 | |
| Formerly | Arizona League (1988–2020) |
|---|---|
| Classification | Rookie |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Founded | 1988 (37 years ago) (1988) |
| No. of teams | 15 |
| Country | United States |
| Most recent champion | ACL Angels (2025) |
| Most titles | ACL Athletics (6) |
| Official website | www |
TheArizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-levelMinor League Baseball league that operates in and aroundPhoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as theArizona League (AZL). Along with theFlorida Complex League (FCL), it forms the lowest rung on the North American minor-league ladder.
ACL teams play at the minor league spring training complexes of their parentMajor League Baseball (MLB) clubs and are owned by those parent clubs. Admission is not charged and no concessions are operated at the teams' games. EveryCactus League team fields at least one team in the league. Night games are commonly played in the spring training stadium, although games may also be played at the team's practice fields.
As of the 2021 season, there is no league limit to how many players can be on an active roster, but no team can have more than three players with four or more years of minor-league experience.[1] Major-league players on rehabilitation assignments may also appear in the league.
The league began play in 1988 as the Arizona League (AZL) on an experimental basis with four teams playing a 60-game schedule—the teams were affiliated with theMilwaukee Brewers,Oakland Athletics,San Diego Padres, and a cooperative between theBoston Red Sox andSeattle Mariners.[2] Games were scheduled in the morning in order to make sure the league did not compete with thePhoenix Firebirds of theTriple-APacific Coast League.[3]
ThePhoenix Diamondbacks debuted in 1996, the first affiliate of theArizona Diamondbacks to start playing professional baseball, two years before their parent club joinedMajor League Baseball. A crowd of 6,124 attended the Diamondbacks' first game on June 25, 1996, a 15–7 loss to thePhoenix Athletics. A number of local dignitaries were at the game, includingBuck Showalter andJerry Colangelo.[4][5]
TheColorado Rockies started their rookie league team a year before starting major league play as well in 1992, sharing a team with the Cubs. The team, composed of the Rockies' first-ever draft picks, received a different level of notoriety than the Diamondbacks for their first rookie league game: as the players wore either Rockies jerseys or Cubs jerseys, the team did not have their uniform pants ready at the start of the season, and had to borrow pants from the Cubs.[6]
Between 1998 and 2000 an unaffiliated team composed of young players from theMexican League played out of theTucson Electric Park spring training complex, in part to add a fourth team to a southern division. ThreeTucson-based teams (the Mexican All-Stars, the Diamondbacks, and the Rockies) would leave the league after the 2000 season, largely due to travel concerns, followed by the White Sox two years later. All three teams later relocated their spring training complexes to the Phoenix metropolitan area, and the Diamondbacks and White Sox reinstated their rookie league teams.
The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic before ultimately being cancelled on June 30.[7][8]
Prior to the 2021 season, in continuation of MLB's reorganization of the minor leagues, the two US-based complex leagues were renamed, with the Arizona League becoming the Arizona Complex League (ACL).
For 2025, the league consists of 17 teams.[9] Beginning in 2024, the schedule was changed from a season which ran from late-June through late-August to a season which runs from early-May through late-July. This change also made it so the league would no longer feature players drafted in the current year'sdraft, which in 2021 was changed to take place during theAll-Star Weekend in mid-July.[10]
Teams in the league are not referred to by their home city, but simply by their parent club's name. A prefix of ACL (previously AZL or Arizona League) is typically used to differentiate the team from its parent club and other farm teams with the same nickname. City names have been used previously instead of a prefix, such as with thePeoria Padres andPeoria Mariners.[11][12] Franchises that field more than one team use differentiating suffixes, typically based on team colors (e.g. Blue and Gold). As of the 2025 season,[update] no major league club fields more than one ACL team.
League champions have been determined by different means since the league's formation in 1988. Prior to 1998, the league champion was the team with best record over the course of the season. Since 1998, the season has been split into two half-seasons. From 1998 to 2008, the teams with the best records in each half faced off to decide the league champion. If the same team won both halves, they were automatically crowned champions (only one team accomplished this, the 2005Arizona League Giants).
In 2009, the league split into two divisions, an alignment that was used through the 2012 season. The two teams in each division with the best record in each half-season played off for the division championship, and the winners advanced to the final. If the same team won their division in both halves, they advanced directly to the final.
From 2013 to 2019, the six teams who won their division in the first and second half of the season qualified for the playoffs. If a team won both halves, the next best team in that division by overall record qualified for the playoffs. The top two teams by overall record received a bye to the semifinals. All playoff games were single elimination, with the exception of a best-of-three final.[13]
Since 2022, four teams—three division winners and one wild card team—have qualified for the playoffs seeded by winning percentage regardless of division standing, with seeds 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3 playing in a single-game semi-final. A best-of-three series between the two semi-final winners follows to determine the league champion.[14]
 Sports teams based inArizona | ||
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| Australian rules football |  | |
| Baseball | ||
| Basketball | ||
| Football | ||
| Hockey | ||
| Pickleball |
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| Roller derby | ||
| Rugby |
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| Soccer |
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| College athletics (NCAA Division I) | ||
| College athletics (NAIA) | ||
| College athletics (NJCAA) |
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