Attendance

Let's take a look at the league attendance so far this season.

Cedar Rapids is averaging 2,623 per game this year. They were getting less before their game with Waterloo, which had 3,642 fans watch the Black Hawks defeat the Riders. Cedar Rapids is down 121 fans (4.41%) from last year's numbers.

Chicago is averaging 2,415 per game this year. That is according to pointstreak, of course, but I've been told that they just make up attendance numbers and input them into pointstreak. I'd say a more realistic average may be as low as a few hundred per game. The Steel are up 731 fans from last year, according to those numbers.

Des Moines is averaging 3,196 per game this year. Winning the Clark Cup has really made this team a must see in Iowa's capital. They are up a whopping 831 (35.14%) fans from last season. The Bucs have seen their attendance jump, despite having to compete with the AHL's Iowa Stars.

Green Bay is averaging 2,876 per game this year. The Gamblers are down 195 fans from last year. They play in the spacious Resch Center, so that has to look pretty empty on some nights.

Indiana is averaging 3,178 per game this year. The Ice are down a stunning 1,184 fans from last season. That is, until they have their "Pack the House" nights at Conseco Fieldhouse to bump them up to around 4,500 per game. Was able to catch a couple games out in Indiana last year, and the attendance really didn't seem like it was 4,000+ like announced.

Lincoln is averaging 4,375 per game this year. The Stars started off hot as could be, but have since cooled down a bit. They are still selling tickets like crazy, despite being just .500 at home. Lincoln is up 142 fans from last season. They continue to have near sellouts night after night down in Lincoln.

Ohio is averaging a meager 736 per game this year. Atleast they are reporting the actual attendance, unlike some other teams =) I don't see the attendance for this team getting much better, mostly because this team is not good at all and they are on a pace to reach 4 wins. Columbus isn't really a hockey hotbed anyways.

Omaha is averaging 2,991 per game this year. That's an increase of 439 fans a game. Nearly 3,000 a game is excellent for this team, considering they haven't been doing very well so far this year and they are competing against UNO and the AHL's Omaha Ak-sar-ben Knights.

Sioux City is averaging 2,834 per game this year. The Musketeers are entertaining 504 more fans per game so far this year. Good news for Musketeer fans, as they need to have the team finish the year with some profit or atleast breaking even.

Sioux Falls is averaging 3,230 per game this year. That's a decrease of 104 fans from last year. That's not too bad, considering the Pede have been under performing for most of the year, but it can't be that bad because they have 16 points on the early season.

Tri-City is averaging 2,641 per game this year. The Storm are playing in front of 410 less fans this year. Has the new wore off? What would have happened if Grand Island was getting a USHL team? That could be a scary attendance situation there.

Waterloo is averaging 2,976 per game this year. That's an increase of 556 fans per game. The Black Hawks have been selling out or close to selling out virtually every home game so far. They have a very good team this year and should continue to boost their attendance numbers.