Eastern Indoor Soccer League (1997-1998)
Tombstone
Born: 1996 – EISL founding franchise
Folded: December 23, 19981Corcoran, Jack. “Tallahassee Scorpions to fold with pro soccer league”. The Democrat (Tallahassee, FL). December 24, 1998
First Game: June 13, 1997 (W 17-8 vs. Savannah Rug Ratz)
Last Game: August 16, 1998 (L 18-16 @ Mississippi Beach Kings)
EISL Championships: None
Arena
Leon County Civic Center (11,170)21997 Eastern Indoor Soccer League Media Guide
Opened: 1981
Branding
Team Colors: Red, Yellow, Black & White31997 Eastern Indoor Soccer League Media Guide
Mascot: Scorpy
Ownership
Owners: David Elmore & Donna Tuttle
Record Book
EISL Most Valuable Player
- 1997: Billy Reinhardt
Background
The Tallahassee Scorpions were a summer season pro indoor soccer club that competed in the Eastern Indoor Soccer League (EISL) for both seasons of that league’s existence in 1997 and 1998.
Ron Spencer, the long-time manager of Tallahassee’s Leon County Civic Center, was one of the EISL’s co-founders. Inspired by the Florida capital city’s initial embrace of the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks of the East Coast Hockey League, Spencer sought out another sport that could fill summer dates at his arena. Spencer dismissed both the Arena Football League and the Continental Indoor Soccer League as too expensive, considering the low-seven figure expansion fees both of the aforementioned organizations sought at the time.4Solano, Javier. “New Pro Indoor Soccer League Confident Coming To Daytona”. The Sentinel (Orlando, FL). June 28, 1996 Instead, Spencer proposed starting a new, modestly budgeted league built along the I-10 highway corridor in the Southeastern U.S. Spencer recruited Tiger Sharks owner David Elmore, a veteran minor league baseball and hockey investor, to the effort in 1996.
Elmore purchased the Tallahassee Scorpions franchise in 1996 and the league kicked off with seven mid-sized cities in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi in June 1997.
In Competition
The Scorpions were a solid entry in the EISL during the league’s debut season of 1997. The club finished 3rd in the league table at 15-9 and earned a playoff spot, where they fell to the Baton Rouge Bombers in the playoff semi-final. Scorpions leading scorer Billy Reinhardt (27 goals, 20 assists) earned EISL Most Valuable Player honors.
Off the field, the Scorps averaged 3,421 fans per game in 12 home dates, including 7,233 for the team’s debut game at the Leon County Civic Center on June 13, 1997.
Year Two, though, was a regression for both the Scorpions and the league. Tallahassee fell back to a 5th place finish at 12-16 and missed the playoffs. The league failed to sell expansion franchises and saw several teams move and ownership groups withdraw. In December 1998 the EISL closed its doors after two seasons of play, taking the Scorpions down with it.
Help Us Out!
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Links
Eastern Indoor Soccer League Media Guides
Eastern Indoor Soccer League Programs
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