Diamondbacks already setting attendance records

The Diamondbacks drew 13,514 fans to Salt River Fields for Saturday’s 3-0 spring training win against the Royals, a new record for the facility– including home games by the Rockies.

The Diamondbacks have played at Salt River Fields, along with the Rockies, since 2011. It is known for being one of the most elegant and posh spring facilities in the major leagues.

The attendance record is good news for the Diamondbacks, who are getting more buzz and attention than they have in years. This is thanks in large part to the signing of Zack Greinke and the trade for Shelby Miller. Expectations are high for Arizona in 2016, in the hopes that the team will make the postseason for the first time in five years.

The Diamondbacks’ total attendance record is 3.61 million, set in the team’s inaugural season in 1998. The team averaged at or near 3 million in attendance in each of their first five years as a team, ranking in the top-third in National League attendance each year, but have not drawn that many spectators since 2002. The closest they ever came since was 2.5 million in attendance in 2008, which was just the eleventh-best figure in the league. The team has not ranked in the top-half of National League attendance since 2003

Last year, the Diamondbacks drew 2.08 million fans, the fourth-fewest in the team’s history and the fourth-lowest mark in the National League. They were ranked second-to-last in attendance in National League attendance in both 2013 and 2014.  This year, it seems as though the Diamondbacks may be poised to draw over 2.5 million fans for just the second time since the 2002 season– and maybe they even crawl closer towards a middle-of-the-pack attendance figure.