With the grandest ever of Major League Baseball’s Midsummer Classic now part of All-Star Game history, some may wonder just what it all meant to our city that hosted the extravaganza.
First, came praise from MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred in an NBC 5 interview who gave Arlington and the Rangers an A+ for cooperating with what was reported to have been more than one hundred of the commissioner’s team members who worked with the city for many weeks in preparation.
Now, for the crowd that came for everything during the four days of events, concluding with the game itself, and the accompanying financial rewards for Arlington:
The Convention and Visitors Bureau keeps up with the numbers. Its president, Brent DeRaad, reported to WFAA that an estimated 35,000 people from out of state showed up for it all, and contributed substantially to the $86 million in overall spending while they were here.
Let’s get inside those numbers for a minute or two. Begin with recalling that Arlington doesn’t have to do very much beyond traffic control and public safety to support those visitors who have left their money here.
They come for a couple of days and depart when their reason for being here is done.
Next, take a look at an estimate of just the direct revenues the city collects for that spending that has taken place.
Most of it is subject to the collection of state and local sales taxes. The city’s portion is two percent. That amounts to about $1.7 million that flows directly into Arlington’s bank account.
Half of that amount will be used to help cover the costs of overall services to the city’s entire population. The other half will add to the revenue used for the repayment of stadium debt, road and street improvements, and economic development, to create growth in the business sector and job creation.
The reality of using “other people’s money” for our benefit is a popular outcome and confirms the decision Arlington voters have made over and over to create the largest visitor and tourism economy between the East and West coasts of our country.
But all of that, in my long-held opinion, isn’t the best part of it all, and President DeRaad nailed it in his further discussion with the WFAA reporter when he said, “As much as anything, though, being able to have Arlington be in the spotlight on national television for those four days has just been a remarkable opportunity for us.”
No one I ever heard could put a dollar value on the worldwide attention Arlington receives annually hosting everything that takes place in our Entertainment District.
For instance, there were an estimated 7.6 million viewers across the various FOX Sports platforms on the day of the All-Star Game alone.
“Arlington” was a central part of the coverage from the pre-game warm-up, to the game itself, and post-game wrap-up. Announcers welcomed the audience back to Arlington after every commercial break and talked about the city’s partnership hosting it all with the Rangers.
That kind of publicity happens every time during events at any of our entertainment venues, that gives rise to the substantial pride so many feel calling Arlington their home.
This was our second time to host an All-Star Game, with the first being in 1995, just a year after the opening of The Ballpark in Arlington. That too was declared a success in all the ways All-Star events are evaluated.
Except for the Texas heat.
That got solved too. Arlington meets even the greatest challenges that come our way. It’s why we are known as the “American Dream City.”
Richard Greene is a former mayor of Arlington.
