I want to share some attendance numbers with you for the Arena Football League:
Average Game Attendance - League
2006 ... 12,378
2007 ... 12,392
2008 ... 12,957 (last year of old AFL)
2010 ... 8,135
2011 ... 8,241
2012 ... 7,841
Average Game Attendance - Kansas City
2006 ... 15,234 (Kemper Arena)
2007 ... 11,894 (Kemper Arena)
2008 ... 12,828 (Sprint Center)
2011 ... 4,353 (Sprint Center as Command)
2012 ... 4,303 (Sprint Center as Command)
Now, I have done a little digging around, and it appears that the following teams are not coming back for 2013. The Kansas City Command have folded, along with the Georgia Force. The Milwaukee Mustangs have announced that they will be sitting out the 2013 season with the intention of returning in 2014, and the New Orleans VooDoo may find themselves without an Arena for 2013 do to renovations. But according to ArenaFan stats, 11 of the 17 teams suffered losses in average attendance in 2012, and with the issue of Player Pay becoming a Labor issue for the league, it may get worse.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Kansas City Command - Game Over
The Kansas City Brigade captured the attention of Kansas City football fans in the first three years of being a part of the Kansas City Sports Scene. Their first season was not great, but they came back and made a couple of strong bids during the next two years. Arena Football in Kansas City was a great experience for those who could not afford the outrageous prices demanded by the Kansas City Chiefs. It was Blue Collar football. It was Kid-Friendly football. It was fan-friendly football. Then the team moved to the Sprint Center and it all came apart.
The move to the Sprint Center brought a lot of complaints. Many of the season ticket holders did not like the new venue and many were talking about not renewing their Season Tickets. Those who did decide to renew their Season Tickets were met with the collapse of the League and instead of being notified about the situation and how to get their refund, left a lot of season ticket holders to find the information for themselves.
With the creation of the new Arena Football League, things changed. Kansas City wasn't a part of the first season under the new owners, who managed to set Arena Football back about twenty years when they broke the Player's Union before Season two. The Kansas City Brigade came back with the same ownership, and the same losing head coach, but they didn't come back as the Brigade, they basically gave all the old Brigade fans the finger by renaming the team the Command ... but keeping all the team logos.
It was the same Sprint Center experience. Over Priced Parking, discouraging tailgating, and with the significantly lower player wages, they failed to field a team that could play football well enough to even give the fans something to hope for. It was NOT the Arena Football Experience that captured the attention of Kansas City Football fans as the Brigade, and the attendance over the past two years was solid proof that the Team, and the League, was failing to provide what the fans were wanting.
The Kansas City Command were dead when their feet hit the floor. They kissed the wrong asses. They held up the wrong people to promote Arena Football in Kansas City. They made it clear to far too many people that the days of Fan-Friendly Arena Football were long gone and it was now all about raking in the money. I wish I knew how many people told the owners of the Command that what they needed to do was take the team back to Kemper Arena. That they needed to get back to the basics of providing a good product at a reasonable price. They didn't listen to any of us, and now we get to say goodbye to the Arena Football League (AFL) in Kansas City.
The question that remains ... however .... is ...
Has the Kansas City Command tainted the sport for others to try? Will the football fans of Kansas City give the newly formed Kansas City Renegades a chance to pick up the gauntlet and run? Different owners, different league, and the return to a popular venue. We will have to see.
The move to the Sprint Center brought a lot of complaints. Many of the season ticket holders did not like the new venue and many were talking about not renewing their Season Tickets. Those who did decide to renew their Season Tickets were met with the collapse of the League and instead of being notified about the situation and how to get their refund, left a lot of season ticket holders to find the information for themselves.
With the creation of the new Arena Football League, things changed. Kansas City wasn't a part of the first season under the new owners, who managed to set Arena Football back about twenty years when they broke the Player's Union before Season two. The Kansas City Brigade came back with the same ownership, and the same losing head coach, but they didn't come back as the Brigade, they basically gave all the old Brigade fans the finger by renaming the team the Command ... but keeping all the team logos.
It was the same Sprint Center experience. Over Priced Parking, discouraging tailgating, and with the significantly lower player wages, they failed to field a team that could play football well enough to even give the fans something to hope for. It was NOT the Arena Football Experience that captured the attention of Kansas City Football fans as the Brigade, and the attendance over the past two years was solid proof that the Team, and the League, was failing to provide what the fans were wanting.
The Kansas City Command were dead when their feet hit the floor. They kissed the wrong asses. They held up the wrong people to promote Arena Football in Kansas City. They made it clear to far too many people that the days of Fan-Friendly Arena Football were long gone and it was now all about raking in the money. I wish I knew how many people told the owners of the Command that what they needed to do was take the team back to Kemper Arena. That they needed to get back to the basics of providing a good product at a reasonable price. They didn't listen to any of us, and now we get to say goodbye to the Arena Football League (AFL) in Kansas City.
The question that remains ... however .... is ...
Has the Kansas City Command tainted the sport for others to try? Will the football fans of Kansas City give the newly formed Kansas City Renegades a chance to pick up the gauntlet and run? Different owners, different league, and the return to a popular venue. We will have to see.
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