The Renegades drew far better than the Federals, averaging about 25,000 fans per game over their nine regular-season home dates, and the crowd of 26,847 that attended the June 1 game against Tampa Bay, which included many Bandits fans who traveled to Orlando from the Tampa area for the game as part of a growing Tampa Bay-Orlando rivalry, was a highlight of the season. Dizney had hoped to draw more Orlando-area fans away from the Bandits than the Renegades did in 1985 and for bigger crowds overall at Renegades home games. He nonetheless decided to move forward with the team in Orlando for the 1986 USFL season. One of his limited partners, Charles Givens, told NPR that he knew that the Renegades would not be included in any potential merger with the NFL, and contented himself with the likelihood that the Renegades and any other teams left out of a merger would automatically receive $14 million.