Couch: Former sportscaster Jeremy Sampson chases bar napkin dream with Lansing United

This column was originally published on April 28, 2014.

Most ideas that begin on a napkin, never leave the bar. They're moments of inspiration, followed by sobering realities.

Time commitment, financial risk, a lost napkin — all can be roadblocks.

The Lansing United soccer franchise may or may not turn into a lasting success. But Jeremy Sampson's expansion National Premier Soccer League club, less than three weeks before its first game, is already an ode to the napkin idea.

Sampson, formerly a television sports anchor and reporter in Lansing for most of the past two decades, has his own team — his time, his family, his money all invested. United begin their inaugural season on May 16 at the East Lansing Soccer Complex.

The team's first practice was on Monday.

"It starts kind of like everything else ... 'Wouldn't it be a fun thing to own a sports team?'" Sampson said of conversations that began about three years ago, "not ever really imagining the dream could become a reality. But it has."

The 12-year-old NPSL is the fourth tier of American soccer, behind Major League Soccer at the top, closer in line with the Premier Development league — all under the umbrella of the United States Adult Soccer Association.

NPSL rosters are a mix of college standouts and former professional players, with a smattering of foreign club players trying to get noticed.

Mostly, the NPSL consists of college players mid-career, which is how Sampson can answer the question you might be wondering right about now.

"How in the heck can a guy who worked in local TV for 20 years own a soccer team?" Sampson said, laughing.

Being a weekend sports anchor at WILX-TV in Lansing — Market No. 115 of 210 nationally — isn't the ideal path to becoming the next Mark Cuban.

College athletes can't be paid, per NCAA rules. There are expenses, though — an expansion fee, other annual league dues, the salary for head coach and general manager Eric Rudland, etc. "But there's just not that big one where I have to pay our best player a lot of money to be on our team," Sampson said.

The inaugural United squad features four Michigan State players, including first-team All-Big Ten forward Tim Kreutz, who led the Spartans in goals last season, and goalkeeper Zach Bennett. No NPSL team can have more than five players from any one college.

United also have several players who grew up locally but play collegiately elsewhere, as well as two players from England hoping to catch the eye of professional clubs in the United States, and possibly one Canadian still working to get out of a professional contract.

Sampson did not make this leap recklessly. Or even quickly. Napkin doodle to let's do this, took a couple of years.

Among the issues to consider: timing (it's no accident this club's first season is a World Cup summer), Greater Lansing's soccer appetite, and Sampson's own family. After all, he left TV because he was missing out at home — working 2 p.m. to midnight Friday through Tuesday kept him away from the increasingly active lives of his two children, Grace, 9, and Colin, 7.

"I'm either not able to be there, or I'm there, but I'm paying attention to a Michigan State football game, listening on my phone or watching it on GameTracker," said Sampson, who now works regular hours as a communications specialist for the Michigan Department of Treasury. "So I'm really not giving full attention to my job. And I'm really not giving full attention to my family. And I'm thinking, 'What am I doing here?'"

The same could be asked of him now, with United. But there's a difference. This is a family venture. And his wife of 13 years, Gena, was on board immediately.

"I could see the passion and light in his eyes when he talked about it," Gena said. "And I knew he had to go for it. This is something that's really been a dream for him to pursue. We talked a lot about it. I know there's risk, there's reward.

"And there's a little bit of fear when there's a lot of risk with something that you're going to try to do. But it wasn't a question when I could see the joy in his eyes — he had to go for this."

Gena is Sampson's business partner, in both shared finance and workload. Grace and Colin are part of it, too.

"They're very excited," Gena said. "They wanted jobs. So they came up with things they want to do. They have their own little job titles."

Grace is the team's official Instagramer, taking and sharing photos and videos via social media. Colin is a ball boy, ready to chase down any kick that lands out of bounds.

Success in minor league sports is difficult and often fleeting, even in lower-cost leagues with a co-op mentality such as the NPSL. Thirty-two new franchises joined the league this year, while 11 departed. The NPSL has grown quickly since six teams began play in 2003, tripling by 2006, doubling again by 2011 and reaching 57 last season.

Sampson has done his homework. He's hopeful, and appropriately nervous. He's already sold 185 season tickets — at $60 a pop — 85 above his modest goal for this first season.

United's home venue, the East Lansing Soccer Complex, seats 800 and is built for soccer only. Most teams in the NPSL and comparable leagues play in high school football stadiums. This is unquestionably a better fit.

"In any newer business venture, you're going to have some kind of financial risk that goes with it, and we've certainly taken some of that on. When will we make that back? That all is determined on the number of sponsors we end up with at the end of the year. What we can make as far as merchandise, selling that. What we make in concessions and how many people come and watch the games."

Sampson, who grew up on the edge of Eaton County in Vermontville, has been in love with soccer since the late 1990s, turned on to the sport by an obsessed colleague during his days at WLNS-TV.

He's now sharing that passion, in a way he never thought possible.

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.