All-Stars a Three Run Homer for Miami

Tuesday night, Miami wrapped up its week of hosting the Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star Game and surrounding events. While the game was more of a pitcher’s duel with the fireworks coming in extra innings, the local economy can relate more to Monday night’s Home Run Derby.

For the first time in the 88 years of the MLB All-Star game, the event was hosted in Miami, Florida; and as cities typically do during major sporting events, the local economy cashed in. It is estimated that the economic impact of the event was roughly $80 million. For comparison sake, this is roughly equal to the spending of 80,000 tourists taking an average trip to Florida.

While the game itself certainly attracted locals, events in conjunction were well attended in the days leading up to the contest. One example is FanFest, a multi-day event that was hosted at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Monday and Tuesday during All-Star Week. This year’s event attracted more than 100,000 fans, many of which are tourists visiting the area for the game.

Tourists to the area also helped local hotels fill rooms during a time that is considered the off-season for the region and state. In total, 19 hotels contracted with the MLB to become official accommodation partners for tourists to the area, while dozens more likely benefited from the increased traffic. 

Overall, it seems like the 2017 MLB All-Star game went off without a hitch. Fans got to watch the coming-out party for a young star in Yankee’s outfielder Aaron Judge, the fans in attendance got an inning of “free baseball” thanks to extra innings and the local economy reaped major economic benefits. Now the city of Miami has a few years to get ready for the Super Bowl in 2020.