Edmonton-area baseball team forced to play without fans in unfinished stadium
There will be no fans allowed to attend the Energy City Cactus Rat’s home opener in Spruce Grove on Wednesday night.
The Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) board voted to allow the team to play all of its 2026 home games at the Energy City Metro Ballpark on Tuesday night, despite the stadium still being under construction.
As it stands, the Cactus Rats are only able to allow up to 150 people in the ballpark, but that will consist of team staff and players. Due to safety concerns, fans will not be allowed to attend games for the time being.
“We have seen the progress made by the Cactus Rats organization over the last number of days with fulfilling facility and league obligations, as well as the presentation of a plan to carry out the ballpark project to completion,ā said WCBL president Kevin Kvame in a statement posted to the league’s Facebook page.Ā
“For the good of the league, we feel it is important to give the Cactus Rats organization enough runway to do that.”
Renderings of the Energy City Metro Ballpark (energycitymetroballpark.ca)
Construction on the 3,470-seat Spruce Grove ballpark first broke ground in 2022 with an estimated price tag of $50 million, according to Major Projects Alberta. On top of being a state-of-the-art ballpark, the facility was also planned to include a microbrewery, fieldhouse, outdoor amphitheater, and auditorium.
It was initially expected to open in time for the 2023 season, but had its opening pushed back to 2024 due to “economic, supply and labour effects that were caused by the recent worldwide pandemic.”
Renderings of the Energy City Metro Ballpark via energycitymetroballpark.ca
In November 2024, that completion date was delayed again to June 2025. This past May, the Cactus Rats provided another construction update, saying that progress on the stadium was ongoing, but they could not provide a concrete date for when fans would be welcomed into the ballpark.
Though it’s not ideal, the Cactus Rats seem to be maintaining an optimistic view that this situation will be resolved sooner rather than later.
“With respect to fan involvement, construction continues, and it is hoped that additional occupancy allowing fans into the facility can be achieved within the next 2 to 4 weeks,” the team posted on its Facebook page on Tuesday.Ā
Renderings of the Energy City Metro Ballpark via energycitymetroballpark.ca
The Cactus Rats will host the Okotoks Dawgs at the Energy City Metro Ballpark on Wednesday night, before opening a three-game series at home against the Fort McMurray Giants on Saturday.