This past year, Arizona has taken center stage for a lot of major events attracting millions of visitors. Now the World Series is being added to the list and is expected to bring a big boost to the state’s economy.
Josh Coddington with the Arizona Office of Tourism cited numbers from Arizona State University researchers that show the Super Bowl in February raked in $1.3 billion. There was also the Phoenix Open golf tournament that brought in $277 million, and the college football Fiesta Bowl at $170 million.
Researchers say last year’s World Series between the Phillies and the Astros brought $78 million to Philadelphia and $68 million to Houston.
Coddington says he expects similar numbers for Arizona.
“It directly goes back to benefiting the residents of Arizona and primarily that is in sales taxes, bed taxes, and lodging taxes from the hospitality industry," he said. "Because all of that money not only goes into creating new things or new hotels and new exciting things that are here but also employing people here in Arizona as well."
Coddington added that Chase Field is the fifth-largest major league baseball stadium in the country and holds about 48,000 people. So with sell-outs every night, that’s a home run for not just bars and restaurants in downtown Phoenix but everywhere else in the area as well.
"It's like Christmas in October for tourism. It brings a lot of people here and gives us the opportunity to connect with them," he said. "Our goal for people when they come here is to fill their itineraries when they're not at the game. So that includes maybe extending their trips by a day or two, maybe sharing some great road trips they can take."
