FLORENCE – The Carolina Havoc arena league football team will not have their lease renewed to play in the Florence Center in 2020. The Florence City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday.
We spoke with Florence Center General Manager Paul Beard this afternoon. Beard told News 13 costs outweighed their profits in order to run the building, staffing, putting the field together and taking apart, etc. with the team. He also stated they averaged only about 200 people per game.
Beard and his staff allowed them to play on Saturdays/Sundays which are typically a big event days for them. Those include shows, concerts, and acts traveling in from all over the world.
News 13 also spoke with Havoc GM Steven Smith and he said yesterday and even this morning, they still have plans to return to Florence in 2020 and wanted to start a youth program for cheerleaders and youth players.
The door is still open for them to play in 2020 at the Florence Center if the organization could possibly strike a deal with City Council in the coming days/months for a new lease.
The Havoc had a great first season in the Pee Dee, they were 8-2 overall, won the Atlantic Division title in the American Arena League (AAL) and advanced to the semifinals of the playoffs before losing to the Carolina Energy in Charlotte this past Saturday.
