AFL Attendance Up 10 Percent
May 15, 2002 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I) News Release
NEW YORK (May 15, 2002) -- Through four weeks of the 2002 season, the Arena Football League's (AFL) attendance is at 9,804 per game compared to 8,906 per game after four weeks in 2001 - an increase of more than 10 percent.
The 9,804 fans per game is also higher than the average attendance for all 2001 regular-season games, which finished at 9,155.
The expansion Dallas Desperados, owned by NFL Dallas Cowboys owner JERRY JONES, produced the largest crowd thus far this season with 15,196 fans at American Airlines Center for the team's first-ever regular-season home game on May 4, won 52-51 by the Los Angeles Avengers.
The Desperados are expected to draw another large crowd this Saturday, May 18, when they host former Cowboys quarterback and current AFL head coach DANNY WHITE and the Arizona Rattlers (7:30 p.m. CT).
The Arena Football League consists of 23 teams (16 active for 2002 season), including eight in the 10 largest U.S. media markets. An additional seven expansion teams have already been approved to begin to play over the next three years. In March, NBC Sports and the AFL reached a broadcast agreement to begin in 2003.
Current AFL ownership includes: Jerry Jones, Jerry Jones Jr., and Stephen Jones, Dallas Desperados (NFL's Dallas Cowboys ownership); William Ford Jr., Detroit Fury (Vice Chairman, NFL's Detroit Lions); Jerry Colangelo, Arizona Rattlers, (owner, NBA's Phoenix Suns and MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks); Dan DeVos, Grand Rapids Rampage (vice chairman, NBA's Orlando Magic); Charles Wang, New York Dragons (owner, NHL's New York Islanders); Rogers Communications, Toronto Phantoms (ownership, MLB's Toronto Blue Jays).
Additionally, six other NFL owners have applied or been approved for ownership of future AFL expansion teams, including K.S. "Bud" Adams, Jr. (Nashville Kats), New Orleans Saints' Tom Benson (New Orleans Voodoo), Denver Broncos' Pat Bowlen, Washington Redskins' Daniel Snyder, Jacksonville Jaguars' Wayne Weaver, and San Francisco 49ers' Denise DeBartolo York.
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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from May 15, 2002
- This week in the AFL - OSC Original by Mark Sargent
- Behind the Numbers - AFL I
- Cobras and Duke Sports Medicine Center Enter Unique Partnership - Carolina Cobras
- Rampage's Crowder Lost for Season - Grand Rapids Rampage
- New Northern League Book released - Portland Forest Dragons
- Hot Questions - AFL I
- Scouts "Locked In" the Palace on Saturday - Detroit Fury
- Hogs Invade Palace on Saturday - Detroit Fury
- AFL Attendance Up 10 Percent - AFL I
- Arena Football League Transactions - AFL I
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