Thunder Fans Lead ECHL's Attendance For Third Straight Year

April 24, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - The Stockton Thunder finished the regular season as the ECHL's attendance champions for the third consecutive season and drew four capacity crowds of 9,737 this year at Stockton Arena, helping the ECHL celebrating its 20th season by being the only minor professional hockey league to raise its attendance in 2007-08.

It is the second straight year the Thunder has surpassed the mark of 230,000 fans for one season, finishing the yearly attendance total at 239,337, an average of 6,648 fans per game. The Thunder, who has drawn 12 sellouts in three seasons, became the first team since 2004-05 to lead the ECHL in attendance for three straight seasons (Florida led the ECHL in attendance for five straight seasons).

"The hockey fans in Stockton, San Joaquin County and Northern California have proven yet again to be some of the best hockey fans around," said Thunder president Dan Chapman. "They continue to provide our players with support second to none and each and every one of them should be very proud of making this the best draw in the ECHL for the last three years."

TOP FIVE HOME CROWDS IN 2007-08

OPPONENT DATE ATTENDANCE

1. (tie) Victoria 3/29/08 9,737*

Alaska 2/16/08 9,737*

Las Vegas 1/19/08 9,737*

Idaho 11/3/07 9,737*

2. Utah 2/29/08 8,822

* Denotes sellout

The third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League, the ECHL averaged 4,174 per game. It is the fourth year in row and the 16th time in the last 18 years that the league has averaged over 4,000 fans.

The Premier 'AA' Hockey League welcomed 3,756,191 fans, marking the fifth straight season and the 11th time in the last 12 years that it has exceeded 3.75 million fans. The 51 sold out crowds are the most in the last five seasons and mark the fourth time in the last five years that the ECHL has had at least 40 sellouts.

"While we had hoped that the increase would be more significant, the fact that there was an increase is a credit to the efforts of management and the teams across the league," said ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna. "We look forward to continuing these efforts to increase in growth in attendance and revenues for the 2008-09 season."

Cincinnati and Victoria led all of professional hockey in attendance increase with 36.8 percent and 14.7 percent, respectively, while Augusta was third in the ECHL and ninth overall with 10.9 percent. Cincinnati had a capacity crowd of 9,615 for its last home game on Mar. 28 eclipsing the team record of 7,584 on Nov. 29, 2002. Victoria had its second sellout crowd in history with 7,006 for its final regular season game and the Salmon Kings set team records with 175,354 fans and an average of 4,871 per game.

In its first season Elmira led the league with 14 sellouts followed by Charlotte with 12, Idaho with nine and Florida with six. The Steelheads lead the league in regular season sellouts the last five years with 38 followed by Charlotte with 33, Florida with 31 and Alaska with 20. The Jackals averaged 93.2 percent of capacity (3,525 per game) at First Arena which was up 2.9 percent from the previous season. Elmira had sellout crowds for seven consecutive Saturdays from Dec. 15, 2007-Mar. 1, 2008 while Idaho, which raised its average to 4,389 per game, had standing-room-only crowds on Friday and Saturday for three straight weeks.

Seven teams set the record for their largest crowd: Bakersfield (8,895 on Nov. 24, 2007), Charlotte (12,256 on Feb. 23), Cincinnati (9,615 on Mar. 28, 2008), Elmira (4,187 on Nov. 9, 2007), Idaho (5,631 on Jan. 19), Johnstown (4,238 on Nov. 30, 2007) and South Carolina (10,565 on Jan. 19).

South Carolina's crowd of 10,565 broke the team record set Jan. 18, 1997 and was the second sellout in the last two years for the Stingrays, who have raised their attendance each of the last three seasons.

Charlotte had three of the five largest crowds in the league and finished third in attendance with 215,215 and 5,978 per game. The Checkers had the second-largest crowd with a team record 12,256 on Feb. 23, 2008 and the third-largest with 11,879 on Mar. 8, 2008. In the last two seasons the Checkers have had six crowds over 10,000 and nine others in excess of 9,000.

Returning after missing two years in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Mississippi had its largest attendance since 2001-02 with 3,753 per game, an increase of 9.6 percent from 2004-05 when the Sea Wolves last played.

Gwinnett had four crowds of more than 10,000 and raised its average for the third year in a row to 5,656 per game. The Gladiators have now had a crowd of 10,000 seven times in the last two years and 11 times overall, including four sellouts of 11,355. Alaska had two sellouts this season including a team record tying 6,451 on Mar. 29. The Aces have had 20 regular season sellouts in their five seasons including seven crowds of 6,451.

Dayton raised its attendance for the third year in a row while Reading raised its average and Fresno had the largest crowd of the season with 12,590 on Feb. 9, 2008 and the fourth-largest with 11,582 on Mar. 22 and the sixth-largest with 10,669 on Jan. 11, 2008.

The ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers and American Hockey League's Springfield Falcons, the Thunder has led the ECHL in attendance for three consecutive seasons and drew 239,337 fans to Stockton Arena in 2007-08. Season tickets for 2008-09 are now on sale. For more information about tickets, merchandise, or other inquiries contact the Stockton Thunder offices at (209) 373-1500 or visit www.stocktonthunder.com.



ECHL Stories from April 24, 2008


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