Attendance Problems
For various reasons, the Albany Attack were plagued by poor attendance most of their existence with average attendances in the 3000–4000 range which was not enough for the franchise to be profitable.
On June 14, 2001, Albany Attack owner Herb Chorbajian, a banker with CharterOne Bank, and Albany River Rats owner Walter Robb announced an agreement in which Robb would purchase a minority equity share in the Albany Attack. Given both teams played in the Pepsi Arena, the purpose of the agreement was to establish marketing and promotional synergy.
Despite the agreement, the Albany Attack was still not profitable so, throughout the 2002 season, Herb Chorbajian considered selling the Albany Attack. However, the success of the playoffs encouraged him to keep the team for another season. Furthermore, in the summer of 2002, the Albany Attack Pack, the Official Fan Club of the Albany Attack, was created by several fans with hopes of improving attendance.
In the 2003 season, according to Albany Attack General Manager Michael DeRossi, season ticket sales did go up considerably over the previous season, but the marketing effort actually decreased. Furthermore, the Attack went only 2–6 in their first eight games, losing all four home games to that point. While the Attack did have a second half record of 6–2, they never recovered enough to return to the playoffs nor did they have sufficient attendance to be profitable.
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Famous quotes containing the words attendance and/or problems:
“We, too, had good attendance once,
Hearers and hearteners of the work;
Aye, horsemen for companions,
Before the merchant and the clerk
Breathed on the world with timid breath.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“If family communication is good, parents can pick up the signs of stress in children and talk about it before it results in some crisis. If family communication is bad, not only will parents be insensitive to potential crises, but the poor communication will contribute to problems in the family.”
—Donald C. Medeiros (20th century)