Steady attendance slip proportional to slide on the inside (Covelli Centre)

John Bassetti \ Thunder Insider

There’s a not-so-surprising correlation between the decrease in attendance at Mahoning Valley Thunder home games and the af2 team’s 1-9 record.

“Obviously, we’re not playing as well as we’d like right now,” general manager Adam Tokash said. “You’ve got to win. There’s no doubt about that.”

Tokash and the Thunder front office made head-coaching changes to improve the situation, starting in late April with the discharge of Mike Hold, then the elevation of Brennen Booth as interim coach before hiring Chris MacKeown.

“You can see in the last couple weeks that he’s made a lot of changes, trying to get better,” Tokash said of MacKeown’s effort. “We’re not quitting. We want to put a good show out on the field at the Covelli Centre. He wants to win and the organization wants to win. That’s how you get people there: generate excitement.”

However, home-game numbers show a steady decline from a season-opening 3,713 that witnessed the Thunder’s only win to 2,398 for the Kentucky Horsemen game on May 30.

That makes Tokash’s job a lot harder and the pressure’s on everybody in the front office.

“He’s working his tail off,” the GM said of MacKeown. “He’s trying to get some experienced guys who were playing in other cities in the league, but, for whatever reason, they’re not there anymore.”

Most recently, MacKeown brought in several players, although not with af2 backgrounds.

The latest are receiver Jermaine Moye (California, Pa. State) and quarterback Brad Roach (Catawba College, N.C.).

“The turnover of players has been a lot lately, and we know we’ve got to get better, so that’s why he’s making those changes,” Tokash said.

Some other personnel moves include the acquisition of FB TaVoris Horton before MacKeown’s arrival and of WR Antoine Horton (no relation) after. DBs Clarence Curry and Darrell Carlton and WR Chris Schubert were all released.

The list of injured players includes season-ending cases such as Carlos Spinner, Jason Lewis, Rob Carey and Wallace Sonnie.

DB Jamar Landrom went on injured reserve recently, while previously injured players George Murray and Matt Brunck were released and put on team suspension, respectively.

Other recent arrivals are OL/DL Jon Loyte (Boston College), WR/DB Ryan Greiser (Liberty U.) and WR/DB Patrick Wells (Ferris State).

Quarterback Blake Powers, who broke his collarbone against the Horsemen, is also on injured reserve and may not return.

Although the nine-game slide continues, there’s evidence of improvement.

Tokash believes that Mahoning Valley played well enough to win the last two weeks in games against the Horsemen and the Milwaukee Iron.

“It’s a couple plays here and there. A late turnover [at Milwaukee] when we had a chance to tie was the difference. It’s a little bit of inexperience [the new acquisitions] and the guys jelling. We’re staying positive.”

Turnovers, again, were the problem against the Iron.

“We had a chance to tie, 54-54, with about two minutes to go in the fourth,” Tokash said of last Friday’s game. “[QB] Davon [Vinson] threw seven touchdown passes and didn’t make any mistakes until the end, then threw an interception. It’s a game of scoring points and turnovers. Our turnover margin is horrendous. If we can fix that and hold onto the ball, we’re going to be in games.”

Mahoning Valley ended up losing, 58-47, after the Iron got a field goal and the Thunder didn’t score on its last drive.

It makes for long, quiet bus rides home, especially 81‚Ñ2-hour treks to Milwaukee and Albany, N.Y. and a longer ride from Manchester, New Hampshire.

“Obviously, there’s a frustration because we feel that we’ve got some talent and, for whatever reason, we’re a couple plays short. If the league playoffs were to start today, two teams at 4-6 are in the playoffs.

“We’re not that far off, we just need to get some wins. It’s tough because we feel — the last three weeks even — we had chances to win games and just couldn’t do it.”

Tokash, meanwhile, is busy doing general manager things, like promotions.

A Kelly Pavlik book-signing night will be June 19.

“We’re doing a $5 ticket for everybody who comes down,” Tokash said of the Thunder’s next home game. “We’re having fireworks night on June 27. Arena football prides itself on being not just football; it’s the entertainment as well.”

Because the Thunder is just a tenant in the Covelli Centre, there are limitations.

“We have a great relationship with Eric Ryan and Co.,” Tokash said, “but there are things that we can’t control, like the concessions. There’s no control over that or the parking. Other than that, they [Centre management] do a great job.”

He said a lot of af2 teams have control over their concessions because they own the arena or playing facility.

“We just come in and rent the place,” said Tokash, who would love to have specials on prices more often.

The Thunder, however, worked with Covelli management for a season-ending Fan Appreciation Night.

“We’re going to do $1 beer night,” the GM said. “We’ve had $1 hot dogs in the past.”

The Thunder does offer a family four-pack to bring kids for parties for $55, which includes four game tickets, four popcorns, four hot dogs and four drinks.

“If you’re going to buy those things [separately], you’d pay about $80,” Tokash said. “We’re trying to make it affordable for families.”

Otherwise, when it comes to regular ticket prices, Mahoning Valley holds the line.

The least expensive seat is $12.

“It’s a little bit more than going to a movie,” said Tokash, “but it’s expensive to run this operation. We have eight days to try to make money. It’s not like we have a whole year or like hockey that has 30 games. We have eight days. With the expenses we have, it’s tough to charge less than that.”

The GM said the Thunder will consider prices for next year after evaluating other teams.

“When we set prices, we evaluated every team in the league,” Tokash said. “A lot of it is based on arena size. There are arenas that have 15,000 seats; they could charge a $6 or $8 ticket. With only 5,800 seats, you can’t do that.”

XJohn Bassetti covers the Thunder for The Vindicator. E-mail him at bassetti@vindy.com.

SEE ALSO: Thunder pursuing elusive victory.