SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – In its rookie year, the Spokane Shock became the first expansion team in arenafootball2 history to win the league’s ArenaCup championship by defeating the Green Bay Blizzard, 57-34 on August 26 at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan.

The team’s stats off the field were even more impressive. Attendance for the 10 home games averaged almost 10,000. Four of the games were sell outs.

“We we’re told so many times that we were naive to try and sell out every game,” says majority owner and CEO Brady Nelson. He says the team is already generating a “six figure” profit.

Nelson, owner of Regal Satellite and Security, one of the nation’s largest Dish Network dealers, and a small investment group spent $500,000 on franchise rights to start the team in the arenafootball2 league. The league is a subsidiary of the Arena Football League.

According to Kevin Maloney, director of communications, ticket sales for 2007 are equally strong, with a growing waiting list for prime seats.

“People in Spokane were hungry for a pro sports team that they could get behind and call their own,” says Nelson.

The Spokane Shock’s profitability and popularity have made arenafootball2 attractive to other markets. In 2007, Boise, Idaho will join the 23-member league, and the Tri-Cities area is contemplating adding a team as well.