Cactus Rats Home Opener Happening Without Fans in Spruce Grove
The WCBL team's stadium is still under construction, limiting capacity to staff and players only.
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There will be no fans allowed at the Energy City Cactus Rats' home opener in Spruce Grove on Wednesday night.
The Western Canadian Baseball League board voted Tuesday to allow the team to play all of its 2026 home games at the Energy City Metro Ballpark despite the stadium still being under construction. As it stands, the Cactus Rats can allow only up to 150 people in the ballpark — consisting of team staff and players. Due to safety concerns, fans will not be permitted to attend games for now.
"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," said WCBL president Kevin Kvame. "For the good of the league, we feel it is important to give the Cactus Rats organization enough runway to do that."
Construction on the 3,470-seat Spruce Grove ballpark first broke ground in 2022 with an estimated price tag of $50 million. The facility was also planned to include a microbrewery, fieldhouse, outdoor amphitheater, and auditorium. It was initially expected to open for the 2023 season but faced delays due to pandemic-related economic, supply, and labour effects. In November 2024, the completion date was pushed to June 2025. This past May, the Cactus Rats said progress was ongoing but couldn't provide a concrete opening date.
The team remains optimistic. "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 Tuesday. The Cactus Rats will host the Okotoks Dawgs on Wednesday night, followed by a three-game series against the Fort McMurray Giants starting Saturday.