AFL Rattlers' Refund Promise Leads To 17.4% Attendance Hike
The AFL averaged 13,095 fans per game this season, down slightly from 13,110 fans per game last season. The Rush led the league with 17,083 fans per game, up 9.4% from last season, while packing Allstate Arena to 106.8% capacity. After topping the league in average attendance in '07, the VooDoo saw the league's sharpest drop this season, off 14.0%. In their first season in Cleveland, the Gladiators averaged 14,032 fans per game at Quicken Loans Arena. Last season, the franchise averaged 5,383 fans per game at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. In Arizona, a season-ticket holder refund promotion paid dividends at the gate, as the team saw average attendance jump a league-high 17.4%. The following lists AFL team-by-team regular season attendance for '08, with comparisons to last season (THE DAILY).
|
AFL REGULAR SEASON ATTENDANCE
|
|
HOME TEAM
|
GMS
|
TOTAL
|
AVG.
|
% CAP.
|
PREV.
|
% +/-
|
GMS ('07)
|
|
Rush
|
8
|
136,663
|
17,083
|
106.8%
|
15,610
|
9.4%
|
8
|
|
Storm
|
8
|
134,347
|
16,793
|
87.5%
|
15,788
|
6.4%
|
8
|
|
Soul
|
8
|
131,817
|
16,477
|
93.6%
|
15,842
|
4.0%
|
8
|
|
VooDoo
|
8
|
114,574
|
14,322
|
89.4%
|
16,645
|
-14.0%
|
8
|
|
Blaze
|
8
|
113,863
|
14,233
|
92.8%
|
14,289
|
-0.4%
|
8
|
|
Gladiators*
|
8
|
112,255
|
14,032
|
75.7%
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
Destroyers
|
8
|
111,142
|
13,893
|
80.9%
|
14,044
|
-1.1%
|
8
|
|
Avengers
|
8
|
107,011
|
13,376
|
71.4%
|
13,244
|
1.0%
|
8
|
|
Crush
|
8
|
104,512
|
13,064
|
72.2%
|
15,049
|
-13.2%
|
8
|
|
SaberCats
|
8
|
103,949
|
12,994
|
92.5%
|
13,278
|
-2.1%
|
8
|
|
Brigade
|
8
|
102,624
|
12,828
|
69.3%
|
11,890
|
7.9%
|
8
|
|
Desperados
|
8
|
100,881
|
12,610
|
78.9%
|
13,005
|
-3.0%
|
8
|
|
Predators
|
8
|
100,159
|
12,520
|
91.4%
|
13,636
|
-8.2%
|
8
|
|
Rattlers
|
8
|
94,637
|
11,830
|
72.5%
|
10,077
|
17.4%
|
8
|
|
Force
|
8
|
82,333
|
10,292
|
91.9%
|
11,369
|
-9.5%
|
8
|
|
Dragons
|
8
|
72,580
|
9,073
|
75.7%
|
9,440
|
-3.9%
|
8
|
|
Rampage
|
8
|
57,516
|
7,190
|
67.9%
|
6,549
|
9.8%
|
8
|
|
AFL Totals
|
136
|
1,780,863
|
13,095
|
82.8%
|
13,110
|
-0.1%
|
128
|
NOTES: * = Team played in Las Vegas prior to this season. Previous 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 12,392.
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