The Rhinos might be struggling to put people in the seats at PAETEC Park, but their stadium-mates, Major League Lacrosse's Rochester Rattlers, aren't having that problem.
Through three home games, the Rattlers are averaging 4,097 fans, an increase of 161 a game from last year's figures. The Rattlers currently rank fourth in the MLL in attendance, just like they did last year. (Denver, by the way, leads the league, with nearly 12,000 a game. Boston is second with just over 9,000 a game, while Long Island is third at 4,230.)
In fact, attendance is up all across the MLL — so far this season, the 10 teams are averaging 4,823 fans a game, compared to 4,295 last year. MLL public relations coordinator Shaun May said that while league officials would love to see, say, a 30-percent increase in attendance, any hike is "a positive sign. It is what it is. We're happy as long as it's tracking upward."
That's almost certainly a good thing, especially now that the indoor National Lacrosse League is in the process of launching its own outdoor league to rival MLL. May said he couldn't really comment on the NLL's new creation.
"Until we see some bricks and mortar, there's nothing to comment on," he said.
He says MLL officials aren't worrying about the new NLL outdoor league possibly siphoning off fans and advertising support from the existing league.
"To be honest with you, we're just trying to get (fans) to support us," he said.
He did say, however, that he believes that the United States could, in fact, support two outdoor leagues, especially "if you put together 10 great venues and 10 well-run organizations, if you do things well."
May said the increase in attendance proves that the professional outdoor game — which has struggled to match the popularity of the pro indoor game — is gaining a foothold in North America.
"We're showing that there's definitely a market for outdoor lacrosse," he said. "If you had said that 10 years ago, people would have laughed at you. But everything is headed in the right direction."
