EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The Evansville Thunderbolts hockey club, which has struggled on the ice and at the gate in its third year at the Ford Center, will return for the 2019-20 season, a club official said.

Meanwhile, Evansville’s new indoor football team still plans to begin play in April, even though little has been seen or heard about that endeavor since it was announced in September.

Another season of dropping the puck

The Thunderbolts are in last place in the 10-team Southern Professional Hockey League. Perhaps more concerning is the average home attendance of just above 2,000 per game, next-to-last in the league.

Last season, the team averaged 2,300 fans for a home game, last in the league. The Ford Center seats 9,000 for hockey.

“I’ve turned in dates for next season,” said Scott Schoenike, executive director of the Ford Center. “We are committed to next season. We think the potential is there. We just need to do a better job, get out in front of people and give them what they want to see.”

The Thunderbolts since their second season have been owned by VenuWorks, which is the entertainment company with a city contract to run the Ford Center.

Schoenike, who is the point person for Thunderbolts management, said having a hockey team is important to the arena financially, even on nights when few people are there.

He said the team’s schedule fills many dates, and the publicly owned arena can’t make money on dates without events. Plus, he added, the Ford Center exists to provide entertainment.

Schoenike acknowledged, though, that attendance must improve.

He declined several requests from the Courier & Press to provide data related to the hockey club’s expenses and revenues. He said those figures are blended with those of major concerts and other events at the arena.

“It’s always a concern,” Schoenike said of the hockey club’s attendance and revenues. “Thank God Evansville’s business community is very supportive and continues to be. But that grace will run out, which is why we’ve got to continue to push and make sure they get their value (for sponsorship).”

The Thunderbolts were born shortly after the Evansville IceMen, a member of the National Hockey League-affiliated ECHL, left in 2016. The IceMen now play in Jacksonville, Florida, a metropolitan area with 1.5 million people as opposed to the Evansville area’s 300,000.

The Southern Professional Hockey League has a shorter schedule and less expensive team travel than the ECHL, but it is a lesser brand of hockey. It is an independent league, with no NHL affiliation.

The Thunderbolts made the SPHL playoffs in their second year, but this season, little has gone well.

After being shutout 5-0 at home on Friday night before an announced crowd of 1,793, and a 10-1 loss on the road Saturday, the Thunderbolts have nine wins in their 46 games. The club’s on-ice struggles have been blamed on injuries, as well as players moving on to ECHL teams.

The club also suffered a public-relations blow in January when first-year head coach Ian Moran, a former NHL player, was arrested on a drunken driving charge.

On a more positive note, the Thunderbolts have been active in community outreach activities, with players and staff visiting schools, nonprofit agencies and businesses.

The Thunderbolts’ stated goal has been to reach an average of 2,500 fans per game. Schoenike said the club will continue to work on boosting its attendance in a highly competitive local environment.

“It really is about promotions, giveaways,” Schoenike said. “We’re fighting over entertainment dollars. (Won-loss record) is definitely a part, but I think it’s more about making it an event.”

Is indoor football still coming?

The National Gridiron League, an upstart indoor football league, last year awarded Evansville one of its 12 teams. The Indiana Firebirds were formally presented in September at a news conference and said play would begin this spring.

The team named a head coach, Nick Hart, who also is the coach at Gibson Southern High School. Hart has experience in the indoor game, having been an assistant with the Evansville Bluecats, who played at Roberts Stadium from 2003-07. He also worked with a team in Alaska.

But aside from a Facebook page and team website, there has been no visible local promotion of the Firebirds and their eight-game home schedule, which begins April 12.

The Ford Center still does not have Firebirds home games listed on its event schedulefor spring and summer.

All 12 teams in the National Gridiron League are owned by the league, so Schoenike said the arena has no financial risk in the Firebirds, aside from keeping the team’s requested dates open.

The arena also has dates set aside in early April for installation of football turf and other necessary equipment.

“They still say it’s happening,” Schoenike said. “We are still holding that (April 12) date for them, waiting for them to get organized and do it.”

Joe McClendon, president of the National Gridiron League, seemed incredulous when asked by the Courier & Press if the league and its Evansville-based team are moving forward.

“Everything is on course,” McClendon said. “We’re going to play our games there. We’ve been working with operations to get games in place.”

“There is a roster of players,” McClendon continued. “Uniforms have been ordered. Everything necessary for competition has been taken care of.”

Hart said it’s his understanding the league reached a deal with a ticketing agency within the last few days, so that might explain the delay in promoting the team and ticket sales.

Players are to arrive in mid-March for a training camp, and the Firebirds’ website does list a roster of players. The club’s Facebook page recently posted that Amari Spievey, a 30-year-old former Detroit Lions safety, is on the team.

However, the Firebirds also have a “help wanted” sign out.

There’s an online classified ad in Evansville for “indoor football player,” at an annual salary of $6,000 to $20,000. Qualifications sought include athleticism, skilled decision making, discipline and endurance. The ad is on Indeed.com.

“I’m not privy to a lot of the workings of it,” Hart said. “I’m told it’s going forward. I think things have been a little slow moving. It’s a startup, and they are trying to operate 12 teams. I honestly don’t know. I’m of the belief it’s moving forward, but that’s what I’m told. I don’t have any inside info. I’m more on the recruiting and football side than on the business side.”