D-backs and Cubs break attendance record at Salt River Fields
Mar 16, 2019, 4:40 PM | Updated: 6:40 pm
Fans and pups enjoy a ball game at Salt River Fields on Wednesday, March 6, 2019, in Scottsdale, Ariz. On Saturday, the Diamondbacks and Cubs set a single-game attendance record at the ball park. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Eclipsing a mark set in 2017, the Arizona Diamondbacks sell out crowd of 14,035 attendees for Saturday’s spring training game against the Chicago Cubs set a single-game record for Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.
The previous record was 14,002 on March 23, 2017, also against the Cubs
Both teams have mostly dominated spring training attendance marks across both the Cactus League in Arizona and the Grapefruit League in Florida.
The Cubs spring training facility at Sloan Park features the highest capacity of any spring training stadium in either spring training league, according to BaseballPilgrimages.com.
RELATED STORIES
They have held the top spring training attendance mark as the only team in the MLB to bring in more than 200,000 fans in a season, having accomplished the feat each year since 2014.
Those two factors generate a heavy following for the Chicago side throughout the Cactus League season.
The D-backs average attendance at the stadium was more than the listed capacity of 11,000 at Salt River Fields in both 2015 and 2016, before taking a dip in 2017.
Salt River Fields opened in 2011 and is the spring training home for both the D-backs and the Colorado Rockies.
Combined between the two teams, more than 300,000 fans have attended games per season each of the last eight years. It was rated the No. 1 spring training facility in the Cactus League by the Chicago Tribune on Feb. 23.
