Germain Arena ranks in Top 10 Minor League Venues

Germain Arena, the Florida Everblades' home arena, has been named as a Top Ten Minor League Venue in an online poll conducted by MLN Sports. The poll, which ranked Germain Arena the sixth-best Minor League Venue, asked sports fans nationwide for their top choice among all minor league arenas and minor league baseball stadiums for the upcoming issue of MLN Sports digital magazine, SZ.

There were more than 11,700 votes cast for the venues of more than 800 teams in baseball, basketball, football, hockey and lacrosse. Fans were allowed only one vote from an IP address and votes from club office IP addresses were discarded so the rankings were totally fan-driven.

The Everblades have called Germain Arena their home since the team's inception in 1998. During their 10-year history, the Everblades have welcomed in more than 2 million fans and have held an average of nearly 6,000 fans per game every season in the 7,180-seat arena. The Everblades have also made the ECHL's post-season in all 11 seasons of operation, including two trips to the Kelly Cup Finals in back-to-back seasons of 2003-04 and 2004-05.

The arena, which has held the names Everblades Arena and TECO Arena during its history, also plays home to the AFL 2's Florida Firecats.

"We are extremely lucky to have such an outstanding facility for both the fans and players," said Everblades president and general manager Craig Brush. "The fact that we were ranked in the top 10 illustrates how passionate Everblades and Firecats fans are, and shows how hard everyone involved with Germain Arena works to make this a fan-friendly sports venue. It means a lot to be recognized nationally as one of the best minor league facilities and all the dedicated fans who voted deserve big thanks."

The top minor league facility chosen in the MLN Sports fans' poll was Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi, Texas, home to the Corpus Christi Hooks, the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros.

MLN Sports provides coverage of more than 700 professional teams and 38 professional leagues in hockey, baseball, basketball and football through the magazine at MLNSportsZone.com and the first national RSS newswire, MLN - The Raw Feed at MLNTheRawFeed. com.

Deposits are being accepted now for 2009-10 Florida Everblades season tickets. For more information, visit www.floridaeverblades.com.