Citing insurance cost, Lancers call it quits

After four seasons, the Rochester Lancers are done — telling their players and season-ticket holders on Monday that skyrocketing insurance premiums have made it impossible to continue.

"We cannot get insurance," Salvatore "Soccer Sam" Fantauzzo, the Lancers' president, CEO and founder, said in an interview. "No small business can afford to pay $200,000-plus for workman's comp, so we're done. We're done, man. We've tried every angle."

The Lancers, an indoor soccer team playing its home games at Blue Cross Arena at the Community War Memorial, finished 10-10 last season, in third place in the Eastern Division of the Major Arena Soccer League. In the league's first year, the Lancers set the single-game attendance record, drawing a reported 10,215 to a March 1 match against Baltimore.

Last summer, the Lancers appeared to have folded. Fantauzzo cited differences with the league and lease issues. But former star player Doug Miller, with Fantauzzo's financial backing, talked him into another year. Miller became the head coach for last season, the club's most successful.

Read post by "Soccer Sam" on Lancers website

The team is insured through the New York State Insurance Fund, a quasi-government agency funded by premiums and commonly referred to as the insurer of last resort. Last September, the agency informed Fantauzzo and the Lancers that their $20,000 per year policy was increasing, and the new rate would be $200,000, Fantauzzo said. Last week, they learned their new rate would be $277,000.

Team payroll is less than $125,000, he said.

Premiums are based on the industry type (the state classifies soccer as a non-contact sport), claim history and other matters. In addition to covering medical costs, NYSIF also pays out disability or indemnity payments. The state Workers Compensation Board has a formula for determining a compensation award for the loss of use of any body part. But Fantauzzo, in a letter to the league, wrote, "we allowed players to milk the system," asserting in an interview that system is broken as disability payments were paid to players who in some cases were still actively competing. The state neither informed the Lancers of those claims nor fought the awards, he said.

NYSIF spokeswoman Betsy McCormack said she was not allowed to publicly discuss an individual policyholder's case. Generally speaking, however, notice should go to an employer and they would be represented by NYSIF at any hearing.

The Rochester Rhinos similarly saw their premiums spike from something in the neighborhood of $90,000 a year into the $200,000 range within the past six months, said Rob Clark, team owner and CEO. The team fought it and got it reduced somewhat. Clark called it "the cost of doing business."

It was not immediately clear whether there was a statewide spike in premiums for sports teams. McCormack said she was unaware of such an adjustment but added that matters are not necessarily tracked in that manner. Clark said the Rhinos have used other insurance companies, but for the past two or three years NYSIF has been "the only act in town, so everyone has to use them."

"We lose money ... every year," Clark said, adding that the insurance premiums are among the top five expenses.

The Lancers have the first in a series of youth camps kicking off next week. Those will continue both now and in the future, Fantauzzo said, and he intends to continue to promote youth soccer in the Rochester area. The organization also was in the midst of lease negotiations and there were initial talks of extending for another season as recently as last week. Fantauzzo referenced the "awful lease at the BCA" and his own health issues in the letter to the league, noting the Lancers organization had pressed on in spite of those hurdles.

Coach Doug Miller said he remained hopeful that something still might save the team. He was speaking with his daughter about the matter when reached for comment on Monday afternoon, and he said: "It's a very tough pill to swallow."

In an emailed letter to players and fans on Monday, Fantauzzo wrote: "This has been a great four years in my life, and I hope you enjoyed the ride."

BDSHARP@DemocratandChronicle.com