Each home game the New York Yankees play in the 2009 Major League Baseball postseason is worth $6.7 million to city businesses, according to data from the Economic Development Corporation.
That includes money spent by visiting fans, players and media members on hotels, retail, transportation and dining, assuming that 34,150 people attend the game who don’t live in the city, the analysis said. Indirect benefits to New York bring the total economic benefit of each game to $11.9 million.
Payroll spending in the city will also rise by about $900,000 per game, including $260,000 for seasonal and contract employees at the stadium, the corporation said. The Yankees would play 11 home games if they advanced to the World Series and each of the three postseason series went the maximum.
“Restaurants, hotels and transportation all benefit from this,” said Lonn Trost, Yankees chief operating officer, in an interview. “More employees work more days, not only the day of the game but in preparation and breakdown.”
The Yankees tonight begin a best-of-five division series against the Minnesota Twins, who last night beat the Detroit Tigers 6-5 in 12 innings in a tiebreaker to determine the American League Central Division winner.
After making the playoffs for 13 straight years with Joe Torre as manager, the Yankees failed to reach the postseason in 2008, their first year with Joe Girardi at the helm. They responded by luring free-agent pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett with multiyear contracts worth a total of $243.5 million. New York also gave first baseman Mark Teixeira an eight-year contract worth $180 million.
No. 1 Record
The changes resulted in a 103-59 record this season, the best in baseball. Teixeira tied for the AL lead with 39 home runs and Sabathia’s 19 wins were tied for the most in baseball. Captain Derek Jeter batted .334, his best since 2000, with 18 home runs and 30 stolen bases.
This is the first season for the team’s stadium in the Bronx, built across the street from its former home.
The tax-exempt bonds that the Yankees sold in January through a city agency to complete the $1.5 billion stadium have rallied more than 17 percent as yield-hungry investors sought out lower-rated municipal bonds.
Yankee Stadium LLC bonds due in 2049 were sold to a customer Sept. 9 in a $100,000 block at about 117.4 cents on the dollar to yield 4.7 percent versus 7 percent at issue, Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board trade data show.
They are insured against default by Assured Guaranty and carry underlying ratings of Baa3 from Moody’s Investors Services and BBB- from Standard & Poor’s, the lowest investment grades.
Cost of Stadium
The team will cover the cost of the stadium by paying off the city-issued bonds instead of property taxes, and with $225 million of its own money.
The city is also contributing $306 million in capital funding for new parks and recreational facilities, its share of the new commuter-rail station and pedestrian bridge near the stadium and other infrastructure upgrades, Andrew Brent, a spokesman for the Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office, said in an e-mail.
The state contributed $70 million to stadium parking facilities and its Metropolitan Transportation Authority added $52 million for the Metro North train station and bridge, according to Brent.
Brodsky’s Opposition
State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky said the stadium hasn’t created enough jobs or economic development to justify obtaining low-cost financing through tax-exempt bonds. The Westchester Democrat, who chairs a committee on public authorities, says the team and city have understated the cost to taxpayers.
“‘This whole deal is a case history of how the Bloomberg administration has been giving away money to private parties without a public benefit,” Brodsky said.
Andrew Zimbalist, a professor of economics at Smith College, said he thinks the team’s success will mean some economic benefit to the city from tourism or consumer purchasing.
“There is a modicum of economic advantage,” he said. “The visiting teams travel with their press corps and entourage, some people will travel to New York, stay overnight and spend money on hotels and restaurants.”
The Economic Development Corporation based its totals on about 6,000 spectators traveling to each game from outside the tri-state area, along with 27,500 fans from within the metropolitan region, 200 players and team officials and 300 out- of-town media. The analysis excluded spending from another 16,850 spectators, assuming them to be city residents.
Indirect Impact
The analysis also calculated $5.2 million in indirect economic impact from each postseason game, as workers, for example, spend money earned at the stadium.
Trost said the team’s games would also focus attention on the city as people around the country tuned in.
“We’re constantly rekindling the importance of the centrifuge of New York,” he said. “When you’re bringing in that many people for that many games, hotels are booked, your cab drivers and private cars are happy they’re working, Metro North is working,” Trost said.
The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.
(Source: Bloomberg)
