Throughout the pandemic-shortened season, the Newfoundland Growlers finished the 2019-20 season averaging a total of 109,283 fans for an average of 3,643 per game, good for 18th overall and second in the North Division. This was a 3.72% decrease from their inaugural season where the team saw 3,784 fans per game on average.
Days Of The Week:
As is the case with a large majority of teams in the league, Saturday’s are the best for drawing in fans. Weekend dates at Mile One Centre saw large crowds averaging over 4,200 spectators as opposed to approximately 2,800 during weekdays. Newfoundland had more weekday games than most, scheduled to have over a third of their 36 home dates on Monday’s, Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s.
Saturday’s (nine games): 39,428 (4,381 per game)
Friday’s (nine games): 36,477 (4,053 per game)
Monday’s (one game): 3,969 (3,969 per game)
Tuesday’s (six games): 16,554 (2,759 per game)
Wednesday’s (five games): 12,855 (2,571 per game)
Months:
The month of March only had three home games for the Newfoundland Growlers as the ECHL season was cancelled due to the virus on the 12th of March. Two of those games were held on the weekend, seeing crowds of 4,214 and 6,000 on Friday and Saturday night respectively. Out of the eight games held in the month of December, only two were played during the weekend, which can be attributed to the smaller crowds that the Newfoundland Growlers saw during that stretch.
March (three games): 12,843 (4,281 per game)
October (five games): 21,323 (4,265 per game)
November (four games): 14,571 (3,643 per game)
January (five games): 18,030 (3,606 per game)
February (five games): 17,976 (3,595 per game)
December (eight games): 24,540 (3,068 per game)
Opponents:*
Mile One Centre saw eight different opponents during the Growlers’ uncompleted quest to defend the Kelly Cup. This number would have been higher had the season continued, as the Kalamazoo Wings were scheduled to play their first games in Newfoundland on the 27th and 28th of March during Fan Appreciation Week, which would have been the final home regular-season games for the Growlers. We also saw a Kelly Cup Finals rematch against the Toledo Walleye, where the Growlers continued their winning ways, defeating the 2019 Western Conference Champions on both nights.
Brampton Beast (four games): 17,967 (4,492 per game)
Atlanta Gladiators (two games): 7,476 (3,738 per game)
Adirondack Thunder (seven games): 25,997 (3,714 per game)
Worcester Railers (four games): 14,536 (3,634 per game)
Toledo Walleye (two games): 7,095 (3,548 per game)
Maine Mariners (four games): 13,827 (3,457 per game)
Reading Royals (five games): 16,621 (3,324 per game)
Kansas City Mavericks (two games): 5,764 (2,882 per game)
*Teams written in Italics are Division Opponents
Of course, these numbers are a far cry from the 122 consecutive that the St. John’s IceCaps of the American Hockey League achieved from over their first few seasons. With the new season ticket package the team has released, it is imminent that they one day want to match those totals and have a full barn every night. The Growlers look to return to the ice on weekend of December 4th, which the ECHL announced would be their date to return to play.