Louisiana Voodoo AFL team head coach explains move from Lake Charles to Lafayette

LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY)– Acadiana has a new arena football team coming to the hub city. The team Louisiana Voodoo made the move from Lake Charles after a dispute between the team’s owners with the Arena Football League and the management company of the Lake Charles Event Center.

The team’s new home will be the Blackham Coliseum for their upcoming season, starting next weekend. It’s a jump the team had to make fast amidst disagreements in Lake Charles.

“I think it was a multitude of things of them saying, we’re going to Lafayette,” Louisiana Voodoo Head Coach James Shiver said.

The coach said ASM, the company that manages the Lake Charles Arena Center, dropped the ball. He said issues began months ago over ticket sales and practicing in the arena. This week though, the issues came to a head.

“You would think if you were the mayor or the city of Lake Charles, you would have found a way to keep that there,” Shivers added.

He said the team’s owners and the arena parted ways.

“So today we moved to Lafayette, and it’s been great. Everybody’s excited about it,” the coach told News 10.

News 10 spoke with ASM management’s attorney, and he blames the Arena Football League for the problems.

“ASM did everything possible to comply with their end of the bargain,” attorney Gene Thibodeaux said.

He said the reason for the split was because the AFL never coughed up any money or gave proof of insurance.

“Nothing was paid in rent. No insurance certificate was provided. Nothing was paid in advance capital cost, as agreed upon,” Thibodeaux said.

Thibodeaux said those costs equaled over $67,000.

Back on the field, Head Coach Shiver disputes that the league never paid but is putting the drama in the past.

“Today we unloaded brand new Astroturf inside the Blackham Coliseum. This week coming up, we’re going to unload nets, we’re going to put dasher boards up. There’s probably half a million dollars’ worth of equipment going in Blackham Coliseum in the next week. If we didn’t pay our bills or we didn’t do our job, would UL first off let us use Blackham Coliseum and would we be able to put all that stuff, brand new stuff just going inside, you know?” the head coach asked.

Shiver said now his team is ready to call Lafayette home. The inaugural season starts next week. The first home game is April 27 against Philadelphia Soul. All five home games will be Blackham Coliseum. Tickets should be available Monday, April 22.

Coach Shivers also said in future seasons, Louisiana Voodoo is looking to move to the Cajundome.