Lynx crowds slow to gain; ECHL attendance up; Wolves to return

While the Lynx have seen their home attendance rise gradually in recent weeks, it seems Augusta's minor-league hockey team isn't enjoying the kind of success some of the ECHL's other southeastern teams are seeing.
Augusta, riding an eight-game home winning streak, has seen its home attendance average rise to 2,310 through 20 home gates, which ranks 21st out of 25 teams in the ECHL.
The team's last two home game crowds showed positive direction - 2,762 for the Lynx's 4-3 shootout win over Texas on Jan. 12 and 3,219 for Augusta's 8-3 rout of Pensacola on Jan. 13.
Still, the average (2,310) so far is more than 500 behind last season's 2,843 average, which ended up ranking 23rd of 25 teams. The team's owners can only hope the increasing trend continues through January, February and March.
A breakdown of attendance for the Lynx since 1998, their first year:
2005-2006: 2,843 (23rd)
2004-2005: 3,090 (20th)
2003-2004: 2,980 (23rd)
2002-2003: 3,836 (11th)
2001-2002: 4,279 (11th)
2000-2001: 4,468 (10th)
1999-2000: 4,767 (12th)
1998-1999: 5,443 (9th)
Meanwhile, the ECHL reported the South Carolina Stingrays sold out Saturday for the first time in eight years and had its second 10,000+ crowd of the season. Several other southeastern teams also are seeing growing crowds (see below).
The rising attendance is encouraging for the Mississippi Sea Wolves, who will return for the 2007-2008 season in Biloxi after suspending operations the past two seasons because of Hurricane Katrina.

From www.echl.com:
Attendance Up
Coming out of the All-Star break the ECHL had a strong attendance weekend including All-Star host Idaho having back-to-back sellout crowds and South Carolina having its first sellout in eight years. The Steelheads had 5,018 on Friday and a team record 5,533 on Saturday while the Stingrays had 10,496 on Saturday which is the first sellout since Oct. 24, 1998 and the second crowd of more than 10,000 this year.

The league is averaging 4,053 per game and is closing in on two million fans for the 14th consecutive season.

Stockton welcomed more than 16,000 for two games, including a capacity crowd of 9,737 on Saturday, to raise its league-leading attendance to 6,861 per game which is up 7.55 percent from a year ago when the Thunder led the league in their first season.

Charlotte sold out for the second Friday in a row and for the league-leading fourth time with 8,675 on Saturday, raising its average to 5,603 per game which is fifth in the ECHL. Utah has had its three largest crowds the last three games, including 7,028 on Saturday, to raise its average attendance to 4,639 per game while Pensacola had its second-largest crowd of the year on Saturday. The Grizzlies average is up a league-high 17.14 percent from their inaugural season in 2005-06.

Dayton and Toledo rank second and third in average attendance increase with 8.69 percent and 6.63 percent while Texas is up 5.97 percent from 2004-05, the last season that the Wildcatters played.

Bakersfield is third in average attendance with 5,868 per game which is an increase of 4.52 percent from a year ago. The Condors have raised their average attendance each of their three seasons in the ECHL and are up over 30 percent from their expansion season in 2003-04.

Gwinnett is fourth with 5,670 per game which is an increase of 2.57 percent while Alaska is up 2.09 percent to 4,987 per game and Fresno has raised its average by 1.50 percent to 4,534 per game.

The league has raised average attendance each of the last three years, including 2005-06 when it had its largest per-game average since 1999-2000 with 4,372 per game as 13 of 22 returning teams raised attendance.

Mississippi returns
Mississippi informed the Board that the team would return to the ice at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum for the 2007-08 season. The team stated that it had sold over 150 new season tickets since reopening its offices in the arena on Dec. 4, raising its total season tickets to more than 1,170. The team stated that it has hired Thom Emerson as director of season tickets and group sales and Marc Shelanski as director of corporate sales and broadcasting.

“The ECHL is delighted to officially welcome back the Sea Wolves for their belated 10th year in the ‘Den’. While much works remains to be done, there has been significant progress since Dec. 1, 2006 and we expect that momentum will continue throughout the spring and summer months,” said ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna. “The ownership group is unanimously behind the team and now we need fans and sponsors to lend their support to ensure a successful return.”

The Sea Wolves were granted a Voluntary Suspension by the Board for each of the last two seasons under the league’s hardship provisions as a result of the devastation from Hurricane Katrina. The team is located in Biloxi which suffered a direct hit from Hurricane Katrina, resulting in extensive damage to the team’s home arena, including flood damage to team offices and locker rooms as well as the ice-making equipment and two Zambonis.

Myrtle Beach Granted Extension Of Voluntary Suspension

Myrtle Beach stated that it continues to work toward construction of a facility on the campus of Coastal Carolina University to allow the team to compete in the 2008-09 season