Sloan Park
 .jpg) Sloan Park in February 2017 | |
 | |
| Former names | Cubs Park (2014) |
|---|---|
| Location | 2330 W. Rio Salado Parkway Mesa, AZ 85201 |
| Coordinates | 33°25′53″N 111°52′54″W / 33.4313°N 111.8816°W |
| Owner | City of Mesa[2] |
| Operator | Chicago Cubs |
| Capacity | 15,000 |
| Record attendance | 16,152 (February 25, 2023 vs. San Francisco |
| Field size | Left – 360 feet (110 m) LC – 366 feet (112 m) Center – 410 feet (125 m) RC – 398 feet (121 m) Right – 360 feet (110 m) |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | July 11, 2012[1] |
| Opened | February 12, 2014 |
| Construction cost | US$99 million |
| Architect | Populous & DWL Architects + Planners, Inc. |
| Tenants | |
| Chicago Cubs (MLB) (spring training) (2014–present) Arizona League Cubs (AzL) (2014–present) Mesa Solar Sox (AFL) (2014–present) | |
Sloan Park is an American baseball park in Mesa, Arizona, that opened in 2014. The primary operator is the Chicago Cubs and the ballpark serves as their spring training home and is also the home of the Arizona League Cubs of the Arizona League and the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League. Sloan Park was built and paid for by residents of the City of Mesa, approved by ballot measure. It was primarily built to house spring training operations for the Chicago Cubs, who had previously played at nearby Hohokam Stadium.[3] The stadium design was led by Populous. The dimensions of the playing surface closely match those of the Cubs' regular home stadium, Wrigley Field. There are many secondary fields at the park, most of which are training and practice fields.
With a capacity of 15,000, Sloan Park is the largest spring training stadium by capacity in Major League Baseball, surpassing Camelback Ranch in Glendale (coincidentally, spring training home of the Cubs' in-city rival the Chicago White Sox) by 2,000 seats.[4]
The large capacity has allowed the Cubs to break spring training attendance records, drawing over 200,000 fans to Sloan Park in each of the park's first six seasons and again in 2023, attracting a Cactus League-record 250,893 fans in 2019, including a league-record 16,100 fans on March 25 vs. the Boston Red Sox.[5] That single-game mark was shattered again on February 25, 2023, when the Cubs packed in 16,152 fans against the San Francisco Giants.[6]
Formerly known as Cubs Park, on January 8, 2015, it was announced that Sloan Valve Company had signed a naming-rights deal to the ballpark, giving it its current Sloan Park name.[7] The stadium is currently the newest stadium in the Cactus League.[8] While it is home to these spring training games, it has also hosted some youth tournaments.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Groundbreaking scheduled for new Cubs spring facility". 10 May 2012.
- ^ "Chicago Cubs Spring Training Facility and Riverview Site Development Riverview Park Tree Salvage - Project Number 10-554-001". Archived from the original on 2014-03-02. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
- ^ Tribune, Garin Groff (13 October 2011). "Mesa Council expected to approve Cubs deal Monday".
- ^ "Cubs Park dedicated in Mesa, ready for Spring Training's first pitch". Chicago Cubs. February 12, 2014. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
- ^ Stone, Kevin. "Record-setting Cubs power Cactus League to more than 1.7M fans in 2019". KTAR News. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
- ^ Jasner, Andy. "Chicago Cubs set Cactus League Attendance Record". Inside the Cubs. FanNation. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
- ^ Muskat, Carrie (January 8, 2015). "Cubs rename spring home Sloan Park". Major League Baseball. Archived from the original on January 10, 2015. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
- ^ "Sloan Park". 17 January 2017.
External links
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