Cactus League
 | |
| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| President | Mark A. Coronado |
| No. of teams | 15 |
| Countries | United States |
The Cactus League is a Spring training league of Major League Baseball that is located in Arizona. Unlike the Grapefruit League, teams in the Cactus League often share stadiums; of the 15 teams who train in Arizona, only the Cubs, Angels, Brewers, Giants and A's have their own home stadiums while the remaining 10 teams share 5 different stadiums, all located within the greater Phoenix area. Goodyear, Peoria, Mesa, Tempe, Scottsdale, Surprise, Glendale, and Phoenix itself all have Spring Training stadiums.
The newest stadium built for MLB spring training is Sloan Park, the spring training home for the Chicago Cubs in Mesa, Arizona, which opened in February 2014.
Background
According to the Arizona Republic, the Cactus League generates more than $300 million a year in economic impact to the greater Phoenix metropolitan area economy. The Arizona Republic newspaper reports that more than $500 million has been spent on "building eight new stadiums and renovating two others for the 15 teams in the Valley."[1]
Attendance set a new record at 2011 Cactus League games with 1.59 million attending games at the various stadiums in the Phoenix metro area. Much of the attendance surge is attributed to the Salt River Fields at Talking Stick venue that accounted for 22 percent of the Cactus League attendance.[2]
Teams
The list of spring training locations by team in the Cactus League in Arizona.[3]
- Arizona Diamondbacks: Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community
- Chicago Cubs: Sloan Park, Mesa
- Chicago White Sox: Camelback Ranch, Glendale
- Cincinnati Reds: Goodyear Ballpark, Goodyear
- Cleveland Indians: Goodyear Ballpark, Goodyear
- Colorado Rockies: Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community
- Kansas City Royals: Surprise Stadium, Surprise
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe
- Los Angeles Dodgers: Camelback Ranch, Glendale
- Milwaukee Brewers: Maryvale Baseball Park, Phoenix
- Oakland Athletics: Hohokam Stadium, Mesa
- San Diego Padres: Peoria Sports Complex, Peoria
- San Francisco Giants: Scottsdale Stadium, Scottsdale
- Seattle Mariners: Peoria Sports Complex, Peoria
- Texas Rangers: Surprise Stadium, Surprise
References
- ↑ "Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies break in new park".
- ↑ The Arizona Republic. "A successful spring: New venue helps Cactus League set attendance mark." Peter Corbett. March 30, 2011.
- ↑ "Spring Training Official Website". MLB. Retrieved March 5, 2011.