SBD/Issue 147/The Back of the Book

AFL Storm Lead In Average Attendance; ESPN2 Ratings Even

The AFL is averaging 13,096 fans per game through April 26, up 1.7% compared to the same period last season. The Storm lead the league with 17,237 fans per game at the St. Pete Times Forum, up 16.7% from the same period a year ago. The Brigade and Rattlers are seeing the biggest gains thus far, up 22.9% and 17.7%, respectively. After leading the league in average attendance last season, the VooDoo are seeing the largest decline, off 19.9% through their first four home games at New Orleans Arena. The Gladiators, who relocated to Cleveland in the offseason, also are seeing strong numbers, with 15,745 fans per game to date. The following lists attendance through April 21 for all AFL teams, with comparisons to the same period last year (THE DAILY).

AFL ATTENDANCE THROUGH APRIL 21
HOME TEAM
GMS
TOTAL
AVG.
% CAP.
PREV.
% +/-
GMS ('07)
Storm
3
51,711
17,237
89.8%
14,765
16.7%
4
Soul
4
66,540
16,635
94.5%
14,652
13.5%
2
Rush
5
78,845
15,769
98.6%
16,058
-1.8%
3
Gladiators*
3
47,235
15,745
84.9%
NA
NA
NA
Destroyers
4
58,211
14,553
84.8%
14,538
0.1%
3
Blaze
4
56,519
14,130
92.1%
13,929
1.4%
4
Avengers
4
53,622
13,406
71.5%
12,779
4.9%
2
Brigade
5
66,686
13,337
72.1%
10,852
22.9%
4
Crush
3
40,008
13,336
73.7%
14,560
-8.4%
5
VooDoo
4
53,316
13,329
83.2%
16,651
-19.9%
4
Desperados
4
52,470
13,118
82.1%
12,484
5.1%
4
SaberCats
3
37,559
12,520
89.2%
13,064
-4.2%
3
Predators
3
36,451
12,150
88.7%
13,433
-9.5%
5
Force
4
40,511
10,128
90.4%
11,820
-14.3%
4
Rattlers
3
34,970
11,657
71.4%
9,906
17.7%
4
Dragons
4
34,315
8,579
71.6%
10,251
-16.3%
3
Rampage
4
29,191
7,298
68.9%
7,156
2.0%
4
AFL TOTALS
64
838,160
13,096
82.9%
12,876**
1.7%
58

NOTES: * = Team played in Las Vegas prior to this season, averaging 5,383 fans per game for the season. ** = Previous league average reflects the mark for the 16 teams playing this season in the same cities as last year. The same-date average for last year’s 19-team league, including teams in Austin and Nashville, was 12,113.

During their second season on ESPN2, the AFL is averaging a 0.3 coverage area rating through six games, even from the first six games on the net last year. The following lists game-by-game ratings for the '08 AFL season on ABC/ESPN2.

WK
DATE
TIME
TEAMS
NET
U.S. RAT.
COV. RAT.
VIEWERS (000)
1
03/01
1:00pm
Desperados-Force
ABC
 0.6
---
 817
1
03/03
9:00pm
SaberCats-Rush
ESPN2
0.4
0.4
448
2
03/09
1:00pm
Soul-Rush
ESPN2
0.3
0.3
414
2
03/10
11:00pm
Avengers-Rattlers
ESPN2
0.2
0.2
218
3
03/17
8:00pm
Crush-Desperados
ESPN2
0.2
0.3
336
5
03/29
2:06pm
Storm-Soul
ESPN2
0.3
0.3
378
6
04/06
2:00pm
Rush-Predators
ESPN2
0.2
0.2
261
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