Dear Charity Bowl Captains and Players,

Unfortunately when billionaires and millionaires get into a fight…  sometimes the little guy (and gal) loses out.

As football fans, most of you are probably already following the ongoing negotiations between the NFL owners and the players' union.  While the two sides have agreed on an extension of talks until March 11th, they are still a ways from reaching a deal before the CBA expires next Friday.   

Through a long chain of events, it turns out these talks also affect our local NFL stadium and the Charity Bowl. If there is a lockout, the Charity Bowl will also be locked out of Qwest Field.
We are now forced to assume the worst and plan on hosting the event at an alternate site.  

Here are the new parameters for the event:

 * Same 3 guaranteed day 1 games, plus day 2 playoffs for teams  that qualify

* Play will be at Seattle Center (Memorial Stadium) & Garfield High School

* Day 2 playoffs and title games at Seattle Center

All other aspects of the event will be unchanged...
Colin and Deion will be on hand hosting, great tournament party at Jillian's, t-shirts, swag bags, and hopefully some other NFL faces you might recognize.  

We realize that Qwest is a big draw for this event.  We are planning a great weekend of flag football... however, we would  like to offer the following options to all teams (and players):

If you choose to stay with the tourney, and support Seattle Children's Hospital and the Deion Branch foundation… your team fee will be automatically reduced to $345 and you will also receive a 50$ coupon off any Underdog Sports Leagues Seattle
fee for the next year.   (If you would like to stay at the
original $395 team fee, the extra $50 will be going to the charities, and Underdog will make an additional matching $50
contribution in place of the league coupon).   

If your team no longer wants to participate because the dream of  playing on an NFL field has been shattered by a bunch of rich  guys squabbling over the NFL pie, we understand that, too.
 You can cancel your registration with a full refund of deposit (and any additional payments via TeamPayer, etc).

Please let us know what you would prefer by Tuesday, March 8th,
 at 5 PM so that we can proceed with scheduling for the event.    

Individuals can also cancel until Tuesday @ 5 PM.

Please contact us via email:  info@underdogseattle.com

If the NFL labor dispute should be resolved before the CBA expires on Friday afternoon and we are able re-secure our space at Qwest, we will do everything in our power to play Saturday games there.  

We apologize for the change of plans, and appreciate your understanding that access to Qwest is now tied to forces beyond the control of everyday underdogs.  We hope you'll stick with it, and enjoy a great flag football event with us.

Thank you,

The Charity Bowl Staff

Underdog Sports Leagues
Hillman Sports