Play ball! For fans, the cry signals the start of baseball season; for local businesses, it?s money in the bank.
While they?ve drawn fewer than 3 million fans each year since 2002, the Orioles? success on the field can have a big impact on area businesses off the field as part of what the Maryland Stadium Authority is calling an “economic engine” for Charm City.
The MSA reported that the O?s brought in just under $170 million last year.
But with attendance dwindling ? Camden Yards drew its lowest-paying home crowd in 15 years last April with 13,194 tickets sold for a game ? businesses are getting concerned about where exactly the fan money will be coming from.
“The basic controversy is how much spending does the team simply redistribute around the metropolitan area and how much spending does it bring to the metropolitan area,” said Stephen Walters, a professor of economics at Loyola College of Maryland. “Fans may be spending their money on baseball or football and may not be spending it on going to the Senator [Theatre] or bars and restaurants in other city neighborhoods.”
The MSA also reports that state and local governments received nearly $18 million in tax revenues from the additional business created on weekends and nights as part of home games.
This season, the Orioles will play 86 home games from April through September, and expect about 800,000 of their visitors to be from out of the market.
And nothing draws visitors from outside the area like a division rival from Boston or New York.
“When you are talking about the Red Sox or Yankees, you are talking about hotel rooms booked,” said Mike Evitts, a spokesman for the Downtown Partnership. “But there are mom-and-pop places around the stadium who rely on the season ticket holders and the regulars for that one hot dog or one beer before the game.”
While the Orioles do have an extensive impact on the city, all the fans really care about is if they will do well this year.
“I think .500s going to be a struggle,” said Jim Held, 65, and a lifelong Baltimore fan from Pennsylvania who was visiting for the home opener.
