We have a new attendance record for spring training, as MLB teams attracted 8,078 fans per game over 447 games played, surpassing a record set in 2008.
In fact, attendance in 2014 pretty much shattered the old record of 7,793 fans per game and far outpaced last year’s total of 7,527 fans per game. The record average surpasses the previous mark of 7,793 per game set in 2008. The overall total fans came to 3,610,738, the fifth-highest total ever, throughout 447 dates. Here’s the breakdown by team:
TEAM Dates Tot Att Avg Att Dates Tot Att Avg Att Baltimore Orioles 12 89449 7454 14 100201 7157 Boston Red Sox 15 147669 9845 15 124510 8301 Chicago White Sox 13 87759 6751 15 104457 6964 Cleveland Indians 15 67445 4496 16 124483 7780 Detroit Tigers 15 116226 7748 14 102455 7318 Houston Astros 12 44715 3726 15 116073 7738 Kansas City Royals 14 93987 6713 16 121692 7606 Los Angeles Angels 16 152518 9532 16 198606 12413 Minnesota Twins 14 107806 7700 14 95311 6808 New York Yankees 16 178250 11141 15 128627 8575 Oakland Athletics 15 78011 5201 18 196804 10934 Seattle Mariners 15 116597 7773 18 158446 8803 Tampa Bay Rays 14 78624 5616 13 111024 8540 Texas Rangers 16 145113 9070 14 94268 6733 Toronto Blue Jays 16 164180 10261 13 92035 7080 AL Totals 218 1668349 7653 226 1868992 8270 Arizona Diamondbacks 16 177323 11083 12 95878 7990 Atlanta Braves 17 124104 7300 16 103798 6487 Chicago Cubs 16 222921 13933 18 155339 8630 Cincinnati Reds 15 69478 4632 16 101379 6336 Colorado Rockies 16 169663 10604 17 130836 7696 Los Angeles Dodgers 14 188477 13463 10 115537 11554 Miami Marlins 15 82300 5487 17 124222 7307 Milwaukee Brewers 16 100415 6276 15 112741 7516 New York Mets 15 86499 5767 17 193089 11358 Philadelphia Phillies 16 146189 9137 14 101489 7249 Pittsburgh Pirates 12 91046 7587 15 127243 8483 St. Louis Cardinals 14 96795 6914 12 77631 6469 San Diego Padres 16 81212 5076 14 107351 7668 San Francisco Giants 17 228382 13434 13 112854 8681 Washington Nationals 14 77585 5542 15 82359 5491 NL Totals 229 1942389 8482 221 1741746 7881 MLB Totals 447 3610738 8078 447 3610738 8078
Some attendance highlights:
- The Pittsburgh Pirates set new records for average attendance and single game attendance, drawing 91,046 people to 12 spring-raining games at McKechnie Field. The average attendance was 7,587 per game, surpassing the prior high mark of 6,229, set in 2013. A new single-game attendance record was also established when the Pirates hosted the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday, March 22 and drew 8,566 fans to the 91-year-old ballpark.
- The Chicago Cubs drew a total of 213,815 fans and an average of 14,254 fans per game during the inaugural season at Cubs Park in Mesa, marking the team’s largest spring-training total attendance and per game attendance in history. In addition, Cubs Park now boasts the top 11 single-game crowds in Cactus or Grapefruit League history.
- Camelback Ranch in Glendale, the spring home of the Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, finished spring training with the facility’s largest per-game attendance after attracting an average of 1,081 more fans per game than a year ago, a 15.4 percent increase. Both the Dodgers (21 percent) and White Sox (11.6 percent) enjoyed per-game increases, and the total attendance of 202,164 marks the fifth time in the six-year history of “The Ranch” that the facility eclipsed 200,000 fans.
- The Baltimore Orioles drew 89,448 fans for their 12 Grapefruit League home games at Ed Smith Stadium, an average of 7,454 fans per home game. The 7,454 average topped the franchise record average of 7,219, which was set in the spring of 2011 following the renovation of Ed Smith Stadium.
- The Colorado Rockies finished second in attendance, both overall and per game average, in the Cactus League, and the Arizona Diamondbacks set a single-game record for Salt River Fields at Talking Stick with 12,871 fans on March 16 against the Milwaukee Brewers. In the history of MLB, no spring-training facility had ever drawn at least 300,000 in a single spring training. In combining the attendance of both Colorado and Arizona, Salt River Fields has now done it in each of the four years it has been open.
- The Cincinnati Reds drew a team-record 69,748 fans to Goodyear Ballpark.
- The Tampa Bay Rays set a Charlotte Sports Park single-game record with 7,852 fans against the Boston Red Sox on March 16.
- The Washington Nationals averaged 5,542 fans per game over 15 dates, their largest per game spring-training average since their inaugural season as the Nationals in 2005.
RELATED STORIES: Cactus League attendance up in 2014
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