Bats president answers angry LCFC supporters

Eight feet have the Louisville Bats and Louisville City Football Club at odds a bit heading into the weekend.

Louisville City FC recently commissioned a display honoring its founding members, the purple piece emblazoned with the team crest and names of those who bought the first round of season tickets. The club plans to hang it in Louisville Slugger Field's "Hall of Fame Pavilion," the great room that houses its locker room.

"We're agreeable to do exactly that," said Bats President Gary Ulmer. "Their demand is in a spot that we consider to be part of the space we partition off when we have really nice receptions, dinners – black tie events. So we suggested eight feet to one side directly across from our gift shop, a fantastic location right in the middle of the main walkthrough.

"But since they didn't get their way at the first attempt, they decided to embark on a social media campaign."

Wayne Estopinal, Louisville City FC's operating manager, tweeted Wednesday evening with a photo of the plaque, "Louisville City FC had this display created to honor our Founding Members. Bats blocked installation. Bummer."

Response from the first-year soccer team's supporters, The Coopers, has been fierce, many of their tweets aimed at the @LouisvilleBats Twitter account. Coopers members have threatened to boycott purchasing concessions during City's matches – the Bats get those profits – and have facetiously used a photo of Ulmer in their posts.

The spot City wants its plaque is outside the club's locker room, a spot where fans and players often congregate after home matches. Bats officials would prefer it slide eastward, positioned across from the team's gift shot.

"We want to locate it so it's visible to our supporters, our players and our staff as something to inspire us," Estopinal said. "The Bats don't want to do that. They want to locate it farther down the concourse, really in an area that has nothing to do with us."

But, Ulmer said, "We have not commercialized that space. We don't have Bats logos or advertising or plaques or anything, really. All we suggested was that they consider moving eight feet to a pretty nice location -- highly visible. But Wayne Estopinal immediately embarked on a campaign as a result of us questioning whether or not we could talk about a slightly different situation."

It was Estopinal's goal heading into Saturday's 7:30 p.m. home match against the Charleston Battery to have the display ready for a pregame dedication ceremony. Sports Graphics, an Indianapolis company that brands for NCAA events and the Super Bowl, built the plaque. It's six feet wide and lists from 1,700 to 1,800 names.

Will it hang ahead of Louisville City FC's home stand?

"We'll probably end up doing what they want," Ulmer said, "because they've embarked on a smear campaign via social media. The easiest thing is just let them have their way."

But Estopinal said later Friday, "Obviously, that's not going to happen."

Louisville City FC's original deal to become a founding member included a team scarf, access to exclusive events and name on a plaque inside Slugger Field.

"Ultimately, we're putting money in the pockets of the Bats, and all we're asking for is a space on the wall," said Timothy Clark, The Coopers' president. "I don't know why that's such a tough thing."

Clark added, "I'm hoping this will settle very quickly," but Estopinal said that by Friday afternoon, discussions were no longer ongoing.