AHL gate

AHL Attendance Up Nearly 5%; Hershey Tops League Gate For Sixth Straight Season

Published May 1, 2012

The AHL, considered the triple-A level of North American hockey, saw its teams average 5,638 fans per game during the '11-12 regular season, up nearly 5% from last season. The Hershey Bears led all teams at the gate for the sixth straight season. The club saw attendance rise slightly this season, marking the seventh straight season of gains at Giant Center. Eleven clubs saw double-digit percentage gains at the gate, led by the Rochester Americans, who saw a 44.5% jump. The Milwaukee Admirals saw attendance rise 7.4% at Bradley Center for their best average since the '01-02 season. The Bridgeport Sound Tigers had the club's second-best attendance mark since it was founded in '01, with average gate up 17.7%. Only seven of the 30 clubs saw attendance decline this season. The Connecticut Whale saw the sharpest drop, down 19.7% at XL Center in Hartford. After moving from Winnipeg following last season, the St. John's IceCaps ranked ninth in league attendance during the team's first season in Newfoundland. Listed below is team-by-team attendance for the '11-12 AHL regular season, with comparisons to last year (THE DAILY).

'11-12 AHL REGULAR-SEASON ATTENDANCE
TEAM	GMS	TOTAL	AVG.	PREV.	% +/-	GMS ('10-11)
Hershey Bears	38	375,146	9,872	9,800	0.7%	40
Chicago Wolves	38	300,550	7,909	7,453	6.1%	40
Lake Erie Monsters	38	298,096	7,845	6,568	19.4%	40
Providence Bruins	38	297,037	7,817	7,324	6.7%	40
Houston Aeros	38	278,299	7,324	6,326	15.8%	40
Grand Rapids Griffins	38	275,632	7,253	7,241	0.2%	40
San Antonio Rampage	38	271,083	7,134	6,411	11.3%	40
Charlotte Checkers	38	257,189	6,768	6,312	7.2%	40
St. John's IceCaps*	38	239,299	6,297	n/a	n/a	n/a
Milwaukee Admirals	38	236,579	6,226	5,796	7.4%	40
W-B/Scranton Penguins	38	229,053	6,028	6,360	-5.2%	40
Manchester Monarchs	38	216,622	5,701	5,461	4.4%	40
Rochester Americans	38	212,605	5,595	3,872	44.5%	40
Toronto Marlies	38	208,223	5,480	4,694	16.7%	40
Texas Stars	38	207,855	5,470	5,340	2.4%	40
Peoria Rivermen	38	205,726	5,414	5,196	4.2%	40
Syracuse Crunch	38	199,354	5,246	5,154	1.8%	40
Portland Pirates	38	195,997	5,158	4,655	10.8%	40
Norfolk Admirals	38	194,521	5,119	4,490	14.0%	40
Bridgeport Sound Tigers	38	185,236	4,875	4,140	17.7%	40
Hamilton Bulldogs	38	184,232	4,848	4,257	13.9%	40
Adirondack Phantoms	38	175,982	4,631	3,575	29.5%	40
Connecticut Whale	38	173,788	4,573	5,695	-19.7%	40
Worcester Sharks	38	167,292	4,402	4,068	8.2%	40
Rockford IceHogs	38	161,286	4,244	4,360	-2.7%	40
Oklahoma City Barons	38	140,008	3,684	4,155	-11.3%	40
Springfield Falcons	38	139,050	3,659	3,717	-1.6%	40
Binghamton Senators	38	135,950	3,578	3,652	-2.0%	40
Abbotsford Heat	38	134,715	3,545	3,807	-6.9%	40
Albany Devils	38	130,529	3,435	3,114	10.3%	40
AHL TOTALS	1,140	6,426,934	5,638	5,380	4.8%	1,200

NOTES: * = Franchise relocated to St. John's, Newfoundland, following last season after the move of the Thrashers to Winnipeg. The Manitoba Moose last season averaged 8,404 fans per game, which is factored into the league's '10-11 average.