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Grapefruit League attendance tops 1.5 million in 2009

TBO.com photo by SCOTT BUTHERUS

The Rays drew 97,692 fans to their newly-renovated Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte this Grapefruit League season.

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By SCOTT BUTHERUS | TBO.com

Published: April 21, 2009

TAMPA - A poor economy didn't prevent fans from coming out to the ballpark to see the reigning league champion Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies this spring.

Although attendance for this season's Grapefruit League dipped to its lowest total since 2004 after two teams moved to Arizona, the Rays, who christened their new-to-them ballpark in Port Charlotte, saw their spring attendance climb to 97,642 -- a 19 percent jump from 2008 -- while the world champion Phillies experienced a 14 percent increase over last year with a record 133,620 fans.

The Rays drew an average of 6,513 fans per game to their new spring training home, Charlotte Sports Park.

According to attendance figures released Tuesday by the Florida Sports Foundation, spring training games topped the 1.5 million mark for a sixth consecutive year, despite the loss of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cleveland Indians to Arizona, as well as continuing economic uncertainty.

In addition to the Rays and Phillies, the Houston Astros (Osceola), the Pittsburgh Pirates (Bradenton) and Toronto Blue Jays (Dunedin) all set new spring training attendance records.

Overall, the single-game average for Florida dropped by more than 450 fans per game and statewide attendance dropped from 1,677,858 in 2008 to 1,561,873 in 2009.

The New York Yankees led all clubs in Grapefruit League attendance, with almost 170,000 fans taking in a game at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. The Yankees also led the Grapefruit League with an average of 10,558 fans for their 16 home games.

As well as the Grapefruit League schedule, Major League teams also played exhibition games against teams taking part in the World Baseball Classic that drew a total of 87,127 fans during 24 exhibition games on March 3-5.

Scott Butherus can be reached at (813) 259-8066

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