Cubs, D-Backs lead Cactus League attendance, but fans at ballparks still below 2019 levels
More baseball fans flocked to spring training games around the Valley over the past month, with Cactus League attendance jumping 34% from 2022.
The Major League Baseball exhibition season in Arizona drew an average crowd of 7,221 per game, up from 5,397 in 2022.
The Chicago Cubs were the top draw of the 15 teams hosting games in Maricopa County, averaging 13,770 fans at Sloan Park in Mesa. Next up were the Arizona Diamondbacks, posting an average attendance of 9,517 at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers at 9,229 at Camelback Ranch in Glendale.
The Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians, sharing a ballpark in Goodyear, drew the fewest fans.
The Cubs and San Francisco Giants set a single-game Cactus League record by drawing 16,152 on Feb. 25 at Sloan Park.
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More than 1.63 million fans attended games involving the 15 Cactus League teams at 10 local ballparks, but total attendance was still down from 2019, the last spring training season not affected by COVID-19 or major league lockout disruptions. That year, 1.74 million fans, or an average of 7,900 per game, attended.
"Attendance leaped despite unseasonably cold, wet weather and high airfares and hotel rates," said Bridget Binsbacher, executive director of the Cactus League.
Seven games were rained out and not made up this March.
Arizona's Cactus League attendance beat that of Florida's Grapefruit League, where the 15 teams there drew slightly more than 1.4 million fans, averaging about 6,100 per game.
The Cactus League attendance decline for this season compared with 2019 doesn't surprise Linda Naismith, who chafes at the high cost of tickets. The former Seattle-area resident who now lives in Sun City Festival used to have Mariners season tickets in that city.
Naismith said she finds it "shocking" how much ticket prices have risen, citing the $63 she paid for two tickets behind third base at her most recent spring training game between the Mariners and Texas Rangers.
"How can an average family afford to take kids?" she asked.
This year's attendance figures don't include the more than 45,000 fans who attended games involving World Baseball Classic teams, including those at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix.
Reach the reporter at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cubs, D-Backs lead Arizona Cactus League attendance in 2023
