While the Pittsburgh Pirates are done for the series, they did qualify for post-season play, and this qualification, likely led to a significant economic boost for the Pittsburgh area, according to Visit Pittsburgh and Pirates estimates.
Yesterday’s National League Wild Card game against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park is estimated to have resulted in roughly $4.6 million to $5-plus million in direct spending. This includes ticket sales, hotel rooms, concession stand sales, restaurants, retail sales and other.
The Pirates organization comes up with this figure through an industry standard formula from the Destination Marketing Association International, a global trade association for official destination marketing organizations.
“Congratulations to the entire Pirates organization for yet another great season of baseball and for continuing to put our city in the national spotlight,” says Craig Davis, CEO, Visit Pittsburgh “Ninety-eight wins and going 8- 2 on their final road trip with the pressure building demonstrates the resolve of this team and its coaches, and their success continues to benefit our city in so many ways.”
While the direct spending is incredibly important, there are other things more difficult to calculate that are equal in importance.
“When the national television cameras show the Pittsburgh skyline, Point State Park, the inclines or one of Pedro’s homeruns landing in the Allegheny River, it creates a tremendous level of positive publicity and exposure for our city—exposure that we could never afford otherwise,” says Davis. “The best way for us to promote the city is for people to see the city. And the Pirates have made sure that hundreds of thousands of people across the country have seen our beautiful city from afar—and Pittsburgh becomes a winner, too.”
