Production of<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>ϕ</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math>mesons in<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:mtext>Au</mml:mtext><mml:mo>+</mml:mo><mml:mtext>Au</mml:mtext></mml:mrow></mml:math>collisions at<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:mn>11.7</mml:mn><mml:mi>A</mml:mi><mml:mspace width="0.3em"/><mml:mtext>GeV</mml:mtext><mml:mo>∕</mml:mo><mml:mi>c</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math>

We report on a measurement of $\ensuremath{\phi}$-meson production in $\text{Au}+\text{Au}$ collisions at a beam momentum of $11.7A\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{GeV}∕c$ by experiment 917 at the alternating gradient synchroton. The measurement covers the midrapidity region $1.2&lt;y&lt;1.6$. Transverse-mass spectra and rapidity distributions are presented as functions of centrality characterized by the number of participant projectile nucleons. The yield of $\ensuremath{\phi}$'s per participant projectile nucleon increases strongly in central collisions in a manner similar to that observed for kaons.