Having a new arena all to themselves, he said, would help the Devils address the same kind of attendance problems that have plagued the Nets in New Jersey.
"This is going to be one moment, regardless of what kind of attendance we have, where all eyes will be on Syracuse," said the former Syracuse and Giants wide receiver David Tyree, who was honored before the game.
But its 2012 number – 218,558 visitors – mostly reflects a return, after its blockbuster "Art in the Streets" show in 2011 (which drew more than 200,000 visitors), to the kind of attendance it has seen for most of the past decade.
"Because caucus turnout was historically so low, on a fairly low budget you could organize the kind of attendance that could not only be competitive, but dominating," said Mr. Stearns, now a Federal District Court judge in Massachusetts.
What kind of attendance boost would it take to be able to afford Baggio?
Remarkable because the event has become noteworthy for being the largest of its kind in attendance and funds raised.
"It's certainly going to change the kind of attendance we have," said Videriksen, adding that she hoped the new location would attract students from Otis and UCLA while retaining visitors from the Southern California Institute of Architecture downtown.
And, of course, there's the fact his claim was a complete lie; the recent EDL demo in Tower Hamlets got a turnout out of around 500, around a sixth of the kind of attendance they were getting in their post-Rigby heyday.
They fear that the fee will discourage visitors or confuse the faithful who don't understand what kinds of attendance are free.
The rivalry remains intense enough to be able to draw crowds of more than 2,000, the kind of attendances that some senior clubs would welcome.
