If the St. Louis Battlehawks ride a home-field advantage all the way to the team's first United Football League championship, the first step would be winning a conference championship game Sunday night at the Dome at America’s Center against the D.C. Defenders.
The Battlehawks led the UFL in attendance again this season, with nearly 30,000 fans at each game at the Dome.
The other seven teams in the upstart spring football league averaged fewer than 10,000 fans.
The league had identified St. Louis as the host city for one of the conference championships and league title games earlier this season, for stadium availability reasons. That was well before the Battlehawks had cemented the best record in the UFL. After a mixed start, St. Louis won six straight and ended the season with an 8-2 record.
“We earned the right to have two games at home, which is fantastic,” said head coach Anthony Becht. “The crowd is so important. It's such a factor for us when we play.”
The record attendance for any UFL game was set last year at the Battlehawks home opener, when more than 40,000 fans turned out. Becht said he’s hoping for an even bigger crowd on Sunday.
Running back Jacob Saylors said the entire team is focused on getting St. Louis fans what they deserve: a league championship.
“With us being who we are and the Dome being what it is, it is an exciting feeling to know that we're going back and we're going to play in front of our fans and what type of fans we have,” Saylors said.
The Battlehawks are offering a way to give back to the community with an option to buy tickets that will send $10 for each ticket to the United Way of Greater St. Louis’ tornado relief.
