RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – When Arena Football League Chairman Chris Chetty and former Commissioner Lee Hutton met in late September 2022, it seemed like a match made in heaven.
The two were both in Las Vegas at the AFL’s soft launch event at the Circa Resort and Casino 8.
“Lee was great,” Chetty remembers. “He was talking the talk, he was very poised and well put together. I looked at him and was like, this guy has what it takes.”
In just the past month, six teams in the AFL have folded. That list includes the Rapid City Marshals who announced they would be done Friday afternoon. And, Commissioner Lee Hutton was unanimously voted out by team owners, while Jeff Fisher, president of operations for the Nashville Kats was appointed interim commissioner.
CONTEXT: Rapid City Marshals cease operations
KOTA sports anchor Andrew Lind met on Zoom with Chairman Chris Chetty on Thursday to discuss all things AFL:
Lind: What were your first impressions of former league commissioner Lee Hutton when you first met him in Las Vegas to kick off the AFL 3.0?
MORE: ‘Uncomfortable’ position: How, why Marshals held out versus Billings
Chetty: “The way it was framed to me was, Lee Hutton coming in as commissioner and him partnering with Travelle Gaines they were going to take the whole thing and build this whole thing out. Everything from media to sponsorships to team owners, everything down the line, turn key. As an investor this sounds good to me. Hey, it doesn’t sound like I have to operate. We worked through that for very very closely for 5-6 months.”
Lind: Why did you take a backseat after buying the AFL trademarks?
Chetty: “The guys on the U.S. side (said they) are going to take it from here. We have a change in direction, we have a change in vision, and I didn’t have any plans to come to the states. I accepted an early buyout. If my group is not wanted or not needed here then if they don’t see the value here then were not going to convince anyone of our value. I took a backseat, and I let them go with it, we’ve sent cease and desists, we’ve sent all kinds of legal communications, we’ve brought several firms on board to put a stop to this. And when the writing was on the wall and when the existing team owners and leadership collectively decided that we needed a change, that’s when I got in touch with, or that’s when Jeff fisher got in touch with me and that’s when we started to connect the dots.”
Lind: What were the logistics of Jeff fisher taking over as commissioner despite the AFL bylaws saying owners can’t vote commissioners out of office?
RELATED: ‘Owners can’t vote him out,’ Q&A with Marshals Co-Owner Wes Johnson
“Since you screwed up the second contract back on January 20 when we signed it and they said they were going to pay us in 48 hours, and didn’t, cause they did that in July of last year, they’ve already breached the contract. We’ve revoked the right to use the license immediately. So all these contracts and all of these agreements that they have been putting in place have all been illegal. They’re not on any sort of valid grounds. And he’s lost his role as a commissioner a lot longer before that cause when he took over as an owner operator on another shell to take the transferring of the marks, he’s now stepped out of our purview as a commissioner in contractual agreements with G6 Sports because he’s breached his contract.”
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