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Article: SPRING TRAINING BASEBALL WARS: FLORIDA, ARIZONA BATTLE FOR CASH.(SPORTS)
- Article from:
- The Cincinnati Post (Cincinnati, OH)
- Article date:
- February 10, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 The Cincinnati Post. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Dialog LLC by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: John Lindsay Scripps Howard News Service
In the same manner that just about everything associated with baseball centers around money, spring training has evolved into big business as well.
Once an idyllic getaway where fans mingled with players, spring training is now a much-anticipated enterprise that generates upwards of $500 million in direct and indirect revenue for the states of Florida and Arizona. Nearly 2.7 million fans flocked to spring training games last year.
Indeed, the Florida Grapefruit League's 20 teams and the 10 in Arizona's Cactus League are now sources of civic pride for those communities. Small towns such as Peoria, Ariz., and Port St. ...