The ECHL’s Reading Royals donned special pink jerseys to promote breast cancer awareness on Saturday. But it was a night worthy of throwback sweaters given a season-high crowd of 6,921 for the Pink in the Rink promotion.

That’s more the kind of number the Royals would have drawn back in their inaugural season of 2001-02, when they averaged 6,045 per game at Sovereign Center.

Including Saturday, Reading is averaging 4,197 per game for 23 dates. That places the Royals 12th in the 20-team circuit.

Attendance has dropped in each of the past four seasons: 5,430 in 2007-08, sixth in the league; 5,005 in 2008-09, seventh; 4,943 in 2009-10, eighth; 4,568 in 2010-11, seventh.

Not helping Reading’s situation this season is the team’s poor performance at home. While the Royals lead the ECHL with 17 road wins, they have only seven at Sovereign Center.