Phllies’ run will help the economy — somewhat

The economic benefit of the Phillies' home games for the National League Division Series that began today with a 3-1 Phillies win is expected to amount from $5 million to $7 million, said Larry Needle, executive director of Philadelphia Sports Congress, a division of the city's Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Riding out the season all the way to the World Series could boost that take to as much as $25 million, Needle said. Those totals include tax revenue - from liquor and ticket sales, parking, ballplayers' wages and hotel stays.

"It's absolutely huge to the local businesses," a breathless Chris Wilkerson, manager of a crowded Chickie's & Pete's Cafe on Packer Avenue, across from Citizens Bank Park, said today about a half-hour before the first pitch of Game 1 between the Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers.

Here's how huge:

"The normal amount of servers I'd have working during the day would be five; I have 18 working today," Wilkerson said, adding that orders for crab fries, beer towers, and other festive fare were on course to total 10 times the business of a typical weekday afternoon.

Similarly enthusiastic spending has been on display in the 24 Philadelphia-area Modell's sporting-goods stores - even in the midst of a national financial crisis. At times of limited disposable income, sales of sports memorabilia endure, particularly of limited-time items such as the hats and T-shirts heralding the Phillies' new status as National League East champs, said Derrick Morgan, regional marketing manager for Modell's.

He could not provide specific sales figures, but he said "we definitely do see a spike in [store] traffic and sales."

Even SEPTA's coffers are in line for a boost from Phillies fanatics. Broad Street-line ridership for the last six Phillies home games - when they were contending for the playoffs - was up 1,000 per game at $1.45 a ride over early-season counts, said spokesman Gary Fairfax. That results in about $1,500 more in fare revenue per game, he said.

At the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp., communications director Cara Schneider is rooting for the Phillies to not only make it to the World Series, but for each game broadcast from the ballpark to entice out-of-town viewers to pay Philly a visit. The ball team's postseason experience "is a chance to put modern Philadelphia on the screen for a couple of hours at a time," Schneider said.

Among those watching will be John Fizel from his home in Erie. He is a professor at Pennsylvania State University with a specialty in sports economics.

Fizel says that estimates of the economic impact of sports are often "overstated" in that they do not take into account that fans likely would have been spending a similar amount of money on something else if they were not attending the game.

Then there is the loss of productivity from all those fans who play hooky to get to day games, he said. The Wisconsin native insists he is not being a killjoy just because he is a Brewers fan.

"Is there going to be a boost to the local economy? Absolutely," Fizel said. "It's just that we have to be very careful to determine [how much]. We've got to ask how many are going to the game and going to spend money in the economy who otherwise would not."