Utah Blaze team president leaves idle franchise

Jason Jones, team president of the Utah Blaze of the suspended Arena Football League, has left the team to pursue other business interests. Jones' final day working for the Blaze was Friday.

That means the franchise, owned by the Garff Automotive Group, no longer has any full-time employees, although Blaze coach Ron James is still living locally and working for the Garffs at their Nissan dealership.

After more than two decades of existence, the 16-team AFL canceled the 2009 season due to economic difficulties, with hopes of returning for 2010 under a different economic model.

"It's imperative for the Arena Football League to turn all of its focus and attention to creating a long-term and sustainable business plan," team owner John Garff said when it was announced the season would be suspended. "Given the challenges of our existing economic model, and in conjunction with the current economic conditions, it is impossible to achieve that without temporarily suspending operations."

Jones said he has been working diligently with other AFL executives in recent weeks to get the league back on track and playing games again.

"Great progress is being made and there continues to be very positive momentum with regards to the league, but there are still a lot of things left to work out," Jones said on Friday.

Jones, the only team president in franchise history, is leaving the three-year-old Blaze franchise to be in charge of strategic development for Nutraceutical Corp. based in Park City, a company where he was vice president of sales prior to taking the Blaze job.

For now, John Garff will be the Blaze's point-man with the league.

"There is never a good time for the person in charge to transition to a new opportunity," said Jones. "But I need stability and security for my family, and with somewhat of an unknown out there at this point in time (for the AFL and the Blaze), it really behooves me to try to grow and expand in the business world. People will read into this like they do everything else, but the Garffs are a great family and they will make good decisions for the future of the franchise."

E-mail: lojo@desnews.com