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Grapefruit, Cactus Leagues Hit New Attendance Highs For '12 MLB Spring Training
MLB's Grapefruit League teams averaged 1.62 million fans for Spring Training games in Florida this year, marking an all-time high and surpassing the 1.5 million mark for the 11th time since '00. The Red Sox new JetBlue Park in Ft. Myers drew 151,417 fans for an average of 9,464 per game. From '04-11, the club averaged 7,800 per game at City of Palms Park. The Yankees were once again the overall top draw with 162,832 fans for an average of 10,855 per game. The club has led the Grapefruit League in attendance each year since opening George Steinbrenner Field in '96. The Marlins' 80% jump in attendance includes two exhibitions against the Yankees held at the new Marlins Park. In Arizona, the Cactus League hit a new attendance record of 1.71 million fans, lead by the D'Backs for the second season in a row. The Cubs saw a slight increase, but have averaged just over 9,300 over game over the past four seasons, down 19% over the previous four springs. The Angels led all Cactus League teams with a 47% year-over-year jump at the gate.
'12 GRAPEFRUIT LEAGUE ATTENDANCETEAM GMSTOTALAVG.% +/-Yankees 15162,83210,855-0.2%Phillies 16153,4939,5930.1%Red Sox 16151,4179,46425.6%Tigers 17134,8997,93512.9%Marlins 16126,9617,93580.2%Braves 17127,3217,489-7.2%Twins 16117,5067,344-12.0%Orioles 15106,3987,093-1.7%Cardinals 1385,8576,6046.9%Rays 1687,9165,495-14.0%Pirates 1582,3905,493-0.1%Mets 1580,3775,358-1.9%Nationals 1573,2064,88012.8%Blue Jays 1676,0084,7514.5%Astros 1456,3794,0274.7%TOTALS 2331,622,9576,9655.5%'12 CACTUS LEAGUE ATTENDANCETEAM GMSTOTALAVG.% +/-D'Backs 16186,82811,6774.6%Giants 16168,32010,5204.8%Rockies 18182,56510,143-1.2%Cubs 16153,2819,5801.5%Angels 15130,1268,67547.0%Dodgers 15121,7698,11810.2%Mariners 13102,6877,8994.5%Rangers 14104,4407,4608.1%White Sox 17109,0926,4170.3%A’s 1057,9815,79815.7%Brewers 1689,1765,57417.8%Padres 1792,8285,4608.4%Royals 1576,2455,0834.6%Indians 1674,8324,67725.0%Reds 1661,8723,8672.0%TOTALS 2301,712,0427,4448.7%
GET YOUR TICKET! The March 21 Brewers-D'Backs game at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick was the most-searched Spring Training game on StubHub.com from January through March. Three Yankees games ranked in the top 10, while the Red Sox had two games. Seven of the 10 most sought-after spring training tickets this year involved Grapefruit League teams.MOST-SEARCHED MLB SPRING TRAINING GAMES
ON STUBHUB FROM JANUARY-MARCHRKMATCHUP DATEPAGE VIEWS ON STUBHUB1Brewers-D'Backs 3/2161,6732Yankees-Phillies 3/359,5083Phillies-Yankees 3/453,7494Twins-Red Sox 3/1650,9135Red Sox-Yankees 3/1333,5246Reds-Giants 3/931,6957A’s-Giants 3/1729,3018Yankees-Red Sox 3/2226,9989Astros-Yankees 3/1726,75110Blue Jays-Phillies 3/1717,615




