AFL Fan Support Way Down Under New Ownership

Sitting here watching the Chicago Rush beat the Georgia Force on Ustream, I can't help but think how empty the seats look.  I remember going to Chicago in 2007 to watch the Chicago Rush take on the Kansas City Brigade, and it was a packed house.  Going back and looking at the attendance records for the Chicago Rush in 2007 and 2008, the average attendance for a Chicago Rush game was over 10,000 fans per game.  Today, the Chicago Rush are averaging only 6,800 fans per game, and they are not alone.

In 2008, the league average for attendance was almost 13,000 fans per game across the league.  In 2010, the first year that the new AFL was in operation, the average attendance dropped to 8,100, and in 2011 the average had a slight gain, rising to 8,200.  Fourteen weeks into the 2012 Season, the average is down, currently running at 7,600.

What is going on?  The game is going dull.  We are not seeing the level of play that we say back in the original AFL ownership.  The players that kept the league exciting have moved on to other endeavors simply because they cannot afford to leave their jobs to play football during the AFL Season.  I have discussed this before, but the league wage for a normal player is only around $400 per game.  Now, how many people can afford to leave their regular job to attend regular practices and meetings for a mere $400 per week.  The new AFL has basically become a hobby league where key players, mainly quarterbacks, are the only people paid enough money to dedicate themselves to their teams each year.  The rest are simply going to be a part of the high turnover that the AFL experiences each year.

The drop in average attendance is a classic example of how the league is becoming dull, that fans are not satisfied with the product that the league is offering.  In week 14 of 2008, the league's average attendance was 12,351.  For week 14 of 2012, the league average was 6,495.  That is 52.5% of the 2008 attendance, and some teams are suffering even worse than that.

In Kansas City, the Brigade were averaging over 12,000 fans per game.  In 2011, when the team returned as the Kansas City Command, their average attendance was 4,353, and so far in 2012, their attendance average is hovering at 4,800.  Yes, the average attendance is up for 2012, but there have been a lot of promos running to draw people into the games, and by looking at the seats during the broadcasts of the games, the number of Season Ticket holders is way down.

The AFL is not going to survive under the program that is currently running.  People have stated that the new ownership have set back the AFL ten to twenty years.  Take Kansas City.  Why should I pay $15 for the cheap seats at Sprint Center and then pay premium prices for parking, food and drink because the game is located in the KCP&L Entertainment District.  The fans were happier at Kemper Arena, and they were happier when the League was paying for players that were just out of the NFL performance level.  Today, we're seeing players that probably couldn't make the cut for a practice team under the old AFL ownership.

How bad is it?  When was the last time one of the celebrity owners like Mike Ditka, Neil Smith, or Bon Jovi showed up for a game to meet the fans?  Could they be embarrassed to be associated with this new format of the AFL?

Kansas City Tribe - Women's Tackle Football

I will admit that I have taken great fun at picking on the idea that Kansas City was going to get a Ladies Arena Football Team ... the Kansas City Passion.  I am going to admit that I didn't venture outside the realm of Arena Football in my exploration of Women's Football until after the posting of my last article about the KC Passion and how we might was well close the book on them.  Let's face facts.  Women playing football in basically panties and bras is NOT real football.  You don't see the AFL or other indoor leagues dressing their men up in next to nothing.  Women's Arena Football is playing to those who are only interested in watching for those occasional uniform malfunctions and looking at women in next to nothing.  End of story, let's move on.

The Kansas City Tribe

Women's Tackle Football

I had stumbled across this team during the writing of my last article about the KC Passion.  I was pleased to see that there was someone out there who was allowing the ladies to play real football, not just make them parade themselves around like pole dancers.  I was surprised to find that this team, of which I have heard absolutely nothing about before now, had won a league championship on 2009, and as of the posting of this article, are heading into the post season with a record of 6-1 (and on a 6 game winning streak).

Unfortunately, I found out about the Tribe late in their season.  I couldn't make it to their last game, which was against another Kansas City Women's Tackle Football Team, the KC Spartans.  Their next game (post season) is in St Louis, and unless they somehow get a post game season back here in KC, I will have to wait until 2013 to check out this team.  The nice thing is, they have a history, there is no reason to doubt that there will be a 2013 Season.

So Ladies ... Good luck in Post Season and I will try to catch you guys next season.

KC, Iowa, Chicago all Lose

What can I say?  I tuned into the Chicago Rush game on Ustream just before half-time, and as soon as I looked at the score, I knew it was going to be a bad evening for Chicago.  And it was.  Utah obliterated Chicago.  Kansas City was an easier game to watch, it was actually broadcast on local television.  And, when I tuned in, the Command was up 28 to 21 in the second quarter.  Unfortunately for KC, Spokane tied it up just before the half, and KC never saw the lead again.  And then there was Iowa, who took on the Arizona Rattlers in Arizona.  Of the three games, I figured that this one would have the greatest spread in points.  Instead, it was the closest game of the evening.

So, of the three games I kept track of ... I got two out of three.  I just wish that Chicago could have pulled off a win as I would really like to see Chicago make a run at the Arenabowl this year.  Kansas City is clearly out of the hunt ... unless the league falls apart, and Iowa's chances are very slim.

So, next week.  (week 15)

9-4 San Jose, come to Kansas City to take on the 2-10 Command.  Again, this is going to be a double loser for the Command.  I can't see them pulling out a miracle win against San Jose, and I would be willing to bet that attendance will be in the four thousand seats range again ... unless they give away a lot of free tickets and people actually use them.

5-8 Iowa takes on Division leader 9-3 San Antonio in Texas.  Iowa has a better chance of pulling off an upset than Kansas City does, but I'm not going to venture out to say that they will be able to do it against the Talons. Iowa put on a good showing against Arizona, but I can't put my money on them doing any better against San Antonio.

7-6 Georgia will take on the Rush in Chicago.  Chicago is undefeated at home (6-0), and with Georgia 3-3 on the road, I am going to put my money on Chicago.  Chicago is going to be trying to make up for the whipping they took at the hands of the Blaze, so this should be a good game.


San Jose over Kansas City, San Antonio over Iowa, Chicago over Georgia

KC Winning Streak Ends ... Surprised?

I actually missed out on last week's games.  My Scouting obligations had me making last minute preparations for the opening of Cub Scout Day Camp this week.  Now that I've had a chance to recuperate, I started looking at last week's results and while I predicted a KC win, I'm not surprised that they lost.  And speaking of losing ... attendance at the Sprint Center was down to 4,618 people.  This brings the average attendance of a Kansas City Command Game down to 4,806 in an Arena of which has a capacity of 18,500.  How long is Sprint going to reserve dates for the Command when they average only 25.9% capacity, and the best they have been able to do is only 34.2% of capacity.

On the other hand Iowa won its match against Cleveland, which was a nice surprise.  Chicago also beat the Shock, which I had predicted as well.

I'm not going to talk about last week's performance, nor really get into who is going to win what games this week.  Looking at the line up its  pretty simple just to say ... Spokane over KC, Chicago over Utah, and Arizona over Iowa.