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Week five of the XFL season is in the books, and we’re not halfway through the season. We’re starting to see team trends affect attendance numbers across the league, some are encouraging, and some not so much.
Houston, Dallas, DC and Los Angeles hosted games in week five. Two teams (Houston and DC) saw overall increases from their last home game, and two teams (Dallas and LA) saw a drop-off.
Official Attendance Numbers:
Houston: 19,773 (New Season High)
Dallas: 15,950 (New Season Low)
DC: 16,342 (Up More Than 1,000 from Last Home Game)
Los Angeles: 12,181 (New Season Low)
In full, there are some encouraging signs from week five’s attendance numbers. We saw a 15.6% rise in attendance for the Roughnecks, who were home for the first time since week two, and were boasting an undefeated record.
Last week, the Renegades lost their starting quarterback Landry Jones to an MCL injury. To only see a 12.99% drop in attendance with that, and the cross-promotion from the Texas Throwdown is still encouraging for the city of Dallas and their ability to support an XFL franchise.
Defenders fans put forth the surprise of the weekend. They filled Audi Field despite their team dropping two in a row in embarrassing fashion, and to take it a step further, the fans have created a tradition like no other…the “Beer Snake”
Lastly, Los Angeles has been struggling to put together a respectable crowd in terms of competing with other teams in the league. Their 12,181 became the second-lowest at an XFL game this year (New York in Week 4, 12,116). While the Wildcats are certainly becoming a team to watch, and an offense to be reckoned with, their crowds have left lots to be desired in the busy area of Southern California.
With LA officially announcing attendance as 12,181, the XFL total for week 5 is 64,246. The lowest draw for of the season, to date. This is the first week that the league hasn't had a game in St. Louis or Seattle since week one when the total was 69,818.@XFLNewsHub
— Brian Lombardo (@Brian_Lombardo) March 9, 2020
Looking ahead to week six, a lot of factors weigh on how attendance will go. Seattle, DC, New York, and Tampa Bay host games. New York and Tampa have seen a trail off from game one to game two, but have started showing more promising signs of being an entertaining product on the field. DC will continue to pull numbers like they have all season long.
Audi Field is an ideal venue for the XFL (unless you’re St. Louis) where they can average between 14,500-18,000 all season long and never feel too big or small. Lastly, the biggest question mark lies with Seattle. How badly will the story about a stadium worker coming down with the Corona Virus hurt the overall attendance number? We shall see next week.