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Spokane Shock

Spokane Shock equipment, memorabilia, trophies abandoned by former owner to be auctioned off

Spokane Shock owner Sam Adams smiles at a 2019 news conference. The Indoor Football League board of directors terminated the Shock in February due to Adams' ongoing money issues. (Kathy Plonka)
By Dave Nichols daven@spokesman.com(509) 459-5441

There are no more games at the Arena for fans of the Spokane Shock to attend, but they could own a piece of the team’s history – and probably at a great price.

On Friday, a local estate sale company is auctioning off all the gear, trophies and memorabilia that were left behind when the Shock were unceremoniously terminated by the Indoor Football League in February – and the disgraced former owner left town.

The league’s action was triggered when Sam Adams – a former Seattle Seahawks favorite – missed the deadline to produce a $128,000 surety bond to secure the Spokane Arena for the 2022 season.

In the league’s news release regarding the situation, the termination was “due to multiple issues in the Spokane market, including a dispute with the arena.”

Adams and his businesses are named in a string of complaints and lawsuits in the state dating back to 2015 involving football teams and other business arrangements, including a guilty plea by Adams’ prior business on a felony theft charge related to unpaid taxes and wages, and a federal bankruptcy that was still active when he signed the first contract to bring the Shock back to Spokane in 2019.

In addition to the litigation, Adams was accused by dozens of season ticket holders of failing to provide refunds for their 2020 season tickets. The season was canceled due to the pandemic.

TicketsWest picked up the tab for refunding season ticket purchases for the 2022 season.

For Friday’s event, Instant Auction and Estate Sales plans to auction off hundreds of leftover items, including jerseys, merchandise, trophies, office furniture – even Adams’ personal 2005 NFL Pro Bowl player’s trophy – that were left behind when Adams vacated the team’s office space at 157 S. Howard St., where the auction will take place at 10 a.m.

Bidders can preview the auction items on Thursday from noon to 5 p.m. and Friday at 9 a.m. There is no online bidding and items can be viewed on the Estatesales.net website.