Spring Baseball Is A Home Run for Florida Economy

TALLAHASSEE, FL—While the games don’t count for the teams involved, spring training baseball is an economic game changer in Florida.

A research report by the Florida Sports Foundation and conducted by Downs & St. Germain Research showed that the 2018 spring training season in Florida generated $687.1 million in economic impact and $348.4 million in direct spending. Major League Baseball’s spring training takes place annually and features 15 major league teams based in 12 Florida cities.

“Each year, fans from around the world come to Florida to enjoy spring training,” says Florida Gov. Rick Scott. “With incredible experiences like spring training happening in Florida, our tourism industry continues to break records. I encourage everyone who enjoyed spring training in Florida this year to make plans to come back next year. Those who have never been to spring training in the Sunshine State should make this unique experience a priority for next year.”

This year’s MLB spring training generated 7,152 jobs on an annual basis and nearly $253.8 million in wages. This year’s MLB spring training’s economic impact was 61.1% higher than 2009 levels; the jobs created were 36.6% as compared to 2009 and wages were 56.6% higher than nine years ago.

“The Sunshine State offers exceptional opportunities for residents and visitors to enjoy the national pastime of spring training,” says Angela A. Suggs, president and CEO of the Florida Sports Foundation. “We are pleased with the continued success of the Florida Grapefruit League and look forward to many more exciting opportunities to showcase the many communities in Florida, where the world comes to play.”

Some of the more interesting data points from the 2018 Florida spring training report include:

• $103.09 million in team spending that created 1,068 jobs and $39.5 million in wages;

• A total of approximately 1.5 million fans attended the 237 spring training games (average attendance—6,318 fans);

• The fans that attended spring training games included 30% local residents, 18% Florida residents from another county and 52% from out-of-state;

• A major metric for the state’s tourism industry—355,590 paid accommodation room nights were attributed to visitors of MLB Florida spring training contests;

• Spring training attendees spent approximately $113.7 million in accommodations.

Other specific team highlights from the 2018 spring training session include the New York Yankees posted the highest per game average (9,882 fans) that attended 16 games at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.

The most attended day of the 2018 season was Saturday, March 24, when 64,069 fans attended the eight games of the day, for an average of 8,009 per game.

Houston’s 2017 World Series Championship resulted in a 21% increase in attendance for the Astros at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. A total of 67,931 fans attended the Astros’ spring training games, up from 55,881 in 2017.

Seven teams, including the Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, topped the 100,000 total attendance mark.

The Red Sox had the top total attendance of the 2018 season with 165,688 fans who attended 17 games at Jet Blue Park in Fort Myers.