NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Brigade Home Opener Close to Sellout

February 2, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Kansas City Brigade News Release


The Kansas City Brigade announced at 8am today that they have surpassed the 8,000 season ticket mark. The home opener is still 11 days away and the team has already exceeded their original goal of 7,000-8,000. There are also less than 1,800 seats available for the home opener at Kemper Arena (capacity 16,200), which is Sunday, February 12, at 1pm vs. Austin Wranglers. Season tickets, group tickets, and Flex Plans (4 tickets) can still be purchased at the Brigade office by calling 913-248-6250 or via www.kcbrigade.com. All single-game tickets can be purchased at the Kemper Arena box office or by calling Ticketmaster (816-931-3330).

"Unbelievable is all I can say," Owner Tyler Prochnow proclaimed. "We are ecstatic to have passed our initial objective and the fans of Kansas City have been terrific in their support and backing of their newest team. We promise to do all we can to provide fans with a tremendous game-day experience and give them something to look forward to each and every week. With the fans' help, we can make Kemper Arena the toughest and loudest venue for visiting teams to play in the entire AFL."

Television Ratings for First Broadcast The ratings are in (both locally and nationally) for the AFL broadcast last Sunday. The NBC National AFL Game off the Week in the Kansas City market was the Chicago Rush at the Colorado Crush. The game drew a 1.8 rating in KC. Overall, the NBC AFL Game of the Week drew a 1.3 nationally, better that the college basketball UNC vs. Arizona game and the NHL games.

The AFL posted its highest ranking ever (No. 10) on Yahoo! Buzz Index, which measures search activity, this weekend. The AFL was more searched than MLB (#11), the Super Bowl-bound Seattle Seahawks (#12) and the Olympics (#14).

Rank Prev. Subject 1 2 Super Bowl 2 3 NBA 3 1 Australian Open 4 9 NASCAR 5 4 Pittsburgh Steelers 6 5 NFL 7 10 PGA 8 8 NFL Draft 9 6 Manny Pacquiao 10 - Arena Football League

Locally, the ratings for the tape-delayed broadcast of the Kansas City Brigade at Dallas Desperados drew a 2.0 on WB Kansas City (KSMO TV 62) and a 0.8 on Metro Sports, drawing much praise from representatives at both networks. The game was aired at 9:30pm last Sunday (7½ hours after kickoff) and will be the only game not shown live during the season (due to the NBC contract).

Injury and Roster Update DS Cliff Green was placed on Injured Reserve due to his Achilles injury in week one. Replacing Green on the active roster will be DS Travis Coleman, who was moved from the practice squad.

Preview of Upcoming Game KANSAS CITY BRIGADE (0-1) @ ORLANDO PREDATORS (0-1) Friday, February 3, at 6:30pm (CT) at TD Waterhouse Centre TV: Fox Sports Midwest RADIO: 97.3 Max FM (Stan Weber, Chris Gervino, Danni Boatwright) GAME NOTES can be found by going to www.kcbrigade.com

After a tough loss to the Dallas Desperados on the road in its inaugural game, the Brigade looks to rebound against Southern Division foe the Orlando Predators in their home opener at Hummer Field at TD Waterhouse Centre. The Predators also lost on the road in their season opener, 48-31 to the Georgia Force. While playing its first-ever game on the road was a difficult task, the Brigade will really be put to the test in Orlando. Led by Jay Gruden, a coach and former player who has done nothing but make the playoffs and win championships, the Predators are one of the most successful franchises in Arena Football history. They have a devoted fan base that regularly sells out Hummer Field and creates an atmosphere with rock concert-like decibel levels. However, 10 Brigade players formerly of the New Orleans VooDoo are not strangers to Orlando. In fact, it could be said they share a mutual contention as the Predators and VooDoo were quite the rivals. As fate would have it, connections between Orlando and Kansas City run deep. Backup QB Chris Sanders played for Orlando last season and OL/DL B.J. Cohen and OL/DL Fred Ray earned ArenaBowl rings with the Predators in 2000. And as if the players do not have enough motivation, head coach Kevin Porter started his coaching career with the Predators in 1999 and OL/DL coach Webbie Burnett, who spent eight years in Orlando and was recently named one of the 20 most significant Predators, also won rings in 1998 and 2000.

The Brigade will look to build on the successes of its first game as QB Andy Kelly, making his league-record 138th straight start, becomes more comfortable with his young but immensely talented receiving corps. Rookie OS Jerel Myers proved against Dallas that he can play Arena Football and will gain some much desired experience against Orlando DS and Kansas State graduate Kenny McEntyre. The Predators secondary suffered several breakdowns against Georgia that Kelly and his receivers will attempt to capitalize on this week.

The Brigade defense will be counted to make plays in the face of recent injuries. Starting DS's Cliff Green and Alvin Porter will not play, but DS Chris Pointer and Cohen will still be a presence on the field. Orlando proved last week it is vulnerable to turnovers and defensive stops, a fact that will not be overlooked by a defensive-minded Porter and a unit licking its chops to get back onto the field.

Upcoming Events The Kansas City Brigade will participate in upcoming events to kick-off the inaugural home opener.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9 - A one-hour television special will air on WB Kansas City (KSMO TV 62) from 9:30-10:30pm.

This show is in addition to the weekly show which can be seen on Metro Sports Metro Sports and WB Kansas City. The ‘The Brigade Experience' airs at 6:30pm on Thursday's on Metro Sports and at 1:00pm on Saturday's on the WB Kansas City. ‘The Brigade Experience' shows highlights from the Brigade games and from around the league, rules of the game, player and coach profiles and feature stories, and a weekly challenge with a player and Survivor winner Danni Boatwright. Duke Frye will be the host of the half-hour show. There is also a pre-game and post-game show on TV and radio.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10 - From 5-7pm at the Beaumont Club in Westport, the Brigade will host a rally to get fans excited for the team and their first-ever game in Kansas City.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11 - From Noon-3pm, the Brigade will be at Zona Rosa in Kansas City (North).

* Details about both events will be released shortly.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12 - Brigade vs. Austin Wranglers and Kemper Arena, 1pm

National Anthem Singers Requested The Kansas City Brigade is now accepting National Anthem audition tapes for the 2006 Arena Football season. All submissions must be sung a capella, no instrumentals please.

For consideration please submit a CD or cassette recording with a one paragraph biography of the singer(s) to Kevin McDonald, Director of Operations. If selected, you will be contacted by the team to arrange a performance date. Submissions will not be returned. Thank you and good luck.

• Discuss this story on the Arena Football League (1987-2008) message board...

Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from February 2, 2006


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central