NLL 2012 Attendance: Home Opener Comparisons
by Zachary Zielonka on Jan 31, 2012 10:00 AM EST
in NLL News
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PrintWith the final team, the Minnesota Swarm, having their home opener of the year under their belt, it is time to take a preliminary look at one of the most crucial aspects of the National Lacrosse League, attendance. Due to the lack of mainstream anything, the biggest generator of revenue for most of these teams is based on attendance through the gates. While most teams are not going to be selling out their respective barns every night, looking at changes in attendance can show signs of strength or weakness in a club.
Comparing home opening attendance from previous years can get somewhat dicey. Because of variances in opponent and day of game, comparing the two may seem like apples and oranges in some cases. But nonetheless, here'e the table:
| 2012 Attendance | 2011 Attendance | Percent Change | |
| Buffalo | 16356 | 16685 | -1.97% |
| Philadelphia | 8813 | 7940 | 10.99% |
| Rochester | 9776 | 6025 | 62.26% |
| Toronto | 10341 | 11564 | -10.58% |
| Calgary | 9341 | 9590 | -2.60% |
| Colorado | 14106 | 17029 | -17.16% |
| Edmonton | 8192 | 8115 | 0.95% |
| Minnesota | 8232 | 8242 | -0.12% |
| Washington | 4687 | 5364 | -12.62% |
Now, as I had said before, take a look at some of these results with a slight grain of salt. Toronto has a big variance from 2012 to 2011 but some of that can probably be explained with the fact that the Rock opened the season in 2012 on a Sunday and in 2011 on a Saturday. Rochester is up a good amount, but how much of that can be explained by the Bandits fans that showed up for the opener. Looking at one game each is probably not a good indicator of strength of franchise. After the jump, we take a look at the yearly averages thus far.
| 2012 Average | 2011 Average | Percent Change | |
| Buffalo | 15,424 | 17,096 | -9.78% |
| Philadelphia | 8,419 | 8,662 | -2.81% |
| Rochester | 9,776 | 5,949 | 64.33% |
| Toronto | 11,102 | 10,985 | 1.06% |
| Calgary | 8,401 | 10,384 | -19.10% |
| Colorado | 14,658 | 15,866 | -7.61% |
| Edmonton | 8,192 | 7,152 | 14.54% |
| Minnesota | 8,232 | 8,288 | -0.68% |
| Washington | 4,428 | 4,132 | 7.15% |
Three teams, Rochester, Edmonton, and Minnesota, have only played one home game while the rest of the league has played twice. There are some positives to take away from looking at overall attendance. Hopefully both Rochester and Edmonton can build off their strong home opening numbers to build stronger averages this season. The Flames organization may have to do some rebuilding with the Roughnecks franchise after the Roughnecks were threatening to leave for most of last year.
The total average attendance last year, minus Boston, was 88,514 patrons. Thus far into the season, the total average attendance is 88,630 which is up about .13% compared to last year. The new rules and speed of the game may be able to draw more fans into arenas and raise averages more.
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Rochester and Edmonton
it is one game, but I’m really encouraged.
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Mammoth wwwwwwwhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day.
Mile High Hockey : Where B- is different than C+
That said
The Pepsi Center was seriously hoppin last weekend.
A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day.
Mile High Hockey : Where B- is different than C+
by A.J. Haefele on Jan 31, 2012 10:50 AM EST up reply actions
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