ECHL Sees Increase In Attendance

October 27, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release

The turnstiles were busy for the second week in a row as almost 110,000 fans turned out to help the ECHL raise its average attendance to 4,452 per game, an increase of 1.4 percent from the first two weeks of 2008-09.

The third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League, the ECHL is 4.5 percent ahead of its average for 2008-09. The Premier 'AA' Hockey League is the only minor professional hockey league to increase average attendance each of the last two seasons. The ECHL has averaged more than 4,000 fans each of the last five seasons and 17 times in the last 19 years while drawing more than 3 million fans for 16 straight seasons.

To purchase tickets for any ECHL game go to ECHL.com/tickets.shtml.

Elmira had its second straight sellout with 3,839 on Oct. 23 and is averaging 3,984 per game which is 105.3 percent of capacity at First Arena and up 19.5 percent from a year ago. The Jackals have had 21 sellouts since joining the league in 2007-08 and tied for the league lead last season with five sellouts.

Cincinnati had 5,086 for its opener on Oct. 24 and Utah had 7,192 for its home opener on Oct. 23.

The league's newest member Kalamazoo welcomed 4,482 for the first ECHL game in Michigan on Oct. 24 while Wheeling drew its largest opening night crowd since 2005 with 4,001 on Oct. 23. The K-Wings are averaging 3,719 per game which is up 16.5 percent from their season average a year ago when they competed in the International Hockey League.

The celebration of hockey's return to Toledo continued with more than 11,000 fans at Lucas County Arena to help the Walleye continue to lead the league with 6,412 per game, up more than 63 percent from 2006-07 when the team played its last season in the Toledo Sports Arena.

Stockton, which has led the league in attendance each of its first four seasons, is second with 6,007 per game while Florida had 6,395 for its home opener and is third in the league with 5,969 per game. Stockton has led the league in attendance its first four seasons, including 6,218 per game in 2008-09, becoming the first team to lead in attendance four years in a row since Florida set the league record with five straight years from 2000-05. The Everblades have finished in the top three in attendance the last 10 years after finishing fourth in their first year.

The last two teams will play their home openers this week when Ontario hosts Las Vegas on Friday and Charlotte hosts Gwinnett on Sunday. The Reign finished second in the league in their first season with 5,856 per game, including 8,832 for their home opener. The Checkers tied for the league lead in 2008-09 with five sellouts and finished sixth with 5,311 per game.

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ECHL Stories from October 27, 2009

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• Jackals Acquire Tifu From Salmon Kings - Elmira Jackals
• Alaska's Lammers Named Sher-Wood Hockey ECHL Player Of The Week - ECHL
• ECHL Sees Increase In Attendance - ECHL
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• Wings Stadium To Host Spooky Skate This Friday - Kalamazoo Wings
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