JANESVILLE, WI – The Janesville Jets, members of the North American Hockey League (NAHL), set a franchise attendance record with a crowd of 1,211 in a 1-0 loss to the Coulee Region Chill on Thursday.
The previous record, 1,142 fans for a February game in 2013, stood for more than 1,500 days and 125 games. On Saturday, March 11th, in the Jets’ last home game before Thursday’s record, 1,086 fans turned out for a win over the Jr. Blues in what was then the second largest crowd in Jets history. Before Thursday, the Jets had never seen back-to-back 1,000+ crowds.
“It was great to see such tremendous support from the community the past two games,” said Jets President Bill McCoshen. “To break our single game attendance record on a weeknight and during March Madness was unbelievable.”
Nearly 500 of Thursday’s fans were students, staff, or family from Marshall Middle School. The Jets’ Reading Club Program, sponsored by BMO Harris Bank, also turned out dozens of families. Area elementary school students completed rink-shaped reading trackers to receive vouchers for the game.
“When I saw the Thursday game on the schedule, I knew we had a great opportunity to create a unique night of weeknight family fun for elementary and middle school students,” said Kevin Meegan, Director of Community Outreach. “I want to thank everyone who came out and helped make the night a really fun memory for everybody in attendance.”