[barryobi]

I have been watching to see what the reported attendance at the Obama rally was today. It was streaming on the local CBS affiliate so I pulled it up to see which room at the Delta Airlines Center (formerly the Frontier Airlines Center and before that The Midwest Airlines Center) it was in and how large the crowd was.

It was in the main convention hall, which is 188,000 sq ft or so, and they had a stage at one end for Katy Perry and her band, and they had another stage set up at the other end for 'The One', with a few risers set up behind that stage.

This story says 20,000....Also from his Twitter account.......@jaketapper for those asking, Obama crowd counts today: 4k in mentor OH; 20k in Milwaukee; 5k in dubuque IA.

Now my fellow FReepers, I have been to the Delta Airlines Center probably 75-100 times since it opened over a decade ago. No way 20,000 people can fit in the convention hall, completely impossible. The BMOHarrisBaradley Center which is a block away is a much larger venue (500,000 sq ft) and seats 18.700 people in the arena area. You can't even fit 20k in there, let alone in the convention hall at the Delta Airlines Center

So being the skeptic I am, I went to the Delta Airlines Center website to see what info they might have on the capacity for the convention hall. The hall is divided into 4 sections A,B,C,D...and I am sure they used all of them. So what is the capacity of all four sections used together? The capacity is the LEGAL capacity, the number of people the fire department will legally allow to be in the room.....The MAXIMUM capacity of the room is 12,580

http://www.midwestairlinescenter.com/media/mediafile_attachments/00/110-121019dimenscaps.pdf

So given they had two stages set up, I would imagine the actual number was less than 12,000 people. still a nice crowd, but not 20K

[WILLIALAL]

“still a nice crowd, but not 20K”

But how many came to see Perry and not Obama? Mostly a young crowd I bet and a lot of them won’t vote.

[mylife]

Katy Perrys greatest hits?
Can anyone name one?
I have heard of her but have never heard her.

I’m guessing she is a flash in the pan, just like Obama

[matginzac]

Didn’t she kiss a girl and like it?
That ought to go over well with the black churches...

[TheLawyerFormerlyKnownAsAl]

Nice report, good job.

[Mygirlsmom]

I have heard people estimate that with the set up there would have been room for about 9000 max. The news is still trumpeting the ridiculous 20K number, but I have seen some anectodal reports that it was around 4500.

Some truth in reporting would be nice, but journalist nowdays are no better than English Mattress Salesmen

[conservativepoet]

I heard about this 20k event also and was wondering if it was true especially since Romney had his big events last night and today.

Thanks for this important info.

[Two Kids' Dad]

One thing that I’ll bet most people didn’t know that 0bama and Katy Perry have in common is that they’re both carrying around Russell Brand’s STDs. According to Harry Reid we’ll know it’s true unless one or both of them produces evidence otherwise.

[Sarah Barracuda]

Pretty sad for Obama that he is SO desperate to show that he can get people to come see him by having Katy Perry perform..I bet the majority of the people who came to the rally came to see Perry and NOT Obama..
Romney can get 30,000+ to come and see HIM..not some celebrity, but HIM..says a lot

[apillar]

So in other words, 15,000 people showed up for Perry, 5,000 for Obama. Romney can get crowds of 30,000 without having to put out some huge superstar as bait....