Sloan Park

Parking
Just beyond right field begins a big grass field that is split into two halves by a palm tree-lined walkway. That's the general parking lot, while the paved lot along the stadium's first base side is reserved for VIPs and those with handicapped permits. While the cost to park in any stadium space is the most expensive in the Cactus League, there are a couple of free park and ride options provided by prominent local shopping centers. Mesa Riverview and Tempe Marketplace both offer free baseball parking and then shuttle the welcome freeloaders to and from Sloan Park via a trolley. The Riverview shopping center is across the street from the ballpark's big lot while the Tempe option is just 1½ miles away.
 Stadium Cost: $5 or $10

2023 Cubs Spring Training Schedule (only home games at Sloan Park are listed)

February/March
Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
						25 Giants 1:05 Tickets
26	27 Guardians 1:05 Tickets	28	1 Mariners 1:05 Tickets	2 A's 1:05 Tickets	3	4 Angels 1:05 Tickets
5	6	7	8 Canada 1:05 Tickets	9 Reds 1:05 Tickets	10 White Sox 1:05 Tickets	11
12 Brewers 1:05 Tickets	13	14 Rockies 6:05 Tickets	15	16 D-backs 1:05 Tickets	17 Dodgers 1:05 Tickets	18
19 Padres 1:05 Tickets	20	21	22	23 D-backs 1:05 Tickets	24 Rangers 1:05 Tickets	25
26 Royals 1:05 Tickets	27 White Sox 1:05 Tickets	28 White Sox 12:05 Tickets

* Single game tickets went on sale Saturday, January 7. Links in calendar are to TicketNetwork inventory.
See the full 2023 Cubs Spring Training schedule

Stadium Information
A taste of Wrigley came West with the debut of Sloan Park in 2014. Featuring a pair of light towers on its roof that mimic those of its inspirational counterpart in Chicago, the Cubs' winter home in Mesa has a few touches that pay homage to Wrigley Field, none more cleverly integrated than the outfield berm, which is shaped and sloped to match the look of Wrigley's iconic bleachers. While the brick backstop was easy to replicate, the ballpark's designers at Populous got creative when creating the Cubs' Arizona version of Wrigleyville's rooftops and that's how the left field-spanning rooftop party deck came into being. It's a bleachers and beer area that is on top of a big building that contains bathrooms and concessions. Food options here are plentiful and so too are seats in the shade. That makes for a pleasant day at the ballpark for many, and more people can attend a game here than anywhere else in Cactus or Grapefruit league history, as the 15,000-person capacity of Sloan Park makes it the largest venue ever built for spring training, a fact that's not likely to change anytime soon. Also a record-breaking and hard to beat large number is $99 million, which was the cost to Mesa taxpayers to build the Cubs their complex with its centerpiece stadium on 140 acres of city land that was previously home to a public golf course. The $99 million spent to replace what was a 9-hole course is record-setting for the public funding of a spring training facility. Some of that money was used to spruce up the adjacent Riverview Park but the bulk was spent on retaining the Cubs, who have trained continuously in Mesa since 1979. They're now guaranteed to remain in Arizona's third largest city through at least 2043 thanks to Mesa's generosity in building a replacement for Hohokam Park, the just 16-year old ballpark at the time that the Cubs left it behind to move a few miles west, where the team fully pockets the proceeds for the naming rights to what was simply known as "Cubs Park" until January 8, 2015, when it was announced that the Sloan Valve Company, a commercial plumbing manufacturer located in a Chicago suburb, paid a significant but undisclosed amount to gain brand recognition for their products, which most notably include flush valves for toilets, via the Cubs' splendid home in the American Southwest.

Fast Facts

Practice Fields

Types of Seating
All fixed seats have backs and armrests. A berm extends the entire outfield. Behind the lawn seating in left field is a second-story party deck that mimics the rooftops that Chicago's Wrigleyville is famous for.

Notes about the seating

Sections and rows

Tickets

Seats to avoid
Stay away from the front rows in sections 100-104 and 121-124 as the green padded railing in front of those outfield line sections is an obstacle that must be partially or fully looked through, depending on your height, for fans sitting behind it. Other lower row seats are affected to some degree by the railing in the 9 listed sections, but for certain be sure to avoid the lowest numbered row in each section (which varies as they taper) and be aware that a limited number of seats in the rows behind the first one could also have obstruction issues due to the metal rails.

Seats in the shade
All seats in sections 110-116 are shaded for the duration of day games. All but the first row or so of seats in sections behind the Cubs' dugout will be in the shade by first pitch, so you'll always be out of the sun in rows 6 & up of sections 107-109. Other all-game shade (assuming a 1:05 starting time) can be found in rows 8 & up of section 106; rows 9 & up of section 105; rows 11 & up of section 104; rows 12 & up of section 103; rows 14 & up of section 102. By 2:35, all seats in sections 102-116 are shaded. The least shaded portion of the grandstand are the sections past the first base-side dugout that extend down the right field line. However, while shade generally cannot be found in sections 118 and 124, many seats in the upper rows of sections 117, 119-123 do have shade cast upon them thanks to a pair of angled structures (cantilevered roofs) that stand on the concourse and were put there to block some of the sun on the stadium's first base side.

VIP seating
There are six suites on the stadium's second story but, strangely enough, they are not available for season or single game rental. Instead, the suites are reserved for exclusive use by the Cubs (for their corporate sponsors) and City of Mesa. So groups must make do with the covered party decks, which include two tiers of deck chair seating, that are along the first and third base line. The minimum group size for both decks is 20 people and the expansive patio area of each has food stations, as the basics like hot dogs and hamburgers are included for "free" for the only folks allowed in the upper portion of the grandstand besides those with suite and press passes. The ballpark also has another party deck out in left field, but it's not private like the first and third base decks are. While access is restricted to ticket holders, the Budweiser Rooftop, as the Budweiser-sponsored left field deck goes by, is a general admission area that has regular old bleacher seats mixed in with a couple of covered places that groups can use.

Game Day
The ballpark's gates open at 11:05 a.m. And if a game is scheduled for a time other than 1:05, ballpark gates simply open two hours prior to that game's start time.

Food, drink and bag policy

Getting autographs
There's one place to be before, during and after the game, and it's outside of the stadium, where a dirt path with pretty minimal restrictions connects the Cubs' clubhouse to a side door to the stadium through which players enter. Designed to be the official "autograph path" for the complex, the lengthy walkway is lined with far from mature oleander bushes until it crosses over Clark Street and then the remaining short distance has bicycle rack-high barricades set up to allow players to enter through a door near the home plate gate without having to walk through fans in the plaza. Alongside the barricades is the best place to be positioned for as many autograph opportunities as possible, as players comes closest to fans there and sign the most often there before the game, generally between 12:15 and 12:40 prior to the typical 1:05 p.m. start. The "autograph path" is a two-way route, as players walk or golf cart ride on it after they have been removed from the game to return to their clubhouse. The path is, obviously, least crowded during the game. Fans inside the ballpark can get hand-stamped to go outside of the ballpark and later re-enter at any gate if they wish to try for autographs from the players heading "home" during the game, which is when most of the starters return to the clubhouse. Post-game the path will be trod by plenty of players, but plenty of fans will be vying for signatures then too.

The confines of the Cubs' park aren't very autograph friendly so don't expect to get many items signed inside of the stadium, where it's hit and mainly miss in the areas you'd expect before the game: the sections of seats that are closest to the dugouts. For the Cubs, that means standing in the front rows of sections 105-106, with section 106 more preferable since it's closer to the Cubs' dugout. Sloan Park is a bad ballpark in general for getting autographs from the visiting team, whose bus parks in a non-fan accessible area in the left field corner, so hopefuls are left to hang at field level in sections 117-120, with 117 the closest to the other team's dugout. Autograph activity is even more limited in the stadium following the game. There is an entrance/exit tunnel for the Cubs within section 109. For slim pickings, wait at its left side railing, but where that walkway leads -- to the path back to the clubhouse outside of the stadium -- is where fans should really wait, as in Mesa the complex grounds are easily better than the stadium confines when it comes to getting 'graphs.

Cubs Spring Training Autographs

Unique ballpark fare
You need to come to a season's worth of games just to try everything once, as the quantity and quality of offerings is impressive for a venue that only draws large lunch (or dinner) crowds about 15 times per year. Certainly, authentic Chicago flavor is found at the Cubs' park, as an Italian beef sandwich headlines the menu that includes a Chicago-style hot dog and pizza at the two "A Taste of Chicago" stands. Elsewhere, some typical non-native fare is given Chicago-themed names, hence you'll find menu listings for things such as the Millennium Park chicken sandwich and O'Hare wings. Burger Prime (in left field) and Windy City Dog (third base) get creative with the most common of stadium cuisine, with four signature burgers and four specialty dogs offered at their respective locations. Healthier food is easy to find too as most main concession stands sell salads, fruit & yogurt (served together), and vegetable crudité. For the record, this is the first spring training ballpark to ever offer a crudité, which is the French method of serving raw vegetables on a platter. Another spring training first is the dedicated food truck area that Sloan Park has along its perimeter fence in right-center field, where lots of picnic tables reside near a grove of citrus trees. While the oranges on the branches in the "Citrus Grove" can be seen every game there's changeover among the food trucks, so those parked at the ballpark can vary from game to game. The variety of soft drinks comes from the Pepsi family. This is an Anheuser-Busch ballpark, so beers on draft come from that brewing company's stable. In the ballpark's debut year, the main stands tapped kegs of Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob AmberBock, Shock Top, Land Shark, Goose Island IPA and 312, with the last two mentioned coming from the Chicago-based craft brewery that Anheuser-Busch acquired in 2011. As for "Chicago's beer," you might be able to find Old Style here if you search hard enough, but since it's made by an Anheuser-Busch competitor (Pabst) it's not very well promoted or stocked, as only tradition -- Old Style has been sold at Wrigley Field since 1950 -- has ensured it still has a presence at the spring and summer home of the Cubs.

Ballpark Area Info
The Cubs' previous home in Mesa was in a dull part of the city, so much so that Hohokam Park was most notable for being across the street from the city's cemetery. The new location is very much alive and is as vibrant as the previous stadium spot was, well, dead. Situated at the crossroads of the 101 and 202 loops, which are the Phoenix metro's equivalent of big city Interstate bypasses, Sloan Park is the big league drawing card for Riverview Park, an as an innovative-as-they-come green space area with unique playground options for kids and a fishing pond for all ages. The park is on the southern end of the plot of land on which the ballpark stands, where Sloan Park replaced what had long been the Riverview Golf Course. Across the road (Dobson) from Riverview Park is the Mesa Riverview shopping center, which has major restaurants and retail shops, a movie theatre and plenty more. A short drive north of the ballpark on Rio Salado Parkway is Tempe Marketplace, which is an even larger eat, play and shopping center, featuring the likes of Dave & Buster's, Best Buy and Chicago's Portillo's, a famous in Illinois eatery known for its hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches that decided to debut their Chicago-style of cuisine in Arizona in 2013. Because Sloan Park is so close to the Mesa-Tempe line it's actually equidistant (about 5 miles) to the downtowns of both cities, which are decidedly different. Mesa's Main Street caters more to families and those who enjoy art galleries and museums, while Tempe's Mill Avenue district is the choice for those of the current college-aged generation thanks to its notable night life and the steady influx of partygoers provided by nearby Arizona State University.

Travelers' notes

Hotels close to Sloan Park			Become a featured advertiser
Distance	Hotel	Street Address	City/Zip	Phone
0.1 miles	Sheraton	860 N Riverview	Mesa, AZ 85201	480-664-1221
1.0	Homewood Suites	2104 E Rio Salado Pkwy	Tempe, AZ 85281	480-966-2780
1.8	Rodeway Inn	2101 E Apache Blvd	Tempe, AZ 85281	480-393-3090
4.3	Ramada Mezona	250 W Main St	Mesa, AZ 85201	480-834-9233
4.6	Marriott	200 N Centennial Way	Mesa, AZ 85201	480-898-8300
7.2	Hyatt House Old Town	4245 N Drinkwater Blvd	Scottsdale, AZ 85251	480-946-7700
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Restaurants close to Sloan Park
Distance	Restaurant	Street Address	City/Zip	Phone
0.9 miles	Chick-fil-A	905 N Dobson Rd	Mesa, AZ 85201	480-834-0573
0.9	IHOP	913 N Dobson Rd	Mesa, AZ 85201	480-610-0792
0.9	Panda Express	921 N Dobson Rd	Mesa, AZ 85201	480-834-3689
1.0	Wingstop	937 N Dobson Rd	Mesa, AZ 85201	480-964-6600
1.1	Cracker Barrel	1007 N Dobson Rd	Mesa, AZ 85201	480-668-4780
1.5	Portillo's Hot Dogs	65 S McClintock Dr	Tempe, AZ 85281	480-967-7988
11.7	Rodizio Grill	1840 S Val Vista Dr	Mesa, AZ 85204	480-813-5400
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Airports close to Sloan Park
Distance	Airport		Airport Code
7.4 miles	Phoenix Sky Harbor International		PHX
120	Tucson International		TUS
195	Yuma International		YUM

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