Spring Training

Are those six weeks of preseason baseball games meaningless? Nope.

- Loyd Mcintosh

“PITCHERS AND CATCHERS REPORT.” FOUR LITTLE WORDS THAT MEAN SPRING IS ALMOST HERE AND MAKE THE HEART OF MANY A BASEBALL FAN SKIP A BEAT. SPRING TRAINING, THE SIX-WEEK-LONG SERIES OF WORKOUTS AND EXHIBITION GAMES, HAS FOR DECADES DRAWN BASEBALL FANS TO THE WARMER CLIMES OF FLORIDA AND ARIZONA TO WATCH GROWN MEN PLAY EFFECTIVELY MEANINGLESS GAMES WHILE BASKING IN THE SUNSHINE AS THE REST OF US FREEZE OUR BUTTS OFF IN THIS EVIL, SOUL-SUCKING TIME OF YEAR CALLED WINTER. SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA.

Spring training sounds like a great idea to more and more people every year. According to the Florida Sports Foundation, nearly 1.5 million people attended spring training games in 2018. Over in Arizona, the Cactus League drew a similar number of fans at slightly more than 1.8 million, according to Sports Business Daily.

That means more than 3 million baseball fans went through the turnstiles for spring training games last year, contributing a sizeable economic impact on Arizona and Florida. In 2018 alone, spring training games brought an estimated $687 million to Florida. Additionally, 52 percent of those fans came from out of state.