Crowd Dwindles for Second Orlando Game

The crowd was smaller, but no less appreciative of the show.

The Orlando Rage beat the San Francisco Demons, 26-14, Saturday night before an announced crowd of 25,049, down nearly 11,500 from the first XFL game at the Citrus Bowl.

Jeff Brohm completed 10 of 21 passes for 161 yards and one touchdown to lead Orlando (2-0). Mike Pawlawski completed 36 of 52 passes for 294 yards and two touchdowns for San Francisco (1-1), which was hurt by 13 penalties, a fumble that was returned for a touchdown and an end-zone interception.

Unlike last week, when the Rage announced a sellout of 36,503 and said thousands were turned away because the upper deck was not open, there were lots of empty seats in the lower tier this time.

Once again the fans seemed more entertained by fireworks, blaring music and cheerleaders than football. The play was ragged, with 20 penalties, and there were long stretches of the game that the teams seemed to lose the crowd.