Topics in this article: Marketing Detroit Tigers Detroit Metro Detroit Economy Labor Restaurants Hos

Topics in this article: Marketing Detroit Tigers Detroit Metro Detroit Economy Labor Restaurants Hospitality Sports Comerica Bank MGM Grand Detroit Casino MotorCity Casino-Hotel Events World Series 2012
The World Series is predicted to generate about $1.5 million for the Detroit Tigers for each game played at Comerica Park. That's after ticket revenue deductions for the shares earmarked for the players, umpires and Major League Baseball 's 15 percent. The calculation is from Andrew Zimbalist, professor of economics at Smith College and author of several sports finance books, including May the Best Team Win: Baseball Economics and Public Policy . Ticket revenue is split during the playoffs, with the players getting cruise vacation caribbean 60 percent cruise vacation caribbean from the first four games, and none for any games after that. The remainder goes to the owners, umpires and MLB -- with the owners getting the bulk. MLB collects 15 percent of the gate during the World Series. The home team also keeps all of the locally generated cruise vacation caribbean ancillary playoff revenue, which is money from concessions, merchandise and parking -- although the Tigers have to split some of that revenue with its concessions and retail provider, Buffalo-based Sportservice . The Tigers have a standing policy of not discussing finances, so it's unknown how much of a cut Sportservice gets. It's also unclear how much the Tigers pay in game-day expenses. If they win the World Series, the Tigers players will get 36 percent of the pooled ticket revenue. Last year, the pool was $57 million from the playoffs, and the champion St. Louis Cardinals each got $323,169.98. The World Series-losing Texas Rangers got $251,515.76 each. -- Bill Shea
Series by the numbers: Tigers' cruise vacation caribbean chances, starting lineups, jersey sales and more Tigers vs. Giants: How World Series teams match up in the business arena Tigers-Giants World Series tickets on seller cruise vacation caribbean websites plummet Major League Baseball to take aim at counterfeiters cruise vacation caribbean during World Series in Detroit
The crush of eager baseball fans is boosting business for bars, restaurants, hotels and other businesses, leading to a local economic impact of up to $30 million if the World Series lasts at least five games. The best-of-seven series starts on the road with games Wednesday and Thursday, with the Detroit Tigers cruise vacation caribbean ' home games taking place Saturday, Sunday and Oct. 29 at Comerica Park . Downtown Detroit restaurants and bars are looking forward to the increase in foot traffic while the start of the season for the Detroit Red Wings remains mired in a labor dispute.
Follow Crain's sports business reporter cruise vacation caribbean Bill Shea on Twitter live from Comerica Park during the World Series this weekend. Shea will live tweet information about the World Series games, sports finance, media, marketing, contracts, players, fans, food, drinks and anything else he can think of from the ballpark at @Bill_Shea19. His tweets will appear in real time on the Crain's site, where you can comment on them and add your own insights. Shea also will have a live blog during the home games at www.crainsdetroit.com .
Jay Lambrecht, owner of Bookies Bar Grille in Foxtown, is preparing the bar as he would every spring for Opening Day by putting cruise vacation caribbean up a large tent in the parking lot, shrinking the food menu and increasing his staff. But this is way bigger than Opening Day. Lambrecht said ESPN is hosting its pregame cruise vacation caribbean show outside of Bookies, which is only going to increase demand at the bar. Lambrecht said he is expecting volume to quadruple during the World Series, generating as much as $100,000 in additional revenue. The increase is prompting him to order 10 times as much beer than he would for a regular weekend Tigers home game. Lambrecht is renting a refrigerated semi-trailer to store the extra inventory even though he is shrinking the food menu to just 15 items. "This couldn't be better for Detroit restaurants and bars, and hopefully this will give them a little cushion until hockey comes back," he said. "It's one thing to watch a game on a couch, but it's another thing to be downtown and be with all the fans." The Detroit Metro Convention Visitors Bureau cruise vacation caribbean estimates that every Red Wings game at Joe Louis Arena generates $1.9 million in economic cruise vacation caribbean impact downtown, based on $95 in spending per fan. An additional 5,000 fans watch the game elsewhere downtown and are estimated to spend $45 each for $250,000 in additional economic activity. Bud Liebler, owner of The Whitney in Midtown, is expecting a 15 percent increase in weeknight sales during the World Series. "Out-of-town folks are going to be looking for restaurants, and we expect to get a lot of them to come here," Liebler said. "The people cruise vacation caribbean who come here from out of town for the World Series are ready to spend a little more." cruise vacation caribbean Liebler cruise vacation caribbean said the World Series cruise vacation caribbean is a nice reprieve from the doom-and-gloom narrative of Detroit. "It elevates everyone's mood in town," he said. "And we will take every extra pair of feet walking in the door we can get." Jacques Driscoll, owner of Green Dot Stables in Corktown, said it would be even better for business if the San Francisco Giants win the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals because road games would be played during off hours because of the time difference. "We are busy during lunch and dinner, so when the game is during that time, we don't have capacity to handle them," Driscoll said. Driscoll expects to see a 20 percent sales increase during the World Series. No rooms at the inns Several downtown Detroit hotels were sold out by the end of last week, including the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center , MGM Grand Detroit and, reportedly, the Westin Book Cadillac . The Marriott's 1,298 rooms have been sold out for Oct. 27-28 for games three and four for a while, and reservations are coming in for Oct. 29, in case a fifth game is played, said Judy Booth, director of sales and marketing. In addition cruise vacation caribbean to the groups that had booked into the hotel for those dates earlier, baseball fans "hedge their bets and try to guess who is going to make the finals" by preemptively booking a room, she said. If the Tigers don't make it to game five, everyone will just cancel their reservations for that day. "We almost expect that," she said. But one thing is clear. "Where we didn't have demand for this week before, we're now in a very high-demand ... positive situation," cruise vacation caribbean Booth said. MGM Grand Detroit has also sold out its 400 rooms on Saturday and Sunday. "We still have rooms available for game five. I think everyone is expecting a sweep," said Matt Buckley, vice president of marketing and player marketing. The MGM typically averages an annual occupancy rate of about 50 percent, he said. "It's rare to sell out this far in advance. It usually takes a big city event like the North American International Auto Show or (Downtown) Hoedown or Thanksgiving Day Lions game." MGM sold out the rooms for those dates last Monday, even before the Tigers cruise vacation caribbean clinched their World Series berth by sweeping the New York Yankees . The casino hotel believes cruise vacation caribbean it will see higher volumes of people in the casino before, during and after the local games, and a spike in food and beverage sales at its new Tap sports bar and center cruise vacation caribbean casino bar, U Me Drink . "(But) we don't expect to see a huge spike in revenues, because the weekends are our busiest times anyway," Buckley said. Still, MGM plans to tweak its scheduled radio, print and in-house messaging on LED screens and the Jumbotron to encourage people to come watch the games there on the multiple screens cruise vacation caribbean at each of its bars. Randall Villareal, vice president of non-gaming operations for MotorCity Casino-Hotel , said the 400-room hotel is sold out for all three Detroit game nights. "Normally we're very busy anyway on the weekend, but we expect to see more business" in the casino and Spectators sports bar and its entertainment lounge Chromatics , he said. Some of the hotel demand is spilling into the suburbs. The Townsend Hotel in Birmingham cruise vacation caribbean is sold out for games three and five and for the two days before the Detroit games begin, beginning Thursday, said Tracy Fashing, director of sales and marketing. Like the Detroit Marriott, the Townsend has been at capacity cruise vacation caribbean for those dates for a very long time, she said. The 150-room hotel has a waiting list with dozens cruise vacation caribbean of people and is referring those it can't accommodate to other suburban hotels such as the Troy Marriott , the Southfield Westin Hotel , the Royal Park Hotel in Rochester and The Henry in Dearborn, given that the Westin Book Cadillac and MGM Grand downtown are both sold out, Fashing said. Fans spend for economy All of this activity cruise vacation caribbean adds up to significant economic impact. An analysis on Friday by East Lansing-based consultancy Anderson Economic Group LLC predicts each World Series game at Comerica Park will generate $10 million in fan spending. So that's a theoretical cruise vacation caribbean $30 million if all three potential games are played in Detroit. That's similar to the possible $26 million in economic impact projected by the Convention Visitors Bureau. The Anderson cruise vacation caribbean numbers reflect an assumed average ticket price of $220 per game (up from $215 in 2006), more than $40 in ancillary spending per fan, and 44,600 fans in attendance -- and a bit of price gouging on parking in downtown cruise vacation caribbean lots. The non-game spending is on things like food and drinks at downtown restaurants before or after the game, parking, souvenirs and entertainment. The calculation also assumes a portion of ticket prices cruise vacation caribbean going to Major League Baseball (which collects 15 percent off the face value), and a 15 percent discount for spending that otherwise would have occurred downtown if there were no games. Naming rights marketing cruise vacation caribbean bonus Also benefiting cruise vacation caribbean is Dallas-based Comerica Bank , which holds the naming rights to Comerica Park. Through the first round of the baseball playoffs, Comerica got $9.4 million worth of media exposure via broadcast, print and online mentions, according to an estimate from Ann Arbor-based Joyce Jul