O's Spring Training Attendance Down from 2011

The Baltimore Orioles Spring Training couldn't top its record attendance in 2011 during this year's season at .

The O's drew 106,398 people at its games this year, averaging about 7,093 people per game, according to numbers released by Florida Sports today.

The comparison isn't complete yet as Florida Sports did not count attendance played against college teams or minor league teams — the Orioles played against Florida Southern College and State College of Florida — in addition to playing one less home game overall than last year. The Orioles don't count those two games either, according to a team spokesman.

"We are very pleased with attendance considering the schedule was not as favorable and we had the one fewer home game than in 2011," Orioles spokesman Greg Bader said. "Sarasota continues to prove to be a wonderful community dedicated to supporting spring training baseball and the Orioles' year-round operation."

That's a 8.5 percent decrease compared to the 115,506 number the Orioles reported last year, but would likely be about the same if not bigger after adjustment. The largest crowd that saw the Orioles at Ed Smith was 8,686 against the New York Yankees on March 18.

Still, the number is positive in comparison with the rest of the Grapefruit League. The Orioles were only one of eight teams that had more than 100,000 fans in attendance. The other teams included:

• Atlanta Braves,

• Boston Red Sox,

• Detroit Tigers,

• Miami Marlins,

• Minnesota Twins,

• New York Yankees, and

• Philadelphia Phillies

Three teams, the Red Sox, Yankees and Phillies, each topped 150,000 total attendance.

Spring Training 2012 was an overall great season for Grapefruit League attendance in Florida where the state set a per game attendance record with an average of 6,965 fans, according to Florida Sports.  The old record was 6,640 per game in 2010. The total attendance for all 233 games is 1.6 million.

Only three games were rained out in the 2012 Florida Grapefruit League season, with all three coming on Sunday, March 11.

“Florida’s great weather and sporting events like spring training continue to draw people to our state,” Gov. Rick Scott said in a news release. “We are grateful to all of the visitors and businesses that made Spring Training a success and look forward to another exciting season of baseball.”

The total attendance figure was compiled, by the Florida Sports, a division of Enterprise Florida, Inc., from daily box scores and confirmed by each of the 15 teams in the Florida Grapefruit League.  Only games played in Florida between Major League teams were included in the total.

Among the highlights of the 2012 season was the opening of the new home of the Boston Red Sox, JetBlue Park in Fort Myers. With a larger seating capacity than the Red Sox previous spring training home, City of Palms Park, total attendance increased by more than 30,000 fans and added nearly 2,000 fans per game.  The Red Sox totaled 151,417 fans in 16 games for an average of 9,464 per game. 

By showing off their new home, Marlins Park in downtown Miami, for two games against the New York Yankees, the Miami Marlins saw a significant jump in attendance as nearly 60,000 fans watched the Marlins and Yankees on April 1 and 2. The Yankees then traveled north to meet the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie, on April 3, and the two teams played before an record crowd of 7,644 in Digital Domain Park. It was the first game between the Yankees and Mets during the Florida Spring Training season since 1996. 

Florida’s spring training tradition began in 1888 when the Washington Statesmen traveled to Jacksonville to work out in the “off season.”  Since that time, the “off season” workouts have become an economic benefit to the state as Florida Spring Training Baseball provides the State of Florida a $753 million economic impact each year.  The total was determined by an economic impact survey, compiled during the 2009 season, by Bonn Marketing Research Group of Tallahassee. 

SPRING TRAINING ATTENDANCE

BALTIMORE ORIOLES - Ed Smith Stadium, Sarasota

15 Games; 106,398 total attendance; 7,093 average per game

Largest Crowd: 8,686 vs. New York Yankees, Sunday, March 18

ATLANTA BRAVES - Disney's Wide World of Sports, Lake Buena Vista

17 Games (one cancellation): 127,321 total attendance; 7,489 average per game

Largest Crowd: 10,755 vs. New York Yankees, Saturday, March 10

BOSTON RED SOX - JetBlue Park, Fort Myers

16 Games; 151,417 total attendance; 9,464 average per game

Largest Crowd: 10,002, vs. Washington Nationals, Monday, April 2

DETROIT TIGERS - Joker Marchant Stadium, Lakeland

17 Games; 134,899 total attendance; 7,935 average per game

Largest Crowd: 10,115 vs. New York Yankees, Saturday, March 24

HOUSTON ASTROS - Osceola County Stadium, Kissimmee

14 Games (one cancellation); 56,379 total attendance; 4,027 average per game

Largest Crowd: 5,774 vs. New York Yankees, Saturday, March 31

MIAMI MARLINS Roger Dean Stadium, Jupiter

16 Games (14 at Roger Dean Stadium, 2 at Marlins Park); 126,961 total attendance; 7,935 average per game

Largest Crowd: 32,005 vs. New York Yankees, Monday, April 2 at Marlins Park

MINNESOTA TWINS- Hammond Stadium, Fort Myers

16 Games; 117,503 total attendance; 7,344 average per game

Largest Crowd: 8,285 vs. Toronto Blue Jays, Tuesday, March 13

NEW YORK METS - Digital Domain Park, Port St. Lucie

15 Games; 80,377 total attendance; 5,358 average per game

Largest Crowd: 7,644 vs. New York Yankees, Tuesday, April 3 (All time high attendance)

New York Yankees - Steinbrenner Field, Tampa

15 Games; 162,832 total attendance; 10,855 average per game

Largest Crowd: 11,048, vs. Boston Red Sox, Tuesday, March 13

Philadelphia Phillies - Bright House Field, Clearwater

16 Games; 153,493 total attendance; 9,593 average per game

Largest Crowd: 10,853, vs. Detroit Tigers, Monday, March 19

Pittsburgh Pirates - McKechnie Field, Bradenton

15 Games; 82,390 total attendance; 5,493 average per game

Largest Crowd: 6,595, vs. New York Yankees, Tuesday, March 6

St. Louis Cardinals - Roger Dean Stadium, Jupiter

13 Games (one cancellation); 85,857 total attendance; 6,604 average per game

Largest Crowd: 7,629, vs. Miami Marlins, Sunday, March 18

TAMPA BAY RAYS - Charlotte Sports Park, Port Charlotte

16 Games; 87,916 total attendance; 5,495 average per game

Largest Crowd: 7,826, vs. Boston Red Sox, Sunday, March 18

Toronto Blue Jays – Florida Auto Exchange Stadium, Dunedin

16 Games; 76,008 total attendance; 4,751 per game average

Largest Crowd: 5,541, vs. Tampa Bay Rays, Friday, March 16

Washington Nationals - Space Coast Stadium, Viera

15 Games; 73,206 total attendance; 4,880 per game average 

Largest Crowd: 7,246 vs. New York Yankees, Thursday, March 15

Source: Florida Sports

This story has been updated.