the Friday Vancouver Sun. To quote "Abbotsford city council did not formally vote on whether to allow LFL franchise to the city, but at least one councillor is unhappy about Thursday's announcement" Simon Gibson is opposed but the majority of council, informally, thought otherwise. Its a good article and this appears to have been in the works much before this. To quote Mitchell Mortaza league founder & chairman "it is absolutely a high level of football" he said adding that game play is "intense" and players suffer everything 'from concussions, to broken collar bones, " The league wants women with a "healthy marketable look", but who can also play, adding that an open tryout will be held in Abbotsford toward the end of March. I wonder when this was brought to Council". Tommy Craggs of The Smoking Gun, Dec. 18/09 writes: You Will Be Shocked To Learn The Lingerie Football League Is NotA Classy Operation (UPDATE) The Smoking Gun has revealed the Lingerie Football League to be a cheap, exploitative outfit that behaves goonishly toward its own athletes, which is acceptable in America only if you're the NFL. The Smoking Gun got its hands on a letter from one of the league's lawyer to nine former players. It threatens legal action over the "posting of false and defamatory internet posts regarding the Lingerie Football League, its current players and League Staff." It's not clear what the posts were, but the site reports: According to several fOlmer players, league founder Mitchell Mortaza and his deputies have repeatedly threatened legal action when players have complained (or simply inquired) about health coverage and wages. [ ... J MOliaza, a fOlmer "Blind Date" contestant whose rap sheet includes dlUnk driving and public intoxication arrests, is the league's chief enforcer. In an October e-mail to a player who had written to him about disorganized practices, MOliaza responded, "Let me give you a little advice and this goes for any other player creating unnecessary, drama. Simply SHUT UP and play football." And if, in the course of playing football, they were to flash a little skin, well, so be it. It's in their contracts: Player shall wear wardrobe provided by Producer. In light of the foregoing, said wardrobe material shall be "non-see through" material. Player shall not wear any additional garments under wardrobe provided by Producer without prior written consent fl:om Producer. Should Player violate this clause, Player shall be fined a total sum of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) per occurrence. NUDITY: Player has been advised and hereby acknowledges that Player's participation in the Event and the related practice sessions and Player's services and performances hereunder may involve accidental nudity. In light of the foregoing, Player knowingly and voluntarily agrees to provide Player's services hereunder and has no objection to providing services involving Player's accidental nudity. Arbitrary fines, horrible contracts, bullying management-types, picayune lUles about wardrobe, total disregard for the health of the players. It's just like the NFL, the only difference being that the NFL shows a lot more ass. Lindy T. Shepherd at the Orlando Weekly, Sept. 2, 2010: Fumble Some complain that contracts offered by Lingerie Football League don't treat ayers fairly ~~~~~ BY LINDY T. SHEPHERD It wasn't the prospect of "accidental nudity" that troubled Mea Angelini. That's just one of the risks you take when you play tackle football in a garter, bra and panties. It was concerns about liability and insurance coverage for potential injuries that turned her off, she says. When the 27-year-old saw the contract she would have to sign to play for the Orlando Fantasy, a new Lingerie Football League team scheduled to hold its inaugural game Sept. 24 at UCF Arena, she sought legal counsel. The contract, she was told, leaves players wide open to liabilities for playing on the team; it only offered players limited insurance coverage for injuries; it required players to acknowledge that they could be fined penalties for a list of offenses relative to how they conduct themselves both on and off the field; and it listed a $5,000 "early termination fee" for players who don't complete the season. For the $100 to $200 she might earn per game, Angelini says, it wasn't worth it. So, even though she was offered a spot on the team - something she'd worked hard for all summer - her name did not appear on the official roster of Orlando Fantasy players released by the LFL last week. "I don't want to sign the contract," she says. "I could be sued by another if I hurt someone, anyone, including other players." Angelini is one of a handful of women whose concerns about the LFL's confidential player contract overrode their desire to play for the LFL. Two players selected by the LFL to speak to Orlando Weekly for a recent cover story ("Balls Out," Aug. 19) about the Fantasy - Lenni Michaels and Brenna LeMaster - were not listed on the team's official roster either. Michaels, a 21-year-old aspiring model, says she also declined to sign the contract after talking to a lawyer. "He said I would be an idiot to sign it," she says in an e-mail explaining her decision. "Plus, I didn't agree with anything in it. It was absolutely ridiculous." Orlando Weekly received a copy of a contract alleged to be the one LFL players were asked to sign. The league's media director, Stephon McMillen, acknowledged that the document "appears to be an LFL 'confidential' player agreement, though it would need to be confirmed by our general counsel's office." Among other things, the document says: "I have been advised and hereby acknowledge that the League, Practices, League events and League games will involve full-body, physical contact with other participants in a football setting which includes some risk of injury ... I hereby assume the risk of injury that may occur during the course of providing my services hereunder." The contract further states that players agree to use their own "primary policy" to cover medical expenses related to injuries that take place on the field; players that don't have their own insurance policies can obtain limited coverage (up to $10,000 per injury) through the LFL for a cost of $250. Angelini says if she signed the contract, she would have been playing the game as a professional, and the premium for her personal health-insurance policy would have jumped several thousand dollars. She talked to the LFL about her concerns regarding the contract but says she was told revisions wouldn't be considered. She says she was also told that if she wouldn't sign, the LFL would find another player who would. "It's sad for the sport of women's football," Angelini says. "Some of the best players are not going to be able to play." This isn't the first time the LFL's contracts have come under fire from unhappy players. In December 2009, The Smoking Gun (www.thesmokinggun.com) posted a copy ofthe LFL's player contract on its website and pointed out that it required players to acknowledge that they were OK with accidental nudity that might occur during games. The Smoking Gun also reported that players for some LFL teams said that the organization was reneging on promises to pay up for players' injuries. The LFL responded to the players' complaints by threatening to sue them for making defamatory statements about the league. The LFL's McMillen says that four women offered spots on the Orlando Fantasy chose not to sign the league's contract. He says their objections were due to a misunderstanding ofthe league's fines policy - "and two of them came back to us begging to have the opportunity to re-sign and we passed." "We certainly have no shortage ofladies that want to be a part ofthe Orlando Fantasy," he says. "In fact, it is one of our most in-demand markets." ~yletter,February,2012 The events of this past week are startling. Why were the people of Abbotsford not consulted about soft-core pornography coming to our publicly owned Abbotsford Sports and Entertainment Centre. My friends merely tapped a few buttons on their computers and discovered a cesspool of information about the 'lingerie football league.' This is definitely not only the 'religious' squeamish prudes who are astounded at what our council has done. Some of my quite liberal, left-leaning friends see this for what it is. This 'sport' commercializes, degrades and cheapens women. Was there no one among our mayor or councillors capable of doing even a cursory search on the web? Is there no one among the very well paid city staff who could do some rudimentary research and spare Abbotsford from yet another disastrous contract. Already we are getting confused and conflicting answers coming out of city hall. A worldly-wise friend suggested quite matter of factly that this is a front for money laundering. Do I think any of our council would drag our local government into that kind of corruption? No, I do not. But all the respect I felt for them is gone. Either this council and staff are not doing careful background searches before they drag us into astoundingly awful contracts, or else they are naive waifs. In either case, we are lurching like drunken fools right now. E. reilly of the Hamiltion Spectator, Sept. 2/11: HECFI loses $100,000 on Lingerie Football Hamilton's Lingerie Football League game was a bust. Approximately 970 tickets were sold to the controversial July 30 game at Copps Coliseum, say councillors on the interim board of Hamilton Entertainment and Convention Facilities Inc. In total, the event lost $100,000. The losses are higher than expected for the game, pegged as the first of its kind in Canada. Based on pre-event ticket sales, HECFI staff estimated the game would likely lose between $50,000 and $100,000. Interim HECFI CEO John Hertel said he cannot confirm how much was lost on the game because of confidentiality agreements with the promoters. However, in an email, he acknowledged the event lost money. "As was evidenced by the relatively small crowd, it was not a financial success," he wrote. The lingerie football loss is only the most recent financial blow for the city's troubled arms-length entertainment agency. Council voted to seize control of the organization after it lost millions in 2010 and was subject to a damning independent review. That report concluded that everything from the size and age of HECFl's venues to a risky deal with the Hamilton Bulldogs was putting strain on its finances. It also stated that unless the city chooses to make drastic changes to HECFI's operations - such as selling Hamilton Place, the Convention Centre and Copps Coliseum - the organization will continue to need public money. Part of the lingerie league loss was due to a $90,000 guarantee it was offered to come to Hamilton. Hertel said guarantees are offered to almost every performer that HECFI books. Brad Jones of Don Jones Management - the business that has operated Centennial Hall in London for almost 30 years - said most of the performers he books either receive guarantees or a percentage of ticket sales. Some contracts pass as much as 95 per cent of the ticket revenue on to the performers. "Ninety-nine per cent of the artists these days get guarantees or percentage, whichever is greater," he said. "(HECFI) is not doing anything that they shouldn't have other than booking a show that no one cared about." Hertel said in all cases, HECFI staff do a "front-end analysis" of their events to try to predict how much revenue the performer could bring in from ticket sales, merchandise and food and beverages. These predictions are done anywhere from a year to 18 months in advance and are taken into account when HECFI offers a guarantee. HECFI began discussions with the Lingerie Football League in April and had a contract lined up by June, said Hertel. "We budget to make money on all shows, and do, on most," Hertel said." My letter of February, 2012: Your councillors have been discussing an almost nude women's hockey team behind closed doors for some time. They have compounded their past poor judgment, with one bad decision, hard on the heels of another. That Dave Loewen, Patricia Ross, Simon Gibson, Les Barkman, John Smith, Moe Gill, Bill MacGregor and which mayor? - have brought this degradation to our city is so reprehensible, that the only decent move now would be for them to resign. They won't, but I hope many more of you will realize that you need to involve yourselves in civic affairs. We thought we could vote for good people, pay good staff, and just go peacefully about with our own lives. This awful contract, with sleaze dispels that myth. This sport is about one thing, and only one thing. It is making young women perform for the sexual lusts of the watchers. If real football requires a lot of protective clothing, and this is purportedly about real football, then why are these women's bodies left vulnerable to serious damage? If these women are talented athletes who want to play football, why is that sport only available to them if they agree to be almost naked. Does anyone believe that there won't be outright nakedness running around in our tax-payer built and maintained AESC. You know, in the heat of the game, someone has that tiny strip of clothing 'accidently' ripped off The councillors and senior staff raise their hands in feigned innocence. They're just letting Global Spectrum do its job don't you know. I don't know ifits applicable, but I keep thinking, 'Pilate washed his hands.' We have a franchise with this team. Please someone - tell me what that means. Can anyone out there throw any light, or hope on this - this most vile, outrageous decision ever to come from our city 'leaders'? My letter, February, 2012 I forwarded the response from Frank Pizzuto to all of you. The scant information from Jason Blumenfeld of Global Spectrum does not begin to answer the questions this community needs to hear. As cheap as the decision to bring women in underwear to our publicly owned AESC - worse by far is the feeble claims by our 'goody-two-shoes' upright, church going, you name it' leaders' "Oh, I WOULDN'T GO TO IT!" Really? You wouldn't go to it - yet you gave Blumenfeld the go ahead and never once let the secret out to us who will again pay the price for your awful leadership. You need to provide us with the full and complete contract/agreement/franchise, whatever this deal is called. You claim it is not a franchise but the first we heard about it was news releases that called it a franchise. The league manager is quoted as saying, "We'll certainly stay in Abbotsford for a couple of years," How can he say such a thing. Show us all the paperwork. Whatever happened to Mayor Banman's lofty words about transparency, openness and consultation with the public before major decisions were made. Why would the members of council who did object not tell their colleagues he/she would walk out of the closed room and tell the city what was under discussion. Land, Labour, Law? None of those categories forced our council to keep this discussion 'in camera'. Council says they delegated authority to Global Spectrum, (Jason Blumenfeld). Who in town knows Jason? Who voted for him? Is he paying down the heavy debt for AESC? Since when does a CEO of any successful company delegate away his authority over his enterprise. If Abbotsford City Mayor and Councillors want to abdicate the authority given to them in the last election, I for one would be delighted to have each one resign. A friend sent these quotes from the Vancouver Sun: Simon Gibson, who also writes a faith column for the Abbotsford-Mission Times. "I regret that this kind of entertainment is growing and that's why I was opposed to it. I don't feel it's in the best interest of nurturing a quality lifestyle in the city of Abbotsford. But the majority of council, informally, thought otherwise." Gibson added that council did not formally vote on whether to allow a LFL franchise in Abbotsford. Abbotsford is home to more than 133,000 people, according to Wednesday's census numbers. In 2006, census figures showed 61 per cent of the city's population identified themselves as being Christian, and the region has unofficially been dubbed as The Bible Belt. Jason Blumenfeld, the GM of the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre said he's thrilled to welcome the league to the building and the city. "It's an exciting sport with a proven track record in the states," he said. Mitchell Mortaza, founder and chainnan of the LFL, said the teams in Canada will only play other teams in the Canadian league, and that there are four other teams - in addition to Toronto and Abbotsford - are set to be announced. "They'll be announced over the next few days," he said, noting that building leases are getting sorted "as we speak." (and that friend's own views): I do assuredly thank goodness my daughters are not on those playing fields / nor do they aspire to become the top of the lingerie competitive female heap for the sake of bringing women into their power in the athletic forum that is nothing but a farce. There is where common sense and the "game" part company...... there is no sense in this nonsense. The girls are not even paid well to wear inadequate protection {labelling it amateur sports allows for all sorts of slimy near infractions} and run up and down a field in their skivvys so where are they (THE GIRLS) benefiting? ...... it is such a cyclical world the foolish fathers/mothers of the city just keep playing into! ! ! From: Gerda Peachey < Date: Mon, Feb 20, 2012 at 1:24 AM Subject: Abbotsford City Councillor, Dave Loewen - on 'morality and government' I just re-read Councillor Loewen's column in the on-line news, 'Abbotsford Today'. As befits this long-time christian high school teacher, his essay is scholarly, lofty, articulate. He quotes from 'excellent essays', 'noted professors of law'. His opening line prepares you for the high tone of his essay, as befits one held in such esteem among the better people in Abbotsford. He writes, "The recent pubic discourse regarding a particular brand of entertainment coming to our city has renewed the ageless debate about government's role in the lives of its citizens, and its duty to legislate for and uphold the law." Too pure are his lips, too refmed his mind to give a name to the game that he and his fellow councillors jammed down the throats of the hapless taxpayers in the city they govern. Not for Dave Loewen to say the words "Lingerie Football League". That is left for the rabble who will take their lowly pay checks and drop half a hundred to oogle women in underwear, women who will pretend the crowd is there to watch them play serious football. Yes, Mr. Loewen, 'lingerie' means underwear, or were you to pure to use that word in your MEl classes? It's taken us days to actually comprehend what this council has foisted on us. I don't know much about what the Christian community has to say, but I am really impressed with my friends who claim to be atheists, agnostics or just plain secular. They see this for what it is - the cheapening of women. This council's decision is made so much more odious by their pious bleating that they would not attend it themselves. I've read a lot of the comments made by those who are in favour of lingerie 'football'. If we are to judge the event by those who like that type of entertainment, it becomes dreadfully clear just how low-class this IS. For the cultured Mr. Loewen who is too refined to mention the women in underwear team he's allowed to be "awarded" to Abbotsford, I will direct his keen intellect to Raymond de Souza in the June 20111 edition of the National Post.. .. "The drive to remove faith from public life means declaring that the deepest convictions of Canadians, and their corresponding freedoms to act in accord with them are somehow suspect; it is this that narrows and coarsens our common life, and threatens our liberties" ...... "To say that morality should be excluded from this deliberation, or that religiously-inspired morality should be singled out for special exclusion, is to say in effect, that the great traditions of moral reflection have no bearing on our moral and political choices today. We are left then with only the cold calculus of utilitarianism, or simple power politics." One last question for Mr. Loewen and the rest of our city council. Potential nudity is built right into the LFL contracts that these women must sign. That is according to many web sites (and there are lots that you might have checked before tying a once-trusting citizenry into yet another horrid contract). Potential nudity is what will help fill the money-sucking pit on King Rd. But is nudity in public facilities exempt from our city's 'Consolidated Business Licence Bylaw' that covers the display of adult publications? If this is how desperate you are to fix the mess you created, by wading into a world you should have left to the private sector - the world of big-name entertainment, you need to give notice to Global Spectrum, and to the private owners of the Abbotsford Heat, that their contracts will not be renewed. During an all candidates debate, councillor Bill MacGregor got applause when he suggested we put the Abbotsord Entertainment and Sports Centre up for the highest bidder. Do it. Gerda Peachey From: Frank Pizzuto Please find attached details of the LFL details for Abbotsford. To reiterate the City does not own the franchise, there is no financial risk to the City or the building. Other Global managed facilities have hosted the LFL in the States and they have been financially positive. > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Jason Blumenfeld From my letter responding to hate mail from an LFL supporter: I asked our council to draw up "a minimal standard of decency", a guideline for all events that are held in public places. I did not ask them to cancel an already booked show. A minimal standard of decency would forbid the LFL from using our publicly-owned Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre. According to the abundant data available to our mayor and council, those women sign contracts that have them agree to the potential for nudity while playing 'football' out in public. Those little garters are useful to ensure that a little nudity happens in the heat of the game. No one with a brain denies that women in scanty underwear, who play an aggressive version of contact sports are there for any other reason than the exploitation of sexual lust. If it was really about football the women would look exactly like the men in Grey Cup games. Freedom ofInformation Request Feb. 20/12 To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], sgibson@a bbotsford.ca, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], hbraun @abbotsford.ca The recent announcement regarding a 'lingerie football team' has raised many questions. Would you direct staff to provide answers to the following: Please provide me with the contract, or the agreement, or the franchise, or lease, or whatever this arrangement is called that we have entered into with the Lingerie Football League. Please ensure that my FOI explains in detail ... Will the Abbotsford Police be required to attend these events? If so, will they be on overtime pay? How many of our city staff will be paid to be at these LFL events? Are deals/contracts/franchises/leases etc. that are signed by Global Spectrum entirely their responsibility/liability, or is the City of Abbotsford, i.e. the taxpayer, held responsible for all deals Global Spectrum enters into as our agent? What is the cost to us, the city, to open the building, heat it, clean it and staff it for the time this LFL needs for practise and game time? Given the paucity of information given to the public, I have only questions, many of them based ona wide variety of outside sources. But we need black and white facts from you on questions about risks and possible lawsuits. Will we the City have to buy insurance to save ourselves from some potentially horrendous lawsuits. The producers of this show boast publicly that this is real football, as proven by the many serious injuries incurred by these women. Broken collar bones, broken ribs, concussions etc. Would we not be liable for those damages because we knowingly let these teams compete without adequate protection from injury? (That point being ridiculously obvious from one look at the protection provided to players in any Grey Cup Game.) Would judges not rule in favour of the poor damaged women because you, who are in positions of trust and authority, ought to have known better. You ought to have done everything in your power to ensure no harm befell someone in a building built, and owned, and operated by you the city leaders. And what about the potential for nudity running around in our public facility. Did we not at one time have laws prohibiting planned pubic indecent exposure? Please provide me with the relevant laws governing nudity in public. Please explain every detail in the message from City Manager Frank Pizzuto as to what the financial terms of this agreement are. I do not see any mention as to who gets to keep the money from the parking lots. Is there any shred of possibility that this deal Global Spectrum has arranged, really has organized crime (like money laundering) at the heart of it? The details and the finances sound so sketchy that for the first time in 30 years I wonder if corruption has indeed penetrated into my city's government. If it is necessary to fill in a proper FOI form please notify me of that requirement. Gerda Peachey ------Forwarded message ------From: Frank Pizzuto Please find attached details of the LFL details for Abbotsford. To reiterate the City does not own the franchise, there is no financial risk to the City or the building. Other Global managed facilities have hosted the LFL in the States and they have been financially positive. > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Jason Blumenfeld From: Gerda Peachey ,I ------Date: Thu, May 24,2012 at 2:14 PM Subject: The contract between the City of Abbotsford and the Lingerie Football League I've just read the contract sent to me under Freedom of Information request. All dollar amounts are redacted. No surprise there, but it reminds us again of the thin ice we taxpayers skate on. Our government, (municipal in this case), often binds us to very dubious contracts, that we are bound to pay, no matter what the cost. Then we, poor suckers, are barred from knowing how much we are shelling out on these deals, ('third party' information. ) I can send the contract to anyone who wants it. According to our councillors, they met, (in-camera), with Jason Blumenfeld of Global Spectrum, late in 2011. Jason asked whether or not to rent our publicly-owned AESC to Michel Mortaza. He owns the Lingerie Football League. Our council gave him the go ahead. When the newspapers told us about it in 2012, it was a done deal. Many people sent links to my email, that brought into sharp focus just exactly what our wise leaders had tied us into, and it is not pretty. I expect that even now a coursory search ofLFL will bring up more than most decent people want to see. Built right into the contract Mortaza has these women sign, is the clause that they are to expect potential nudity. In one of the videos of an LFL game, the men in the stands are screaming, "Her pants are down, her pants are down ..... " These women, ostensibly playing football, are dressed, as the title says, in underwear, underwear conveniently provided with garters that aid in the state of undress, so desirable to the men in the stands. These 'football players', look nothing like the men in a Grey Cup games. They actually look like sexy women, dressed in underwear, and not much else. Some of the sites boast about this being "realfootball", as proven by the numerous injuries sustained, (because there is scant protective gear). Concussions, broken ribs, broken collar bones, etc. Our City Council knew all this, yet they gave Jason Blumenfeld the go ahead. Pg. 12 B MORAL CLAUSE (Excerpt from the Feb. 15/12 contract} "Licensee shall not use or attempt to use any part ofthe facility for any use or proposed use which would be contrary to law, common decency or good morals or otherwise improper or detrimental to the reputation ofLicensor. " For some paltry sum of money, (an amount to be kept firmly from the prying eyes of those who must pay all the bills,) our Council approved two dates for an event that has nothing to do with football, and everything to do with lust, and the exploitation of women. Contrary to the clause on Page 12, our City Council has brought an event, "which would be contrary to law, common decency or good morals or otherwise improper or detrimental to the reputation ofthe Licensor. " Licensor, that's us - Abbotsford NATIONAL TIMES, June 6/12 by Michelle Smith (Australia) Turning sport into a raunch spectacle is sexist and damaging. A YEAR after the faltering arrival of the glitz-style girls' beauty pageant in Australia, we are soon to endure an attempt to import another sexist American spectacle to our shores. The Lingerie Football League is a women's seven-a-side gridiron league that began in 2009 after the success of the "Lingerie Bowl" pay-per-view event broadcast at half-time during the Super Bowl. The game is full-contact like the men's game, but the uniform of bra, panties and garters bears little resemblance to the male uniform, with the exception of shoulder padding. The LFL will hold exhibition matches in Brisbane and Sydney from next week to generate hype for an anticipated season launch in 2013. Sport Minister Kate Lundy has called the LFL a "cheap, degrading perv", while young Australian women unafraid of having their backsides exposed to millions have indicated their interest in taking to the field. The US and Canadian "games" are largely orchestrated for cable television and the primary audience, according to LFL founder Mitch Mortaza, is young college men. The teams have names such as Los Angeles Temptation, Chicago Bliss and Orlando Fantasy, which are more sexually suggestive and less evocative of athletic prowess than the Broncos, Lions and Bombers. The "players" effectively take to the field in underwear. Tackles and manoeuvres inevitably reveal even more buttock and breast. No wonder players must sign a contract that includes an "accidental nudity" clause. • Scott Beveridge met some of the star players of the LFL when they visited Brisbane in May. Listen to their point of view here. The Lingerie Football League is little more than jelly wrestling repackaged for a mass television audience. Private viewing of porn or a strip show is different to selling the objectification of women as an innocuous "sporting" event. The LFL is damaging to all women in addition to making a mockery of women's sport. We need to consider the effect of the movement of raunch culture out of adult venues and into the mainstream. LFL is not restricted in the same way as an exotic dance or a men's magazine, and so the upcoming Australian exhibition matches include "family tickets" that offer discount admission for children aged between two and 12. Women tackling each other wearing lingerie is being marketed as a family night out. In a recent interview with Melinda Tankard Reist about the LFL, Derryn Hinch asked: "What about male divers, they wear very brief shorts ... will you ban them?" Next time there is a male diving pay-per-view event, predominantly subscribed to by women, in which other men tread water poised to dislodge a competitor's Speedos, perhaps we should consider it. Other supporters propose that the LFL is a legitimate sporting event because many of the women who participate have played sports professionally. The tmth is there are dedicated women footballers in the US in the Ladies Gridiron League but no one wants to promote or watch their games, in which players are clothed. The LFL selects women who look like centrefolds in their bra and panties, not muscular or stocky women who might be athletically most suited to football. Female athletes are regularly undervalued for their spOliing abilities, but rewarded for their appearance. This is why tennis player Anna Kournikova was often scheduled on centre court, while higher-ranked players without model looks were relegated to outer courts. It's why the prettiest female swimmers such as Giaan Rooney continue to receive endorsements after retirement, while equal or greater athletes who are not as photogenic aren't considered suitable for promoting products. The mere fact that women choose to participate in the LFL because it is the only way they can be paid well to play football in front of a sizeable audience does not make it acceptable or a triumph in a society still striving for sexual equality. There is nothing wrong with admiring athletic bodies, male or female, nor with adults choosing sexual enteliainment, but marrying women's sport with adult entertainment is undoubtedly sexist. That anyone who questions what the LFL means for how girls and women are perceived and how they see themselves is labelled a prude says much about the way sexism is more insidious than ever. Dr Michelle Smith is a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Culture and Communication at Melbourne University. Three comments from Dr. Smith's readers: "the argument that something objectionable should be let slide because there are worse things in the world is facile at best. " "1 disagree with the statement that 'no one is h1lrt'. Discounted tickets for children between 2 and 12? To watch this gastly display? What does this meallfor little girls? And little boys? That girls start wearing bra's at 4 years of age as they do already? And wearing titlelating little undies? As if Barbie as a role model wasn't bad enough, this game pushes it to the point that children are groomed to be sex objects too, and grow up to be se.xual objects onzv while they are so much more then that! 1feel sorry for the women who voluntarily enter into this, it means they have been brainwashed into being se;r objects already. " If! don't think we really need to make the degradation of women and their image in society a mainstream event."