What happened to the Detroit Turbos?

[Vin]

With all this talk about possibly moving SJ to markets such as Detroit, I can't help but wonder - what exactly did happen to the Detroit Turbos franchise and why? They had been around for 6 seasons and won the 1991 Championship. (Thank you very much Messrs. Gait.)

[toros_00]

Originally Posted by Vin

With all this talk about possibly moving SJ to markets such as Detroit, I can't help but wonder - what exactly did happen to the Detroit Turbos franchise and why? They had been around for 6 seasons and won the 1991 Championship. (Thank you very much Messrs. Gait.)

lots of fights

[ledzepp4858]

they folded in 1994.

[WingsfaninMA]

Originally Posted by Vin

With all this talk about possibly moving SJ to markets such as Detroit, I can't help but wonder - what exactly did happen to the Detroit Turbos franchise and why? They had been around for 6 seasons and won the 1991 Championship. (Thank you very much Messrs. Gait.)

The attendence started to dip a little, and they traded Gait and Gait to the Wings for the Wings entire draft. There was then the bench clearing brawl, Coyle punched a ref and got a permanent ban, and eventually the league decided to cut their losses, folded the team, and started the Knighthawks to replace them.

[Vin]

...this was back in the single-ownership days, right?

But, was the basic reason that they were losing money in Detroit?

I guess my real question is: Are there any "roadblocks" to the NLL returning to Detroit? By understanding why the Turbos disappeared, that'd give me a better idea as to the likelihood that the NLL will return there.

[WingsfaninMA]

No, I don't think it's a Boston situation, where the arena got screwed and it took a lot of time (assuming the 2008 rumor is true) to get a team back there.

Detroit could have a team again. I don't know if they will, but there isn't the same type of road block.

And yes, it was during the single-entity era of the MILL, that makes it impossible to know if they made money or not.

However, the attendance history of the Turbos tells the tale:

1989 - 4 games - 49,159
1990 - 4 games - 47,639
1991 - 5 games - 39,269
1992 - 4 games - 33,425
1993 - 4 games - 28,447
1994 - 4 games - 19,932

They also had two postseason games (1989 - 8,319 and 1992- 4,136).

[BIG E NY]

Originally Posted by WingsfaninMA

No, I don't think it's a Boston situation, where the arena got screwed and it took a lot of time (assuming the 2008 rumor is true) to get a team back there.

Detroit could have a team again. I don't know if they will, but there isn't the same type of road block.

And yes, it was during the single-entity era of the MILL, that makes it impossible to know if they made money or not.

However, the attendance history of the Turbos tells the tale:

1989 - 4 games - 49,159
1990 - 4 games - 47,639
1991 - 5 games - 39,269
1992 - 4 games - 33,425
1993 - 4 games - 28,447
1994 - 4 games - 19,932

They also had two postseason games (1989 - 8,319 and 1992- 4,136).

Awesome stuff, where did you get the Turbos historic attendance? Do you have the numbers for the history of the league since 1987?

[WingsfaninMA]

Yep. Here ya go:

Teams are listed by the last name they went by. I put the city in parentheses if it was different in that season.

Home games per season:
1987 - 3
1988-1990 - 4
1991 - 5
1992 - 1995 - 4
1996 - 1997 - 5
1998 - 2000 - 6
2001 - 7
2002 - current - 8



Anaheim Storm

2002 (NJ) - 45,414
2003 (NJ) - 43,874
2004 - 37,997
2005 - 38,635

Arizona Sting

2001 (CLB) - 45,912
2002 (CLB) - 33,029
2003 (CLB) - 25,104
2004 - 46,147
2005 - 52,544
2006 - 51,856

Boston Blazers

1989 (NE) - 32,153
1990 (NE) - 35,228
1991 (NE) - 34,132
1992 - 27,435
1993 - 29,596
1994 - 32,690
1995 - 30,321
1996 - 41,792
1997 - 30,743

Buffalo Bandits

1992 - 55,283
1993 - 65,300
1994 - 65,136
1995 - 63,306
1996 - 74,419
1997 - 87,665
1998 - 73,534
1999 - 57,829
2000 - 49,116
2001 - 56,289
2002 - 59,582
2003 - 56,015
2004 - 71,435
2005 - 82,306
2006 - 96,946

Calgary Roughnecks

2002 - 70,249
2003 - 91,567
2004 - 79,950
2005 - 81,660
2006 - 94,217

Charlotte Cobras

1996 - 13,802

Colorado Mammoth

1987 (BAL) - 20,212
1988 (BAL) - 24,122
1989 (BAL) - 24,800
1990 (BAL) - 38,223
1991 (BAL) - 44,678
1992 (BAL) - 37,252
1993 (BAL) - 35,572
1994 (BAL) - 30,066
1995 (BAL) - 24,012
1996 (BAL) - 24,934
1997 (BAL) - 25,091
1998 (BAL) - 32,269
1999 (BAL) - 42,340
2000 (PIT) - 29,495
2001 (WSH) - 22,885
2002 (WSH) - 26,638
2003 - 131,907
2004 - 140,942
2005 - 128,109
2006 - 132,347

Detroit Turbos

1989 - 49,159
1990 - 47,639
1991 - 39,269
1992 - 33,425
1993 - 28,447
1994 - 19,932

Edmonton Rush

2006 - 82,938

Minnesota Swarm

2005 - 82,523
2006 - 66,981

Montreal Express

2002 - 63,755

New York Saints

1987 (NJ) - 18,176
1988 (NJ) - 24,366
1989 - 34,433
1990 - 32,822
1991 - 43,597
1992 - 43,597
1993 - 48,543
1994 - 34,473
1995 - 35,765
1996 - 39,579
1997 - 36,338
1998 - 40,349
1999 - 40,223
2000 - 34,046
2001 - 41,426
2002 - 42,074
2003 - 34,079

Ottawa Rebel

1998 (SYR) - 25,378
1999 (SYR) - 27,277
2000 (SYR) - 15,957
2001 - 56,409
2002 - 47,498
2003 - 33,619

Philadelphia Wings

1987 - 35,860
1988 - 48,910
1989 - 58,834
1990 - 65,193
1991 - 77,714
1992 - 59,440
1993 - 65,255
1994 - 60,408
1995 - 66,823
1996 - 73,222
1997 - 68,911
1998 - 85,182
1999 - 96,237
2000 - 95,143
2001 - 106,215
2002 - 109,342
2003 - 111,140
2004 - 109,123
2005 - 93,568
2006 - 95,591

Pittsburgh Bulls

1990 - 43,359
1991 - 41,387
1992 - 31,701
1993 - 23,052

Portland Lumberjax

2006 - 64,055

Rochester Knighthawks

1995 - 29,545
1996 - 36,881
1997 - 32,852
1998 - 40,234
1999 - 54,400
2000 - 52,777
2001 - 64,032
2002 - 71,559
2003 - 71,870
2004 - 70,293
2005 - 79,107
2006 - 79,906

San Jose Stealth

2000 (ALB) - 34,492
2001 (ALB) - 29,782
2002 (ALB) - 28,066
2003 (ALB) - 29,513
2004 - 42,656
2005 - 43,481
2006 - 44,865

Toronto Rock

1998 (ONT) - 28,862
1999 - 66,451
2000 - 83,287
2001 - 110,240
2002 - 125,513
2003 - 133,867
2004 - 135,256
2005 - 136,987
2006 - 132,306

Vancouver Ravens

2002 - 81,689
2003 - 66,699
2004 - 56,992

Washington Wave

1987 - 24,916
1988 - 29,254
1989 - 31,295

[BIG E NY]

great stuff, thanks!

[buffmattky]

I'm am truly impressed by all that....thanks for taking the time to put that all together!!

[LawIn114]

I miss the old Philly versus Baltimore battles. That was my first game in back 1994. The Thunder just disappeared, another shame.

[WingsNut423566]

Originally Posted by LawIn114

I miss the old Philly versus Baltimore battles. That was my first game in back 1994. The Thunder just disappeared, another shame.

Moved to pittsburgh to become the X-Fire for the 2000 season. Became the Washington Power for the 2001 and 2002 seasons. Then it was off to Denver.

[Rax the Mascot]

Wow, there are teams that draw more in one game then the Cobras did the whole seasson.