Today Governor Rick Scott announced that the 33-day Florida Spring Training season had an 8.1 percent increase in total attendance in 2015 where all 15 teams topped total attendance figures from the 2014 season. Total attendance for the 2015 season was 1,587,463.
Governor Rick Scott said, "Florida's tourism industry creates jobs and opportunities for millions of Florida families, which is why we worked with the Legislature in 2013 to create a program that provides more than $3 million annually to be used only for Spring Training facilities. It's great news that attendance at Spring Training games is on the rise in Florida and we will continue to work to make our state number one for jobs and opportunity."
Since 2000, total attendance has surpassed 1.5 million in 13 of the last 16 years. Over 25 million fans have attended Florida Spring Training games since 2000.
"We are proud of the marketing and promotional efforts of the 15 teams in Florida, the Regional Sports Commissions, the Convention and Visitor's Bureaus and the Florida Sports Foundation Staff who spread the word of the Florida Grapefruit League," said Florida Sports Foundation President John Webb. "These entities spend months promoting the team schedules, the ballparks and their amenities and the family-friendly opportunities the Florida Spring Training experience has to offer. "
The New York Yankees (Tampa) led the Florida Grapefruit League with a total attendance of 171,915 for a league-leading 10,113 average per game. The Yankees had the largest Florida Grapefruit League crowd of the season when 10,936 saw the Yankees and Atlanta Braves meet, on Thursday, March 12.