If all goes according to plan, Binghamton will field a franchise in the Women's Football Alliance and call home the Greater Binghamton Sports Complex on Airport Road.

According to head coach and part owner John Evans of Rochester, coaches and staff from the Empire State Roar have relocated from Rochester and will be known as the Binghamton Tiger Cats. They are to be a member of the eight-team Region I, or, Northeast Division.

An eight- or 10-game regular-season schedule beginning in April could call for play into July for playoff participants, Evans said.

"It's definitely a done deal with us coming down there. We already have a home," said Evans, who added that the team has conducted practice sessions at the Greater Binghamton Sports Complex in recent weeks. "The market down there is the way to go."

Bob Kashou, president of the Sports Complex, said he has an agreement "in principle" with the Tiger Cats organization.

"They seem to have their ducks in order. It seems like a good situation for the area," Kashou said.  Read More

According to the WFA's Web site, the league is "designed to promote national coverage and an affordable national championship forum for the highest level of women's football in the nation."

Don Dunbar Jr., an Athens, Pa., resident, is part-owner and defensive coordinator of the Tiger Cats. He was affiliated last season with the NWFA's New Jersey Titans.

"It's all NFL rules, it's just women playing," Dunbar said. "If you didn't know going into the stadium that it was women, you'd think it was men. It's really intense."

"They're very good athletes and the strategy is the same," Evans said. "It's a little slower-paced than a Division III college game. I'd compare it with a good high school game."

Evans said the roster presently includes players from Broome County as well as Buffalo, Syracuse and Cortland. The Binghamton franchise will share space in a division with teams from Baltimore, Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey, Harrisburg, Pa., and West Virginia.

Evans said admission charge for Tiger Cats games will $8, with season-ticket discount packages available.

"The big thing this year is to sell it to the sponsors," he said. "Get 10 of those $100 sponsors and, boom, there's $1,000. We want to start small. If the product is good, then we've got something to sell to the larger sponsors."