Spring training pumped more than $750 million into Florida’s economy this year – or an average of $47 million per team that spends the spring here – according to a study released by the Florida Sports Foundation.

The study by the Bonn Marketing Research Group of Tallahassee says Florida realized $752.3 million in economic impact from the annual spring influx of Major League Baseball teams. That’s up from the $453 million that was estimated in a 2000 study. This spring, 16 teams trained in 15 venues across the state.

Spring training drew 1.56 million fans – or an average of more than 6,000 fans per game. The study estimated that out-of-state attendees represented 48 percent of the total. Those who came to Florida specifically for spring training spent a total of $571.7 million, the study says.

“Major League Baseball has a following that transcends economic downturns,” Dr. Mark Bonn, president of Bonn Marketing Research Group, said in a statement released by the Florida Sports Foundation. “People make their decisions to travel almost a year out and many of the respondents were repeat attendees at Spring Training Games. Economic conditions have little effect upon their decision to come to Florida for spring training. It’s more about loyalty than economics.”

The new study nearly doubles the estimates of spring training economic impact by tourism officials, who typically say the community realizes about $25 million annually. With the Baltimore Orioles moving from Fort Lauderdale to Sarasota next spring, the community will miss out on those extra dollars.

> Discuss this entry

The rich history of spring training in South Florida has been slowly wearing away during the past two decades as teams that once made Florida’s southeast coast their spring homes have moved elsewhere to fancy new venues. The news this week that Sarasota has lured the Baltimore Orioles to the west coast next year, means Jupiter’s Roger Dean Stadium, where the Marlins and Cardinals train, will be the closest place to watch spring baseball.

But there are plenty of memories from the years that saw the Orioles in Miami (1959-1990) and Fort Lauderdale (1996-2009), Yankees in Fort Lauderdale (1962-1995), Washington Senators/Texas Rangers in Pompano Beach (1961-1986), Atlanta Braves in West Palm Beach (1963-1997) and Montreal Expos, also in West Palm (1968-1972; 1981-1997). The dozens of star players: Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Jim Palmer, Hank Aaron, Cal Ripken Jr. and on and on. Ted Williams managed the Senators from 1969 to 1971, when they trained in Pompano Beach.

Spring training actually stretches back nearly a century in South Florida with teams playing the in the teens in Miami and in the 1930s in Miami Beach, but its glory days followed World War II.

Here are some memories, with help from Marlins beat writer Juan C. Rodriguez, that didn’t make this morning’s story in the paper:

“We’re losing our rich tradition, that’s the sad part about it. We loved it. You could play a week without ever having to leave the area ... The tradition in that part of Florida. It was unbelievable. Thurman Munson, Bobby Murrcer, Yogi Berra. Billy Martin was my manager there, Mickey Mantle. All the guys, Gene Michaels, George Steinbrenner was always around then some.”
Rick Dempsey, catcher for the Yankees, 1973-1976, Orioles, 1976-1986, now a broadcaster with the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network

“One of the most enjoyable times I ever had broadcasting a game at Fort Lauderdale Stadium was with my partner [former Brooklyn Dodger] Duke Snider when the Expos were playing the Yankees. Mel Allen had come down to visit the Yankees … He sat in the broadcast booth for about an inning and I just let Duke and Mel tell stories about the old days. Here I am with the voice of the Yankees, Mel Allen, and the Duke of Flatbush, talking about the old days.”
Dave Van Horne, Marlins and former Montreal Expos radio broadcaster

“Back then the fan accessibility was a little bit more lax. They were close to you. They were down close to the field. Every morning you’d go out to stretch and there would be a bunch of people. There was more accessibility to the players back then."
Marlins hitting coach Jim Presley, who trained with the Atlanta Braves in West Palm Beach in 1990

“It was Bobby Maduro with the Orioles and now Fort Lauderdale with the Yankees and Orioles, now that’s going to be gone. Growing up down there, that’s where you went to see games before we had a Major League team. As players, it was great. You have the beach there for spring training, great restaurants, great cities. It wasn’t a little sleepy town like Vero Beach. That was nice. When the Yankees were there in ’87 it was packed every night, every day. I remember playing a lot of night games there in spring training. It was a packed house every night and I thought it was a state-of-the-art building at the time in ’87.”
Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez, who attended spring training with the Yankees in 1987

“Over the years I got to know a lot of the Yankees because I was also the director of administration at Pompano Harness Track. I’d leave them passes and programs. It was very interesting to have that personal touch with them. One night I had Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Elston Howard, Whitey Ford and later on, Catfish Hunter. The thing about the Yankees more so because of the tradition than the Orioles, is they brought a lot of old players back to camp.”
“I picked my seats behind the visitors’ dugout so I could see all the visiting teams. I took my ballplayers from Lauderdale High out to the games, especially if they got a lot of hits. It was a real fun thing. They kidded me my first year, being from West Virginia I’d take a mason jar of chili and sit there watching spring training … It’s just a little bit special time March down here, starting the season. That’s when you smell the flowers, the rosin bag and pine tar, and the crack of the bat. We’re going to miss that.”
Jack Trainor, retired Fort Lauderdale High School baseball coach

> Discuss this entry

Negotiations and threats to leave Fort Lauderdale Stadium seemed to drag on for years. But on Wednesday, the Baltimore Orioles made an abrupt exit.

The Sarasota City and County Commissions approved agreements that made way for the team to move its spring training operations to Sarasota’s Ed Smith Stadium next spring. And with that, the team is on its way out of South Florida, taking with it the tradition of spring training.

Major League Baseball teams used to be ubiquitous in South Florida. The Orioles made their spring home at now-demolished Bobby Maduro Stadium in Miami from 1959 to 1988. The New York Yankees trained in Fort Lauderdale from 1962 to 1995. The Texas Rangers spent the spring in Pompano Beach; the Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos in West Palm Beach.

Now the Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals, who share Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, will be our closest teams.

“Anytime you lose an athletic team of that magnitude, whether it’s for spring training or whether it’s for the Super Bowl, athletics is a large part of what makes quality of life issues so important,” Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom said. “I really enjoyed having them here, they were part of the fabric of our community.”

At one time it seemed certain the Orioles would stay in Fort Lauderdale. In 2007, the team, Fort Lauderdale and Broward County reached agreement to fund a major overhaul of aging Fort Lauderdale Stadium. But that plan stalled last year when the Federal Aviation Administration said the team would need to pay $1.3 million annually to maintain adjacent Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.

Despite the city’s efforts, the FAA didn’t budge. And the team continued negotiating with other communities from Vero Beach to Fort Myers, before hammering out the Sarasota deal. The $31.2 million, 30-year deal includes $7.5 million in state funds and $23.7 million from an increase in the county tourist tax. The agreement includes renovations to Ed Smith Stadium and minor league venue Twin Lakes Park and plans for a Cal Ripken Baseball youth academy.

“It is with great excitement that we announce that Sarasota will be our new long-term spring training home,” Orioles Executive Vice President John Angelos said in a statement released by the team.

Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau President Nicki Grossman, who was in Oregon, got a call from the Orioles early Wednesday informing her of the Sarasota deal. While Grossman said she understood the team’s financial predicament, she’s disappointed the region will be losing what the bureau estimates are 19,000 visitors who travel here annually specifically to see the team and pump $25 million into local hotels, restaurants and other businesses. The Orioles also promoted the region in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., area.

“It’s a huge disappointment,” Grossman said.

When some 50 members of the public signed up to speak at a public hearing at the Sarasota county commission, it seemed as though the agreements might never get to a vote. Residents weighed in on whether the deal had been struck in secret and the use of taxpayer dollars for the project when there are other needs in the community; others urged passage of the agreement to preserve baseball in Sarasota and to fund other sports. The commission voted 4-1 for the agreement; their vote came after the city commission voted 3-2 to transfer ownership of the stadium from the city to the county.

The Cincinnati Reds held spring training in Sarasota this past spring, but are moving to Phoenix next year. Rodstrom wished the Orioles well and said at least they will remain in Florida.

The 16 teams that trained in Florida this year drew 1.56 million fans, down from the 1.67 million fans 18 teams in the state drew in 2008. The Orioles averaged 4,588 a game this spring.

> Discuss this entry

Individual tickets go on sale for Baltimore Orioles spring training games at 10 a.m. Saturday at Fort Lauderdale Stadium for what could be the team’s last spring in South Florida.

The team has been processing season ticket renewals. In addition to 19-game packages, the team has also been offering three four-game mini-plans. Just like last year, season ticket plans are the only way to secure box and reserved grandstand seats to games against the Boston Red Sox -- on March 2 and 14. General admission tickets to the Red Sox games will go on sale Saturday, if there are any available.

The March 2 Red Sox game is packaged with the Feb. 25 game against the New York Mets, Feb. 26 game against the St. Louis Cardinals and March 6 game against the Washington Nationals. It costs $84 for box seats and $60 for reserved grandstand.

You can pay the same amount for a package including the March 14 Red Sox game with the March 11 game against the Minnesota Twins; March 20 against the Mets and March 31 against the Cardinals.

But if you want to see the Marlins – you can get four Marlins games for the price of three in the Marlins pack. That’s right $60 for box seats and $42 for reserved grandstand for games against the Marlins on Feb. 28, March 5 and 26 and April 1.

Although it has a year-to-year lease in Fort Lauderdale, the team has been exploring its options for other spring training homes, including in Fort Myers, Sarasota and Vero Beach. That’s because the Federal Aviation Administration said last year that the team can only stay in an upgraded complex at Fort Lauderdale Stadium, if it pays $1.3 million annually to help maintain Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport next door.

> Discuss this entry

Communities don’t appear to be fighting over the prospect of becoming the permanent spring home for the Baltimore Orioles. This morning, Indian River County Commissioners rescinded an offer to make Dodgertown in Vero Beach the team’s spring home.

The commission is concerned the county had made a final offer, only to have the Orioles return with another proposal that asked for significantly more. That doesn’t mean Vero Beach is out for good, but commissioners want at least a 30-day “cooling off period” from the team to see where things settle.

Meanwhile, Sarasota may emerge as the front-runner to land the Orioles. Sarasota County officials are scheduled to vote Wednesday on a tourism tax increase that could help build a stadium for the Orioles. The team has a minor league complex in Sarasota.

Still, all we know for sure is the Orioles are to train at Fort Lauderdale Stadium this spring. Some still hold out hope the Orioles will remain in Fort Lauderdale in a vastly upgraded stadium, but no one has yet agreed to pay more than $1 million a year to the Federal Aviation Administration for use of the property.

> Discuss this entry

Here’s what we know about the Baltimore Orioles and spring training:

The team will return to Fort Lauderdale Stadium in 2009.

After that?

It’s anybody’s guess.

Negotiations among Indian River County and Vero Beach officials and the unnamed team -- but which everyone knows is the Orioles -- continued last week and ended with the officials agreeing to allow the team more time. City and county officials believe they’ve offered a fair package to the team to occupy Dodgertown in Vero Beach.

They issued a joint statement after the meetings saying:

We think we’ve gone as far as we can and the ball is now in the Club’s hands. Our understanding is that our offer will be discussed with the Club’s ownership for consideration and we look forward to hearing from them. We understand that the Club’s ownership needs a reasonable period of time to review and consider our offer. We believe it is in everyone’s interest that the Club be given that time.

Read the Vero Beach Press Journal’s account here.

My favorite part of that story is that officials still refuse to name the team, but Indian River County Commissioner Wesley Davis is quoted as saying he’d like the issue resolved: "I would have preferred to have heard the deal was done and go out and buy my Orioles hat," Davis told the paper.

For their part, the Orioles have been keeping with their tradition of not saying a word publicly.

Meanwhile, Fort Lauderdale officials still hold out hope the team will make a long-term commitment to Fort Lauderdale Stadium. In July, the FAA issued a letter saying it would not exempt the team from having to pay $1.3 million annually for use of the stadium property for the upkeep of adjacent Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. In August, Fort Lauderdale City Manager George Gretsas sent the FAA a letter reminding officials their opinion wasn’t final and asking for agency to issue its final verdict on the matter. He still hasn't heard back.

Neither the city nor Broward County will contribute to the $1.3 million payment, but city and county officials have met to discuss the team’s future in Fort Lauderdale beyond 2009. At this point, they say it’s still up to the FAA.

“We’re hoping the FAA changes their decision on allowing the land to be continued for a stadium,” Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle said. “We’re deadlocked right now.”

> Discuss this entry

Could it be the decision on whether the Baltimore Orioles will continue spring training at Fort Lauderdale Stadium beyond 2009 is finally near? U.S. Rep. Ron Klein and Fort Lauderdale officials believe so.

The city is hoping to convince the Federal Aviation Administration to exempt it from the fair market value requirement for use of the airport land on which the stadium sits. The FAA told the city it needs $1.3 million a year for use of the property, which is up dramatically from the $70,000 to $120,000 the Orioles typically pay.

The FAA is expected to make a decision quickly. Read more at the Broward Politics blog.

> Discuss this entry

So some politicians and tourism officials aren’t ready to give up on keeping the nearly 50-year-old tradition of spring training at Fort Lauderdale Stadium. But are you?

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle, Broward County Mayor Lois Wexler, and Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau President Nicki Grossman are all waxing about the lovely afternoons at the intimate 8,340-seat stadium, the tourists who visit every year and pump more than $25 million into the local economy.

It’s been home to the Baltimore Orioles for the past 13 springs and will be again in 2009. Before that, the New York Yankees spent 34 years spring training there.

But that is likely to change now that the Federal Aviation Administration has decided that in order for the team to stay, the annual payment to the airport fund must be $1.3 million. That’s up from the $70,000 to $120,000 the Orioles typically pay. That figure has been based on 5 percent of the gross revenues generated at the stadium.

Now that the Orioles are seeking a long-term lease to go with a $40 million overhaul of the venue (being financed with the help of tourist taxes from Broward county and a state sales tax rebate), the FAA says it must receive fair market value for the property, a figure it places at $1.3 million. If the Orioles were still on a year-to-year lease, this issue would never have surfaced. The stadium sits on airport land that was deeded to the city of Fort Lauderdale in the 1940s.

The Orioles, who are said to have an option agreement to move to Dodgertown in Vero Beach, which is being vacated by the Los Angeles Dodgers, aren’t saying anything publicly other than they are disappointed with the FAA’s decision.

U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, who had helped broker meetings among the FAA, Fort Lauderdale and Orioles officials, wants to make sure the FAA is reading the law governing the lease of airport property accurately and if it’s not, whether the payment can be reduced.

There was a time when spring training was rampant in these parts: the Yankees in Fort Lauderdale, the Orioles in Miami, the Texas Rangers in Pompano Beach, the Montreal Expos and Atlanta Braves in West Palm Beach. Those teams have moved on. The bus rides get longer for the Orioles, whose closest spring rivals are now in Jupiter or Fort Myers.

Would you miss it if it were to leave? Do you want to see Fort Lauderdale Stadium preserved? Take our poll here.

> Discuss this entry