Spring training sites vie for event supremacy

Turns out the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox don't only compete in baseball.

The teams, each with new or renovated spring training facilities on the Gulf Coast, are also in a race to have the best meeting and event facility in the region. For the Red Sox, that's JetBlue Park at Fenway South in Fort Myers, a $78 million stadium built in 2011 that includes a replica of the famed Green Monster. The Orioles, meanwhile, play in Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, which underwent a $31 million renovation in 2010.

The major league teams are only in town for six weeks, which leaves a lot of time left over. That's why top local executives for both teams, Katie Haas for the Red Sox and Laura Williams for the Orioles, are marketing each facility.