VERO BEACH, Fla. - On a February morning, where the sky and the “Welcome to Dodgertown” sign are both etched in blue, more than 100 fans congregate behind a rope off Vin Scully Way. Their eyes stare at the wide hill, where five pitchers hurl balls at fully equipped catchers, over and over again. Nearby, other pitchers and catchers lie on their bellies and stretch on grass as finely cut as a putting green.
The languid atmosphere belies the fact that this time next year, the Los Angeles Dodgers — who have trained at Vero Beach since 1948, the year after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier — will get in shape at a new facility costing more than $80 million in Glendale, Ariz., one they’ll share with the Chicago White Sox.
Once a six-week haven where little thought was given to maximizing revenue, spring training, more and more, is becoming a big business. Exhibition homes of the Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals are among those boasting luxury suites (air-conditioned ones at the Cardinals’ Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla.). State-of-the-art merchandise stores attract shoppers in no rush except to load up on their favorite teams’ souvenirs. Video scoreboards at places like Bright House Networks Field, home of the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater, Fla., are becoming the norm rather than the exception.
There is no doubt that Major League Baseball teams bring a multitude of economic stimuli, but spring practice as well. Obviously, the demand to see these athletes is high enough to create tickets sales that are beginning to mirror regular season games. Speaking of economic impact, the article notes the $300 million economic spark from the Super Bowl in Glendale; hardly equal, preseason sales from the White Sox and Dodgers could produce a potential $19 million contribution to Glendale. The demand of the entertainment of professional sports continues to produce fans willing to spend money and stimulate the economy in spite of the"harshness" of the current "receesion."
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