CBS News’ Major Garrett relives Padres fantasy camp experience

Major Garrett traded the Washington bureau for a week in Peoria, Arizona, and came back with more than a story. The CBS News chief Washington correspondent spent January at Padres fantasy camp, a stay that put him inside the San Diego Padres’ spring training complex and into the rhythms of a Major League clubhouse, from live games to a closing-night awards banquet.

CBS News Washington bureau managing editor Arden Farhi went along for the ride and later joined The Takeout to recount the experience. Garrett had been away for more than a week before returning to the desk, a stretch that underscored how immersive the camp was. By the end, every member of his team had received a championship ring courtesy of the San Diego Padres, a small but potent symbol of how far the club has taken the fantasy.

The Padres have built fantasy camp into an annual week-long program aimed squarely at lifelong fans who want more than a ballpark ticket. Participants wear personalized uniforms, work with Padres legends, play live games, gain clubhouse access and finish with an awards banquet that treats the week like a real season. Registration is open to men and women ages 25 and up, widening the guest list beyond a narrow club of former players or deep-pocketed insiders. The club also says 100% of net proceeds benefit the Padres Foundation, turning nostalgia into a revenue stream with a charitable component.

That combination helps explain why fantasy camps have lasting appeal. The product is not just baseball; it is proximity. Fans are paying for the feel of being inside a team’s daily life, with their names on uniforms, coaches they grew up watching, and the chance to occupy spaces usually reserved for players and staff. For a national broadcaster like Garrett, the draw was the same one that has kept the format alive for years: the chance to step through the gate and experience the game from the inside, even if only for a week.

The Padres first laid out the camp concept in 2018, when they announced an inaugural January 20-26, 2019 session at the Peoria Sports Complex. That facility, shared with the Seattle Mariners, has since become the setting for a recurring event that blends spring-training geography with carefully packaged intimacy. For the Padres, the camp is both a fan experience and a business model, one that monetizes memory, access and lifelong loyalty in the most literal way possible.