Economic, team slumps don’t keep Cactus League fans away
By Peter Corbett, The Arizona Republic
Through economic slumps and championship droughts, Cactus League baseball fans and teams keep showing up in the desert.
The Chicago Cubs haven’t won a World Series for more than a century, but last year, a record 203,105 fans attended their exhibition games at Mesa’s Hohokam Stadium.
Now there are 15 teams in Arizona for spring training, an even split with Florida’s Grapefruit League. The Cincinnati Reds this year join the Cactus League, sharing Goodyear Ballpark with the Cleveland Indians.
“I never visualized 15 teams,” Cactus League Association President Robert Brinton said. “We’ve added six teams in 10 years. That’s rather rapid growth to say the least.”
Coming off last year’s record attendance of 1.58 million, league leaders are once again excited about another season and the boost spring training gives to Arizona’s troubled tourism industry. This is likely to be the first year that the Cactus League surpasses Florida’s Grapefruit League in attendance.
Still, at a time when tourism and baseball officials should be giddy with the league’s success, there are emerging issues with keeping all 15 teams happy. That’s because:
- A stagnant economy is slowing travel.
- There are 7 percent fewer games on the schedule than last year.
- Rapid growth will spread fans thinner at the ballparks, particularly in the West Valley suburbs where eight teams share four stadiums.
Plus, a dustup has emerged in trying to fund stadium improvements to keep the Cubs and other teams from bolting to Florida.
Stadium money gone
The Cactus League is a victim of its own success, Brinton and others say.
“The money has been allocated and spent” for baseball complexes to retain and attract the 15 teams, the league president said. “There’s no money for improvements.”
The Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies convinced the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community to build them a new $100 million complex east of Scottsdale that will open next year.
Future funding for league facilities is up in the air.
Costs of success
Rep. John McComish, R-Ahwatukee Foothills, is pushing a bill to charge $1 more for each rental-car transaction and an 8 percent surcharge on every Cactus League ticket. That would raise $58 million for a new Cubs stadium and practice facilities, and $81 million over 25 years for other Cactus League improvements, McComish said.
“This is an economic driver for the state of Arizona,” he said, adding that the Cubs generate $138 million in economic activity annually for the state.
Still, other Cactus League teams and fans have balked at the proposed surcharge and rental tax. Several teams went so far as to boycott an annual Cactus League kickoff event last week that was held in Mesa.
At Scottsdale Stadium this past week, Bob Gomez, a retired educator, said he was against paying a surcharge for San Francisco Giants tickets to build a new complex for the Cubs.
“That’s Mesa’s financial problem,” he said.
Others worry that escalating Cactus League prices are nearly equal to big league stadiums.
“We’re a little shocked the tickets keep going up and up,” said Tandy Holman, a winter visitor from Michigan at Thursday’s Cubs opener.
Ticket prices generally range from $6 to $30.
Cubs fan Vester Damron, 27, of Fort Wayne, Ind., said he didn’t mind paying $25 for his box seat at Scottsdale Stadium for the Giants opener.
He plans to take in four games during a 10-day visit. Damron is staying with a friend to cut costs but had to pony up $500 for a car rental. A ticket surcharge and extra $1 for a rental car would not be a problem, he said.
Fans buck recession
So far, baseball tourists continue to show resilience.
On opening day Thursday, an average of 6,443 fans attended seven Cactus League games. It’s early, but that is on pace for 1.47 million fans this spring.
“Considering the economy the way it is it, it’s still rather remarkable that we’re getting the attendance we will be getting,” Brinton said.
He predicted the Cactus League would have a hard time matching last year’s record.
“Keep your fingers crossed,” Brinton said.
