Cardinals mean $302 million regional economic impact
The St. Louis Cardinals are kicking off another year of home baseball on Thursday and bringing with them millions in tourist and related revenue.
The team generates a regional economic impact of $302 million, according to St. Louis Regional Chamber’s Director of Economic Research, Ruth Sergenian. And, the franchise is baseball’s seventh most valuable, at $1.8 billion, according to Forbes Magazine.
The Chamber points to recent construction at Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village as signs of the Cardinal’s continued impact on regional prosperity.
The Cardinals are projected to attract 3 million fans who will generate an estimated direct economic impact of $160.4 million. This spending is expected to spur an indirect economic impact of $141.9 million. Historically, out-of-town visitors constitute over 40 percent of game attendees. Visitor spending on dining, lodging and shopping provides a significant boost to the regional economy.
This analysis uses the economic impact model IMPLAN, which measures how spending tied to an event has multiple impacts and spreads throughout a region, thereby benefiting local households and firms. The direct, indirect and total economic impact figures are based on estimates of visitor spending and operations expenditures at Busch Stadium.
Additionally, the investment in improvements at Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village will contribute to enhance visitors’ experiences while attending games. Busch Stadium was recently ranked as the third best Major League Baseball ballpark in Forbes Magazine. New fan experiences in the ballpark include Budweiser Terrace, a multi-level social space where ticket holders can go for pre-game and in-game entertainment that includes two full-service bars, social standing as well as lounge and cabana seating and the stadium’s only open-air BBQ grill. Ongoing is the second phase of Ballpark Village, a $260 million development that will include a 29-story, 297-unit luxury high-rise residential tower, a hotel, retail space and the first new Class-A office building built in downtown St. Louis in nearly 30 years.
About the St. Louis Regional Chamber
The St. Louis Regional Chamber is a broad community of leaders united for economic prosperity throughout the entire St. Louis bi-state region. Our aspiration is for St. Louis to be one of the Top 10 U.S. regions in prosperity. Our one purpose is to inspire a greater St. Louis. Together, we will make St. Louis a more attractive place for people to live, work, and invest. We will win on today’s regional strengths in focused economic clusters: financial services, health, multimodal logistics, and biosciences. We will champion a better tomorrow through greater educational attainment, inclusion and talent attraction, entrepreneurship and innovation. For more information, visit www.stlregionalchamber.com.
