C.R. Titans giving fans their football fix

CEDAR RAPIDS – Attendance is up at the U.S. Cellular Center for the Cedar Rapids Titans as the fourth-year Indoor Football League franchise continues to foster relationships with fans, both new and old.

'I've been to a few games when they first came,” 16-year-old Mitchell Wall said. 'I think it's gotten better with a new stadium. Definitely there's more leg room and the stadium just looks a lot nicer.”

Wall and his parents attend all home games, and father George Wall has recommended the experience to others.

'It's pretty engaging, I like it,” George Wall said. 'Real interactive, fun, exciting.”

While his parents view attending a Titans game as more of something fun to do on a Saturday night in Cedar Rapids, Mitchell is the one in the family who keeps track of things like player statistics and league standings.

'I always check out the IFL website to see who they're playing,” Mitchell Wall said. 'I've been to the other team's ones to see their stuff.”

Through six of seven home games, the Titans rank fourth in the IFL in attendance with an average of 4,357 fans per game. That number is up six percent from last season, which was the club's first in the U.S. Cellular Center after two seasons at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena.

Only perennial power Sioux Falls, expansion Iowa and Nebraska have drawn more fans. There was a noticeable contingent of Titans' fans that made the trek down I-80 for the May 16 victory over the Iowa Barnstormers at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

'The community has really embraced the team,” Cedar Rapids Coach Mark Stoute said. 'You get used to seeing the fans now. When I first got here, we didn't have too many people in the stands wearing Cedar Rapids Titans stuff. Now you look in the stands and you see people in jerseys and replica jerseys, the t-shirts, the pullovers, the golf shirts. It has really become a nice event. …I'd put these fans up against any fans anywhere in the country.”

Niki Hansen, 36, has attended games for the past two years with her 8-year-old daughter. The pair spend time on the second-floor concourse before kickoff where there are games, live music, souvenirs, activities and vendors.

'It's a good time,” Hansen said. 'It's a good family event. They have so much going on here for the kids, too.”

Hansen stays up to date thanks to the club's active social media presence on Facebook. The website provides daily updates on news and promotions, as well as a constant stream of player photographs and videos from both games and from in the community.

'They're really good about updating their page to keep the fans informed,” Hansen said.

The Titans contribute to a lively downtown atmosphere as fans look for opportunities to make a night of it. Restaurants and bars near the U.S. Cellular Center say the uptick in business is noticeable, as about half the crowd on game nights is in Titans gear.

'We get a lot of business from it,” La Cantina Bar and Grill Manager Tia Barrios said. 'Before and after the game.”

Jerseys bearing No. 9 with the nameplate, 'THE 9th MAN” on the back – representative of the fan's role in helping the eight players on the field – have become a popular item, a fact not lost on receiver Bryan Pray, who wears No. 9 for the Titans.

'I joke about it with my teammates in the huddle,” Pray said with a laugh. 'During the pregame when the fans are piling into the stands, I say, ‘You guys see it, those nines out there, they're here for me.' It boosts morale with the offense, it boosts my morale.”

Pray says when it comes to fan support, this has been the best season of his three years with the team.

'We have a true home-field advantage,” Pray said. 'These fans know what's happening. They cheer when they are supposed to cheer. They're quiet when they need to be quiet and if the refs make a mistake, they're going to let the refs know. That's definitely fun when we see things like that.”

Pray spoke excitedly about an encounter he had at Firestone in downtown Cedar Rapids in which he gave a couple of game tickets to one of the employees, and now sees him at every game. Converting new fans also comes from existing ones. Marion student Brandon Miller, 16, has attended several games in the past and brought three classmates with him for the April 25 game with Green Bay.

'Our high school games are a lot of fun to go to, hang out with some friends,” said Miller, who watches the tape-delay game broadcasts when not in attendance. 'Coming here to a newer level of sports complex is really fun. Kind of the same experience but taking it to a new level, but it's still exciting.”

The Titans (8-4) can clinch a playoff spot for the third year in a row against Bemidji in the final regular-season home game June 13 at the U.S. Cellular Center.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com