SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Bad weather and fewer games led to a decline in total attendance for the 2019 Cactus League, but average attendance per game was the highest in three years.
Major League Baseball’s Arizona spring training league is a major tourism driver for the Phoenix area each winter, but Cactus League officials had expected attendance would be down this year because the season had the fewest games played since 2014.
Cactus League attendance fell 2.1 percent from 2018 to 1,737,975. But the average game drew 7,900 fans, up 2.8 percent from the previous year.
“Despite an early start and unfavorable weather, the numbers show that Arizona’s spring training attendance remains robust,” Cactus League President Jeff Meyer said in a statement. “We’re grateful to the out-of-state visitors and local residents who flock to Cactus League ballparks to enjoy the best time of year in Arizona.”
Four Cactus League teams – Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Angels and Arizona Diamondbacks – set single-game attendance marks during 2019. The Cubs had the largest crowd in Cactus League history on March 25 when 16,100 fans showed up at Sloan Park to see them play the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox.
Read more at the Denver Business Journal | https://bit.ly/2UrWRxZ
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