Despite a dip in total attendance in 2019, the Cactus League saw its per-game attendance climb this season.
According to a release from the league, Cactus League games drew an average of 7,900 fans per game during the 2019 spring training. That number is the highest per-game attendance the league has seen in three years.
Four Cactus League teams set single-game attendance records, including the Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks. The Cubs, according to the release, saw the five largest crowds in Cactus League history at Sloan Park this season.
The team had the largest crowd ever (16,100) for the league against the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox on March 25. The D-backs set a single-game attendance record at Salt River Fields when they drew 14,035 against the Cubs on March 16.
According to a release, more than half of the 15 teams that train in Arizona for spring training saw their average crowds grow. The largest jump belonged to the Milwaukee Brewers, which grew their crowd by 31 percent from last season. The team set their all-time attendance record in 2019 at the newly renovated American Family Fields.
The league, however, did see a slight dip in total attendance to 1,737,975, which, according to the release, could be the result fewer games, weather and an earlier-than-normal start.
The 2019 season featured the fewest games since 2014 and had six rainouts. During spring training, those games aren't rescheduled or made up during the Cactus League season.
"The 2019 season started on Feb. 21, one of the earliest dates in history, and rain and unusually cold temperatures plagued the first two weeks of the schedule," the release read.