AFL Attendance Up 4.4%; Viewership On ESPN2 Up 11.8%
Last week, THE DAILY incorrectly listed ’08 attendance for the AFL. Those numbers have been corrected and updated to show that the AFL's 17 teams averaged 12,958 fans per game this season, up 4.4% from 12,415 fans per game last year when the league had 19 teams. The Storm, in their first season under new owner Robert Nucci, led the league with an average of 16,793, up 6.4% from last season. After leading the league in average attendance last season, the VooDoo were off 14.0% in '08, the second-sharpest drop among AFL franchises. In their first season in Cleveland, the Gladiators finished sixth in attendance with an average of 14,032 fans for games at Quicken Loans Arena. 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%. Below is AFL team-by-team regular season attendance for '08, with comparisons to last season. THE DAILY regrets the initial error on the league's attendance (THE DAILY).
|
AFL REGULAR SEASON ATTENDANCE
|
|
HOME TEAM
|
GMS
|
TOTAL
|
AVG.
|
% CAP.
|
PREV.**
|
% +/-
|
GMS ('07)
|
|
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
|
| Rush |
8
|
126,994
|
15,874
|
99.2%
|
15,610
|
1.7%
|
8
|
| Blaze |
8
|
116,108
|
14,514
|
94.6%
|
14,289
|
1.6%
|
8
|
| VooDoo |
8
|
114,574
|
14,322
|
89.4%
|
16,645
|
-14.0%
|
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
|
108,720
|
13,590
|
72.5%
|
13,244
|
2.6%
|
8
|
| SaberCats |
8
|
103,949
|
12,994
|
92.5%
|
13,278
|
-2.1%
|
8
|
| Brigade |
8
|
102,624
|
12,828
|
69.3%
|
12,326
|
4.1%
|
8
|
| Predators |
8
|
100,159
|
12,520
|
91.4%
|
13,627
|
-8.1%
|
8
|
| Desperados |
8
|
97,230
|
12,154
|
76.1%
|
13,005
|
-6.5%
|
8
|
| Crush |
8
|
95,278
|
11,910
|
65.8%
|
15,049
|
-20.9%
|
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
|
1,762,263
|
12,958
|
81.9%
|
12,415
|
4.4%
|
128
|
NOTES: * = Franchise played in Las Vegas prior to this season and posted an average attendance of 5,383 per game in at Orleans Arena. ** = Previous AFL average reflects the marks of a 19-team AFL in '07. That includes what the Gladiators posted playing in Las Vegas and what was posted for the teams in Nashville and Austin, Texas, that played in '07 but not in '08.
RATINGS: The AFL on ESPN2 averaged a 0.2 coverage area rating for 17 telecasts, even with a 0.2 last year for 16 games. The net also averaged 274,000 viewers, up 11.8% from 245,000 viewers. The following lists all AFL telecasts on ESPN2 for the '08 regular season.
|
'08 AFL REGULAR-SEASON ON ESPN2
|
|
DATE
|
TIME
|
TEAMS
|
NET
|
COV. RATING
|
VIEWERS
|
|
3/3
|
9:00pm
|
SaberCats-Rush
|
ESPN2
|
0.4
|
448,000
|
|
3/9
|
1:00pm
|
Soul-Rush
|
ESPN2
|
0.3
|
414,000
|
|
3/10
|
11:00pm
|
Avengers-Rattlers |
ESPN2
|
0.2
|
218,000
|
|
3/17
|
8:00pm
|
Crush-Desperados |
ESPN2
|
0.3
|
336,000
|
|
3/29
|
2:06pm
|
Storm-Soul |
ESPN2
|
0.3
|
378,000
|
|
4/6
|
2:00pm
|
Rush-Predators |
ESPN2
|
0.2
|
261,000
|
|
4/14
|
8:30pm
|
Rush-Brigade |
ESPN2
|
0.2
|
246,000
|
|
4/21
|
8:00pm
|
Soul-Destroyers |
ESPN2
|
0.1
|
148,000
|
|
4/28
|
8:00pm
|
Desperados-Soul |
ESPN2
|
0.2
|
246,000
|
|
5/5
|
8:00pm
|
Rush-Storm |
ESPN2
|
0.2
|
168,000
|
|
5/12
|
8:00pm
|
Soul-Force |
ESPN2
|
0.2
|
236,000
|
|
5/19
|
8:00pm
|
Avengers-Rush |
ESPN2
|
0.2
|
250,000
|
|
5/26
|
8:00pm
|
Force-VooDoo |
ESPN2
|
0.2
|
277,000
|
|
6/2
|
10:30pm
|
Dragons-Crush |
ESPN2
|
0.2
|
199,000
|
|
6/9
|
11:23pm
|
Avengers-Blaze |
ESPN2
|
0.2
|
269,000
|
|
6/16
|
10:31pm
|
Crush-Rattlers |
ESPN2
|
0.3
|
307,000
|
|
6/22
|
4:00pm
|
Desperados-Rush |
ESPN2
|
0.2
|
276,000
|
|
