Katherine Fritcke/KJZZ

Sloan Park in Mesa, the spring training home of the Chicago Cubs.

Spring training tickets went on sale across the Valley on Saturday morning. And at Sloan Park in Mesa, baseball fans got in line at least eight hours before the ticket office opened. 

The Chicago Cubs have always been a popular team in the Cactus League, often breaking daily attendance records year-after-year. But this is the first spring training since the Cubs broke their 108 year World Series losing streak. 

Even though the ticket office opened at 10 a.m., Cubs fans lined up hours before to make sure they got tickets to see their team play at Sloan Park in Mesa. 

Mike Thielen was one of the first people in line. He said he would usually arrive around 5:30 to buy his tickets. But, he said he knew there would be higher demand this year and didn’t want to miss out on the games he really wanted to see. 

“I thought I’m going to change that this year. Because about half-way through the White Sox game and Chicago Cubs game it was all sold out [last year], all you could get was lawn seats, " said Thielen. "So we made a little bit of a different strategy this year, got here a little bit earlier.” 

So, he arrived at 3:30 a.m — seven hours before tickets went on sale.

Bob Rozycki said he arrived early because he just expected there was going to be a long line, just like every year.

“This is typical. Cubs fans are still Cubs fans. World Series win or not, there were a lot of years when we had 100-plus losses and there were still Cubs fans," said Rozycki.

Officials at Sloan Field were also prepared for the long lines. They provided coffee and even opened up the stadium for fans to use the restrooms. 

The most expensive game at Sloan Park will be March 25 when the Cubs take on their World Series opponent the Cleveland Indians. General admission lawn seats are priced at $30. 

The spring training season begins for the Cubs on Feb. 25 at Sloan Park when they take on the Oakland Athletics.