Figure 1 Pre-season baseball in Arizona has become a tradition
We are now comfortably into spring – and, for a large chunk of the population, that means just one thing. It’s baseball season. The D-Backs went all the way to the Fall Classic last season and fans of the Arizona team will be hoping that 2024 will be the year that the organization claims its second championship.
But baseball fans from all over the country will have been flocking to the state over the last two months to catch the teams and players going through their paces and warming up for the new season. Spring training has been a staple of the early months of the year in Arizona for a while now and it is the first place fans look to get a feel for the way the season ahead and who they might want to back in the Florida sports betting markets.
Florida is actually the other hub of preseason baseball activity. But we love welcoming the teams to Arizona – and recognize just how profitable it is for the state at this time of year.
Cleveland Lead the Way
Our state may not have had a Major League Baseball team of its own until the late 1990s but fans have enjoyed watching the best pitchers and sluggers up close for almost 80 years now. Florida had been the center for spring training since the 1920s but in 1947 Arizona stepped up to the plate.
Bill Veeck, then owner of the Cleveland Indians, decided that he would like his team to train near his Tucson ranch rather than make the trip to the Southeast. But there would have been little chance of getting ready for the upcoming season if no other team had accepted his invitation.
New York Seal of Approval
The Cleveland Indians would train for the season in Arizona then. But it was the New York Giants that made the enterprise successful. Relatively competitive games were needed and the Indians and Giants would provide a good test for each other as the players limbered up for the campaign.
Luckily the Buckhorn Mineral Baths, just east of Mesa, provided an extra incentive for players to come to Arizona. The Giants roster were some of the first to experience the spa treatments of the hotel that was built there – and the team kept on coming back for 25 years, even after it had moved to San Francisco.
A Search for Racial Tolerance
One of the lesser-known reasons for spring training coming to Arizona is that Veeck had experienced racial intolerance and segregation when he had taken his old team, the Brewers, to Florida a few years before. When Veeck took over the Indians, he decided that Arizona would be a better fit.
After signing Larry Doby, who would become the second African-American to play in the major leagues – and the first in the American League – Veeck was even more committed to opting for Arizona. At the time he professed that the weather was the reason but privately acknowledged that his home state would be more accommodating.
Cactus League
Florida has its Grapefruit League and Arizona has its own Cactus League. Fifteen teams – or half of Major League Baseball – head west rather than southeast these days and they have been welcomed with open arms, with ballparks all located in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
Unlike the setup in Florida, any of the teams share a ballpark, with only the Cubs, Angels, Brewers, Giants, and A’s having a place of their own. Even the hometown D-Backs share Salt River Fields with the Colorado Rockies. The newest ballpark was built in 2014, with the oldest dating back to 1969.
Source of Income
It is not just baseball that arrives in Arizona every February though. The Cactus League provides a huge economic boost to the region, with 1.5 million fans coming to watch games – that’s a little more than make the trip to Florida each year. Obviously, hotels, car rentals, coffee shops, and all kinds of other businesses enjoy a hugely profitable time.
Tickets for the games invariably sell out, no matter which teams are playing and it is estimated that spring training ends up bringing over $710 million to the area. With that kind of money almost guaranteed every year, Bill Veeck’s original idea looks to be one of the best ever for the Arizona economy.
Figure 2 Smaller ballparks are just part of the fun
COVID and Lockout
Last year was the first time spring training had returned to Phoenix since 2020 because of the COVID pandemic and then a lockout that threatened the entire 2022 Major League Baseball season. When you consider the amount of money generated by these teams arriving, missing out two years running was a huge blow for local businesses.
But now we have had another successful year of spring training and the Phoenix metropolitan area has benefitted once again. With good weather always guaranteed in these parts, it looks like the economy will enjoy a huge boost at this time of year for a while yet.
Baseball How It Should Be
Although the teams and players that come to Arizona for spring training are not coming just to top up their tans in the sunshine, there is definitely a more laid-back vibe to games in the Cactus League. The non-competitive nature allows fans to enjoy watching their favorites tune up for the season ahead.
Another attraction of Cactus League games for the fans is that the ballparks are all of a much smaller size than those used during the MLB season. That means they can get up close to the action while enjoying the weather. Spring training in Arizona provides perfect baseball conditions – and a huge economic boost for businesses across Phoenix.
