Studies: Cactus League sites generate revenue all year
Dec 17, 2012, 12:21 PM | Updated: 12:22 pm
PHOENIX — Arizona’s spring training baseball industry pumps $632 million into the state economy each year and about a third of that is after the teams have gone home.
In the first study of the year round impact of spring training baseball, FMR Associates in Tucson said $422 million is tied to the February-March period when the teams are here training. A study from Elliott D. Pollack and Co. found that another $210 million comes from the use of stadiums the rest of the year.
Mark Coronado with the Cactus League said the facilities are used all year by the community. “Art festivals, youth sports, all kinds of activities that contribute to the communities.”
Coronado said spring training pumps the local economic tires and the wealth is being spread well beyond the ballparks.
“Many visitors are heading to the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Prescott.”
He said about 2,000 jobs are tied directly to the spring training stadiums and teams while other jobs are created at bars, restaurants, hotels near the stadiums.
