The team normally plays at the Entertainment and Sports Arena, but organizers thought playing a preseason game inFayetteville would be a good way to attract more fans to arenafootball.
The Cobras first season in NorthCarolina was a losing one on the field (with a 3 and 11 record),but a success with fans, and they hope that will also be the casein 2001.
Cobras General Manager Brett Bender hopes it will be even easier forfans to support the team this year if they win more games.
"We were third in the league," Bender says. "We had 13,233 people agame, which wasfantastic for an expansion season considering we didn't win as many gamesas we wanted to. The fans supported us all the way."
Bender also says the games will be wilder than ever.
The team is planning more interactive events for fans during time-outs,and the Snake Charmers will also continue to be a bigpart of the game.
But Bender says the in-your-face action ofarena football is what really attracts fans:eight men playing on a 50-yard field and thousandsof fans only a short throw away.
"You get them so close to the action. Ourgame is a little bit different; you're not in abig stadium, you're in a little arena. Theaction is more compact and it's high scoring andthere's so much there for the fans to get involvedin," Bender says.
Monday's game starts at 7:30 at Crown Coliseum.The season officially kicks off on April 15,and the Cobras first home game at the Entertainmentand Sports Arena is April 20.
If you would like to see the action yourself,tickets start at $10 and can cost up to $110 each.
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