Major NPF Changes: One Team Leaves, Another Changes Structure

The National Professional Fastpitch league lost one-third of its teams over the weekend when the reigning champion Scrap Yard Dawgs issued a statement that it would pull out of the league and Akron Racers—the oldest remaining franchise since the NPF starting in 2004—announced it would not be playing in the city and the roster would, in essence, become primarily a Chinese-dominated team.

The Scrap Yard Dawgs posted the following release on its site Sunday evening:

CONROE, TX (January 28th, 2018) – At the NPF owner’s meetings last week, it became clear that the mission of the NPF has changed significantly since the Scrap Yard Dawgs first joined the league.

As such, and effective immediately, the reigning Cowles Cup Champion Scrap Yard Dawgs will no longer be affiliated with the NPF.

However, the Dawgs will continue to compete at the highest level as an independent team playing a full summer schedule that includes major venues and globally televised events in packed stadiums against the top ranked teams in the world.

The Dawg’s 2018 schedule includes a season opening home series at The Scrap Yard Sports Complex against the 2018 USA Softball Women’s World Championship team, followed by another home series against the 2018 USA Softball Women’s All Star team.

Going forward, not only will Scrap Yard Dawgs player contracts include significant salary increases, players will also have a much stronger voice and vote in all strategic owner/management decisions—a level of compensation and representation that was unavailable to them under the NPF structure.

The Scrap Yard Dawgs look forward to continuing our support of fastpitch Softball at all levels, including local recreational leagues, travel ball clubs, high school teams, collegiate programs, and international organizations.

Also on Sunday, the Akron Beacon Journal’s Michael Beaven wrote the following excerpts under the headline Future of Akron Racers in doubt, no pro games to be played at Firestone Stadium in 2018

There will be no Akron Racers softball games this season at Firestone Stadium.

Racers minority owner and longtime General Manager Joey Arrietta confirmed Sunday the National Pro Fastpitch softball franchise “will no longer exist” in the same form.

Craig Stout has been the majority owner of the Racers since April 2008, and Arrietta said financial issues have led to changes for the franchise.

“Financially these are difficult times,” Arrietta said. “It requires a significant amount of money to keep these teams going. I am not sure if any professional team is making it just on ticket sales, so it has been a challenging financial situation for [Stout] and I. For him being the majority owner, he was presented with a plan from our league office to have a Chinese contingent involved. We have one Chinese team in our league already, and this is an opportunity to get another affiliated team that is predominately Chinese and then will also have a few American players.

“So in essence the Akron Racers as we have known them for 17 seasons will no longer exist. I have been replaced as the GM, so I am essentially no longer involved with the team. I have to sort out all of the details. I don’t know quite all of the legal ramifications. I still own a piece of the Akron Racers franchise, but this effort here is a bit different.”

The Racers began play in 1999 at Firestone Stadium, took a hiatus from 2001 to 2003 and then returned in 2004 and played in Akron through the 2017 season.

The city of Akron invested $3.5 million to renovate Firestone Stadium in 1999.

Arrietta said she is unsure if any players from last season will be kept on the new team.

“I understand that the Chinese players are a younger group that will be coming over here,” Arrietta said. “I believe as many 15 will be on the roster and then the rest will be a few American players.

“I want to bring our team back. … I have gathered some folks together in looking at the sustainability of the Akron Racers, and I think that we will continue to explore that and we will see whether there is a groundswell to bring the team back. I hope there is. I hope there is for the young girls who continue to dream about being an Akron Racer. There are a lot of young girls out there that have told me that they want to be a Racer someday. I want to make sure that is a possibility.”

Arrietta said she did not know if the new Chinese team will have a home stadium in 2018 or if it will travel around the country and play strictly away games.

“I have about 100 teams coming in in the month of April,” Arrietta said. “My commitment to the youth, amateur, high school and collegiate programs is unwavering. That is very, very significant to me. We have about 150 dates that are scheduled for games and events at the stadium between April and November.”