Millionth Fan? Not This Week...

May 13, 1999

By Andrew Mason
Content Editor

YEAR-BY-YEAR

1991	103,955
1992	120,684
1993	143,925
1994	109,268
1995	136,703
1996	130,900
1997	95,858
1998	120,291
1999	10,436
FRANCHISE TOTAL	972,020

TAMPA, Fla. - Since last week, the Storm has been promoting Saturday's game with the Bobcats as being the night when the one millionth spectator to see a regular or post-season Storm home game would pass through the turnstiles.

However, number crunching by The Storm Shelter---using the attendance figures published in the Storm media guide---proves that this will not be the case. Multiple calculations of the data have engendered the same result---that the Storm's overall home attendance for its history heading into Saturday night's contest with the Florida Bobcats stands at just 972,020, which is exactly 27,980 below the million-person milestone. Even if Saturday's game is a sellout, the Storm would still be over 9,000 short of the historic mark.

In addition to consulting the Storm's media guide, we referred to the AFL Record and Fact Book. There were discrepancies with the Storm guide on the attendances for two games---Charlotte in 1992 and Anaheim in 1997. However, the total discrepancies would only add 209 to the overall attendance figure as based on the information in the Storm Media Guide---which obviously does not make up enough of the difference.

When the Storm faced the Massachusetts Marauders on July 23, 1994, the Storm celebrated its 500,000th fan to come through the gates. However, the numbers show that in the first four years of the franchise's history, covering the full seasons from 1991 to 1994, the Storm drew just 477,832 fans. Fan number 500,000 didn't actually come through the gates until June 10, 1995, when the Storm faced the Miami Hooters.

If the team's attendance for 1999 follows the trend since moving to the Ice Palace, the one millionth fan would not actually come through the arena doors until the June 19 game against Arizona. The Storm has averaged an announced crowd of 11,926 per contest since crossing the bay from the then-ThunderDome following the 1996 season.

The Storm has promoted this event not just via a media release, but through advertising, radio appearances and articles published in the St. Petersburg Times and The Tampa Tribune. The team intends to give the one millionth fan through the gates a chance to win either a pickup truck or $1,000,000.

The Storm has been publicly furtive about what it will take to win the million-dollar prize. According to a team media release, only the vice-president of sales and marketing, former media relations director Chris Lahey, knows exactly what the fan will have to do to take home the money. In addition, the St. Petersburg Times reported on Tuesday that the Storm had taken out an insurance policy to cover the cost of the prize, just in case someone should win the money.

The Storm has hosted 51 regular season games and 11 postseason clashes in its eight-year history. While attendance has slumped since 1996---precipated by a move to the Ice Palace from St. Petersburg in 1997---the Storm posted some eye-popping numbers in the early 1990s. Tampa Bay holds numerous Arena Football League attendance records, including regular season (28,745 against Orlando on June 20, 1993) and post-season (25,087 against Orlando for ArenaBowl IX on September 1, 1995). All but one of the 20,000-plus crowds in league history occurred at Storm games; Tampa Bay broke that barrier on 14 occasions in the franchise's first five seasons, including five consecutive times in 1992.

By the numbers...

1992

06/06	New Orleans	16,123
06/20	Cleveland	20,535
07/02	Orlando	20,091
07/18	Albany	22,464
08/01	Charlotte	21,240
08/08	Cincinnati (playoff)	20,231
	SEASON TOTAL	120,684

1993

05/15	Cleveland	18,485
06/05	Charlotte	20,532
06/19	Orlando	28,745
07/02	Cincinnati	16,236
07/17	Miami	19,378
07/24	Albany	19,438
08/06	Albany (playoff)	21,111
	SEASON TOTAL	143,925

1994

05/21	Charlotte	16,150
06/04	Fort Worth	14,995
06/25	Miami	19,031
07/09	Milwaukee	20,266
07/23	Massachusetts	18,007
08/13	Orlando	20,819
	SEASON TOTAL	109,268

1995

05/27	Charlotte	12,426
06/10	Miami	13,114
06/24	Las Vegas	13,022
07/01	Memphis	14,209
07/21	Connecticut	12,825
07/29	Orlando	24,055
08/12	Memphis (playoff)	10,677
08/18	Albany (playoff)	11,288
09/01	Orlando (ArenaBowl IX)	25,087
	SEASON TOTAL	136,703

1996

05/11	Texas	14,178
05/18	Orlando	16,444
06/01	San Jose	14,663
06/08	Florida	14,117
06/29	Charlotte	15,492
07/12	Albany	13,202
07/27	Arizona	16,211
08/09	Anaheim (playoff)	13,021
08/16	Arizona (playoff)	13,572
	SEASON TOTAL	130,900

1997

05/10	Florida	11,222
05/17	Orlando	14,179
05/30	Milwaukee	9,888
06/14	New Jersey	11,488
06/21	New York	11,461
07/12	Anaheim	13,342
07/19	Iowa	11,818
07/26	Florida	12,460
	SEASON TOTAL	95,858

1998

05/09	Nashville	9,629
05/16	Houston	10,009
06/06	New York	12,945
06/20	Albany	10,297
06/27	Orlando	14,125
07/12	Florida	11,005
07/25	Iowa	14,007
08/08	San Jose (playoff)	11,001
08/14	New Jersey (playoff)	10,051
08/23	Orlando (ArenaBowl XII)	17,222
	SEASON TOTAL	120,291

1999

04/24	Albany	10,436
	SEASON TOTAL	10,436