Brewers pitch economic impact of full re-opening
(The Center Square) – This week’s return to full capacity for the Milwaukee Brewers means more than just bigger tailgates and more fans in the stands.
The team says 100% capacity means the return of the full economic impact of Milwaukee’s baseball club.
Brewers President Rick Schlessingger said in a letter Tuesday to Gov. Tony Evers and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett that the Brewers will hire 3,000 people to work this summer.
“These 3,000 jobs make Milwaukee Brewers baseball possible and show what a powerful economic engine American Family Field is for the state of Wisconsin and its communities. They also demonstrate why having professional baseball in Milwaukee has created billions of dollars in statewide economic impact over the years – it is hard to imagine a better way,” Schlesinger wrote.
The jobs cover everything from hotdog vendors to parking attendants to folks to clean the ballpark.
The Brewers played in last year’s coronavirus-shortened season, but didn’t have any fans in the stands. The team began the season this year with a 25% cap on fans. That increased to 50% in May. And will jump to 100% on Friday.
“The 3,000 expected jobs this year are part of a far broader, multi-billion-dollar economic impact that is being restored after COVID idled the ballpark and left it unable to accommodate fans for the 2020 season,” Schlesinger said in his letter. “[The] study released by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce in early 2020 placed the total statewide economic output of the ballpark at $2.5 billion since it was constructed,[in 2001.]”
That study looked at all of the money spent at the ballpark over 20 years to arrive at its price tag.
Regardless of the precise amount, Schelssinger said in his letter to the governor and the mayor that there is no doubt American Family Field is part of the economic engine of the state.
“These 3,000 jobs serve fans from every corner of Wisconsin, and many parts of the country. In 2019 – the most recent year that serves as a useful reference given the impact of COVID on the 2020 season – customers buying tickets were from more than 8,300 distinct zip codes in Wisconsin and across the country,” Schlesinger explained. “The efforts underway to get American Family Field back to full occupancy are not only important to those who love baseball, they are important to the economic recovery of the state of Wisconsin and its communities, including Milwaukee as home of the Brewers.”
The Brewers have dubbed Friday’s first game at 100% as “Reopening Day.” Tickets are still available.
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