The Orioles concluded their first intrasquad game of spring training today, meaning exhibition games against real opponents are coming soon. (Here's your friendly reminder that MASN's first spring training broadcast is Monday, Feb. 27 at 1 p.m. when the Orioles host the Yankees at Ed Smith Stadium.) But as the Orioles continue to put in work on the field at the Ed Smith Stadium complex in Sarasota, Fla., this spring, you may not realize that they put in work in the Sarasota community...

The Orioles concluded their first intrasquad game of spring training today, meaning exhibition games against real opponents are coming soon. (Here's your friendly reminder that MASN's first spring training broadcast is Monday, Feb. 27 at 1 p.m. when the Orioles host the Yankees at Ed Smith Stadium.)

But as the Orioles continue to put in work on the field at the Ed Smith Stadium complex in Sarasota, Fla., this spring, you may not realize that they put in work in the Sarasota community year-round.

An independent economic impact analysis commissioned by the Sarasota county government concluded that the Orioles generate approximately $89 million in annual economic impact through the club's marketing and promotion of Sarasota tourism to the team's fan base across seven mid-Atlantic states along with the commercial activity and corporate presence of the O's athletic training headquarters, production of public sporting and other entertainment events, and management of youth sports tournaments and recreational programs in the community.

The $89 million economic output is a record for sports tourism creation in Sarasota County, far surpassing any current or past sports facility or private sports operator. The Orioles' annual economic impact result has grown every year it has been measured by the government's annual study. The Orioles' current impact is more than two and a half times the $35 million impact the Orioles projected in testimony given before the Florida State Senate in 2004 and the Sarasota Board of County Commissioners in 2009, prior to the relocation of the club's year-round training headquarters, unique tourism marketing and community sports park concept to Sarasota.

"As a company that has been doing business in the Sarasota community since 1989 and that consolidated our year-round training headquarters and complex here in 2010, we are proud of our record as a corporate leader in developing family entertainment and applying marketing expertise that drove home $89 million of annual economic impact in 2016 and at least $400 million in estimated impact over just the past seven years for Sarasota residents and taxpayers," said Orioles executive vice president and MASN president John P. Angelos. "It is gratifying when independent, objective studies conducted through state and county efforts expertly verify the importance of the Orioles as the preeminent sports tourism industry leader in creating public return on investment from our private efforts at levels far exceeding all community expectations."

The analysis, conducted by Research & Marketing Strategies, Inc., measured the Orioles' total tourism impact and its positive impact on the residents and taxpayers of Sarasota County. The team generates a quantitative economic impact in the following ways:

* Year-round professional event management, including production of major league baseball games, commerce, training and rehabilitation during spring training and year-round

* Year-round production of minor league games, commerce and training throughout the spring, summer and fall months, including presentation at the Ed Smith Stadium of the home schedule of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Orioles, along with minor league training throughout the year

* Presentation of a series of arts, culture and community events and programming, including the Orioles' "Arts in the Ballpark" series, featuring the Sarasota Orchestra, "Nashville's Music Row Comes to the Ballpark" fundraising event to benefit the Library Foundation for Sarasota County, the Orioles' "Eat, Live, and Train like the O's Health and Fitness Challenge," and youth baseball tournaments held for tens of thousands of tourists and locally-based families

* Sarasota 365 marketing and promotion campaign executed by the Orioles to benefit Sarasota County's "Visit Sarasota" tourism agency and employing Orioles multimedia television, digital, social media and radio platforms, as well as at Camden Yards, driving fans based in the mid-Atlantic to vacation in, invest in and retire to Sarasota County

The Orioles' results in the impact analysis were bolstered by record attendance at spring training games in 2016. Last year, the Orioles set a franchise record with 11 sellouts, drawing more than 119,000 fans over 16 home games. That figure is more than double the average spring training attendance at Ed Smith Stadium prior to the Orioles' arrival in Sarasota. (The Orioles have 17 home games at Ed Smith Stadium in 2017, so breaking that record is something for fans to strive for this spring.)

As a result of the unique and valuable tourism-focused media and promotional programs pioneered by the Orioles to support Visit Sarasota, the number of yearly first-quarter visitors from the mid-Atlantic region has grown by more than 300 percent since 2009. In the first quarter of 2015, the Orioles were credited by Sarasota travel authorities for making history in yet another way, when the club's Sarasota 365 campaign catapulted the Orioles' mid-Atlantic region to become the No. 1 source of Sarasota tourism. In 2016, the Baltimore-Washington market generated the second most out-of-state visitors to Sarasota County, surpassed only by the New York City market.

"Through an aggressive, year-round, multi-platform marketing effort, the Orioles continue to drive tourists from the mid-Atlantic to Sarasota County," said vice President, Orioles-Sarasota David Rovine. "And while we focus significant resources on tourism creation to drive economic return to taxpayers, the Orioles are even more focused on successfully providing local families, retirees and young single residents with a year-round slate of high-value major league and minor league sports, arts and cultural events, and recreational, educational, civic and philanthropic programming that has entertained nearly 550,000 visitors and local residents alike in just the past four years."

"The Orioles and Sarasota have created a unique partnership that produces an outstanding year-round impact and showcases the community as an ideal destination to millions annually," said Florida Sports Foundation president John Webb.

Since the Orioles moved their major league spring training operations to Sarasota in 2010, more than 765,000 fans have enjoyed O's spring training games at Ed Smith Stadium. Additionally, each year more than 25,000 participants and spectators visit the Orioles complex to participate in youth tournaments, baseball clinics, sports leagues, and other family-friendly and charitable events, which are professionally managed, supported and frequently financially subsidized by the Orioles.

The infographic below provides additional details about the year-round impact of the Orioles' Sarasota 365 initiatives through which the Orioles, MASN and OriolesREACH demonstrate the ballclub's 365-days-a-year engagement with the Greater Sarasota Community. For more information on the Orioles' year-round activities at Ed Smith Stadium and the Buck O'Neil Baseball Complex, visit www.orioles.com/sarasota.