Houma Conquerors hire marketing firm

Tri-parish residents can expect to see a lot more of the Houma Conquerors.

Team owner Franklin Thomas Jr., along with Southern Indoor Football League president Tom Hager, announced last week the hiring of a recently created sports marketing firm to promote the team.

Houma-based Louisiana Sports and Entertainment Group is beginning a grassroots campaign to generate fan interest, revenue, ticket sales and sponsorships for the franchise.

Former Bayou Bucks general manager Travis Carrell, along with partners Kirk Bonvillain and Tate Boudreaux, run the firm.

“We’re going to be coming out to where you work. You’re going to see us at the mall. You’re going to see us across this town,” Carrell said at Thursday’s press conference at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center, the Conquerors’ home field. “Somebody from this organization is going to be shaking your hand. We’re going to attack this from a grassroots standpoint and say, ‘Hey, we got (four) home games left. Can you come to one?'”

Thomas and his wife, Lenora, have been running the club’s day-to-day operations through their nonprofit organization, Conquest Sports and Youth Development.

He said they realized they needed more help to make the Conquerors a force in the SIFL and the community.

“Travis Carrell came to the office one day and said, ‘Franklin, I can help with a lot of stuff,'” Thomas recalled. “After a long, drawn-out conversation with Tom and Travis, we decided he (Travis) and his partners would be a real asset to the Houma Conquerors from a marketing and sales standpoint.”

It’s a similar approach Hager took with his Lake Charles-based Louisiana Swashbucklers 10 years ago when he started the team.

“I took my marketing firm and they began handling marketing, promotions and sales. They married with operations and, all of a sudden, both elements became very efficient.”

Thomas will still have some say in the day-to-day operations, but he will focus more on winning football games.

“That will make it a lot easier for me to concentrate on getting the team prepared for game day,” he said.

Carrell estimated around 850 people attended the Conquerors’ April 26 home debut. He hoped to get 1,500 inside the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center for Saturday’s 34-20 win over the Texas Pirates.

“That’s less than half this building,” he said of the 4,200-seat capacity civic center. “We’re hoping by the end of the season, we can have 2,500 here. There are over 100,000 people in Terrebonne Parish alone, not counting Lafourche, Assumption and St. Mary.”

Louisiana Sports and Entertain-ment Group has been in existence only two weeks, but has already gotten several sponsors, including Southland Mall, South Louisiana Bank and Synergy Bank, according to Carrell.

In a small media market, making families the number-one fan base is Carrell’s top priority. That is why he wants to make a personal connection in selling the Conquerors’ brand.

“We’re going to be more involved in some of the events around town. I’m going to put something in your hand. I want you to touch something. You may see some things given away at our sponsors’ businesses,” he said. “I can spend all the money I want on television, print and radio. That’s good top-of-mind marketing. But I don’t have a guarantee that somebody is going to say that I got a chance to sell that person. I just know they’re going to see my ad.”

Hager said it was important that the Houma franchise succeed because the league wants to expand eastward into Mississippi, Alabama and Florida in the next few years.

“We want to be able to develop a bus league that can travel one, two, four, six hours from Houma east, west and north,” he said. “I have 20 applications for teams for next year. They are not all start-up franchises. Some have already played, some are dormant teams and some are in other leagues.

“The Southern Indoor Football League is in the growth mode,” he added. “We just can’t do it unless we have teams that are in the growth mode as well.”

Hager noted that 121 indoor football teams have gone out of business in the last five years.

Putting a winning football team on the field is paramount to keeping the Conquerors from adding to that statistic. Thomas said he and Director of Player Personnel C.J. Maiden are continuously reevaluating and bringing in better players as needed.

“The offensive line is where we needed the most help,” Thomas insisted. “Coach C.J. has been on the phone with some guys from Alabama and Florida that we’re ready to bring down.”

With five games left in the season, including four straight home games between June 22 and July 11, Carrell knows he has a hard task ahead of him. However, he feels confident businesses and consumers are ready to attach themselves to the Houma Conquerors’ brand.

“I think the community will get behind football in Houma again because we all loved it at one time,” Carrell said. “What we want you guys to do is give us an opportunity. Give me a chance to sell you again and you’ll want to come back.”

Staff photo by KEYON K. JEFF / Tri-Parish Times Houma resident Mary Castle (right) considers buying a Conquerors tee shirt from Hailey Pontiff (left) prior to Saturday’s victory at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center. The Conquerors hired Houma-based Louisiana Sports and Entertainment Group last week to boost the team’s revenue and image in the local market.