Duke City Gladiators
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| Founded | 2015 |
|---|---|
| League | Champions Indoor Football (2015–present) |
| Conference | South |
| Team history | Duke City Gladiators (2015–present) |
| Based in | Albuquerque, New Mexico |
| Arena | Tingley Coliseum |
| Colors | Silver, Black, White |
| Owner(s) | Duke City Gladiators, Inc. |
| Head coach | Dominic Bramante |
| General manager | Matt Caward |
| Website | dukecitygladiators |
The Duke City Gladiators are a professional indoor football team based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They began play in March 2015 as members of the Champions Indoor Football league. The Gladiators play their home games at Tingley Coliseum.
The Gladiators are led on the field by head coach Dominic Bramante and off by majority owner John Lopez and Co-founder/general manager Matt Caward. The Gladiators' offensive coordinator is Martino Theus. (Theus joined the team in mid-April, replacing Roger Linn.) The strength and conditioning coach is Jessica Gentry. The dance/cheer team is known as the Duke City Gladiator Dancers, led by coach Leslie Chant owner of Fusion Dance Studios, Albuquerque, NM.
The team was formed in February 2015 and joined the CIF after the Rio Rancho-based New Mexico Stars cancelled their entry into the league shortly before the season began. (In April 2015, the Stars announced that they would instead join the North American Indoor Football for 2016.) The Gladiators had originally looked to join the X-League Indoor Football but geographical and financial considerations as well as the sudden availability of the CIF franchise slot led the team to change directions.
The team is selling "shares" in the team for a starting price of $1,000 per share. The benefits of being a shareholder include two "lifetime" season passes, free parking, VIP seating-to Gladiators games with field level seating, invitations to special events, and access to the owner's box at the arena along with other exclusive benefits such as apparel and more. The shares were initially promoted as offering partial ownership in the team but state regulators advised the team to clarify that these shares provide membership in an elite booster club and not accrue profits to the shareholders much like the offerings given to the Green Bay Packers which were a model used by the organization to model their own offering. The ownership of the team is held by Duke City Sports Entertainment Group, INC. A for profit corporation made up of a local ownership group overseen by CFO, and majority owner John Lopez. This group includes some of Albuquerque successful business owners including Will Ferguson, William Gardner, DDS and other investors such as Director of Media Relations Andres Trujillo. Former NFL player Terance Mathis was part of the original ownership group until leaving in May 2015. The Gladiators welcomed new Co-Owner John Lopez in 2015 season, and was elected CFO. Mr. Lopez is a native of New Mexico, born and raised in Santa Fe. He is a well known and highly respected real estate agent of over 20 years, he serves on several community boards and operates several very successful businesses in Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
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