Businesses hope for big economic impact from baseball’s All-Star Game
Dan Fitzgibbons is hoping all of the stars line up for his Water Street business in the week ahead.
With Major League Baseball’s 73rd annual All-Star Game arriving in Milwaukee, Fitzgibbons, owner of Fitzgibbons’ Pub, is more interested in seeing good weather than good baseball.
"If the weather cooperates and all of the stars line up, we should have huge week," said Fitzgibbons, who is also president of Milwaukee’s Water Street Association.
Together, Fitzgibbons and his association cohorts expect a half a million people to cruise Milwaukee’s famed tavern corridor before and after the big game. To promote sales, local business owners enlisted the help of Miller Brands to throw a huge "Out of the Park" festival on Water Street on Monday, July 8 during the Century 21 Home Run Derby. The festival has been in the works for more than half a year.
Miller’s "Out of the Park" bash begins at 6 p.m., with a line up of live bands that includes Sponge, Seven Mary Three, Spin Doctors and Gin Blossoms. Brewery officials said they intend to keep businesses booming all day by providing an interactive game area for families and a Rusty Wallace NASCAR racing garage.
"I can’t predict what it’s going to do for us dollar-wise, but I expect it to be like a Riversplash event," Fitzgibbons said. "We’ll do four to five the times the normal business we do on a Monday night."
Milwaukee’s own Miller Brewing was eager to put its own stamp on the Major League affair, which restricts its advertising dollars to Budweiser. As the official beer sponsor of Major League Baseball, Budweiser logos have been popping up onto the city’s billboards since May.
"Miller is not a sponsor of the All-Star Game, but Milwaukee is Miller Town," said Cayce Chenault, sales supervisor with Miller Brands, based in Wauwatosa.
Major League Baseball declined to comment the legalities of the brewery sponsorship battles, but both beers will get equal playing time in the advertising arena. Still, Miller and the Water Street Association were forced to change the name of the Monday festival several times to specifically exclude all All-Star Week references.
"We originally called the party the Mid-Summer Classic, but it had to be changed," Fitzgibbons said. "We can’t use the All-Star reference because of the legal ramifications of Bud being the official beer of the MLB."
While Miller may be restricted from sponsoring events in the vicinity of the ballpark, officials are cooperating with the decision. The local brew will remain on tap during the game, side-by-side its St. Louis counterpart.
"We still have our contractual rights and will serve Miller beer at the ball game," said Marilyn Herkowski, spokesperson for Miller Brewing Company. "In Milwaukee, it’s still Miller Time."
Big bites
For local barbecue outfit Saz’s, its still chow time. Owner Steve Sazama said he was able to cash in on the big week by booking parties with ESPN, Pepsi and Nextel at the July 9 game.
Aside from attracting more customers at his restaurant at 5539 W. State St., Sazama said Saz’s is planning a large, parking lot party with Pepsi. The festivities include a large screen television and plenty of barbecue pork and chicken to accommodate 600 guests.
Surprisingly, Saz’s No. 1 selling item is neither pork or chicken sandwiches. "It’s the mozzarella marinara, by far," Sazama said.
All Star goers will get the chance to taste Saz’s barbecue rib sandwiches and famed marinara dish at the Taste of Milwaukee, a private, food-sampling affair for an estimated 4,000 national guests. The event will be hosted at Miller Park before the game.
Organized by Party Planners West, a Los Angeles based company, the Taste will feature local restaurants that feature signature Milwaukee cuisine.
Joe Brueggemann, catering director for Saz’s, said while its MLB contract only puts their June catering tallies ahead by 4%, the national exposure at such a prestigious event is priceless.
"It’s not a huge a contract, but it’s nice to have the involvement in such a large scale event," Brueggemann said.
Officials with Party Planners West have asked local restaurants to feature two of their signature items that define the local flavor of the city.
"There’s so much tradition in Milwaukee, and baseball’s a part of it too," Herkowski said on the city’s cultural character.
Other non hospitality related establishments are looking forward to cashing in on their own terms. Tourist attractions like the Milwaukee County Zoo expect to see an increase in zoo traffic through the early part of July.
"I think the All Star Game will attract a similar sort of audience base in terms of families and kids," said Jenny Diliberti, public relations coordinator for Milwaukee County Zoo. "A lot of times we attract women between 35 and 54 who have children, so I think our target market can parallel what will be coming for the game."
Throughout the year, the zoo averages about 1.3 million visitors, but the increase traffic with the All Star Game, Summerfest and the Greater Milwaukee Open may put them on course to exceed their limits.
Potawatomi Casino is also expecting to see its numbers increase during the All-Star mayhem. Linda Sowell, spokesperson for Potawatomi Casino, said the event falls upon a normally busy time for the business.
"We are preparing for it as we would for a large scale event, similar to something like The Final Four," Sowell said.
In addition, the casino will attempt to cash in on baseball fever in its own right. On site, Potawatomi will feature specially themed food items in its bar and grill, including hot dogs, brats, peanuts and "other typical baseball fare," Sowell said.
"We might also have promotions that would be giveaway for World Series tickets, or might host some of the high rollers at our suites," Sowell said.
Potawatomi Casino is also a local sponsor of the John Hancock All-Star Fan Fest, which will be held July 5 through 9 at the Midwest Express Center. The event is expected to draw 500,000 fans from across the world.
"The economic impact of something like this is hard to measure," Sowell said of the sponsorship.
Any local vendors involved with Fan Fest will also get a national nod from the likes of MTV. The popular show Total Request Live (TRL) is expected to host a live broadcast from the Midwest Express Center on July 8.
"We’re hoping this event will attract a different demographic audience for the All-Star events," said Lynn Sprangers, vice president of community and government relations with the Milwaukee Brewers and coordinator of the 2002 All-Star Game.
Miller Brewery also hopes to generate an interest and revenue from a younger demographic when it hosts its celebrity slam softball game, in cooperation with WISN-TV. The July 5 game will feature local athletes, media personalities and Milwaukee Bucks and Green Packers competing for local bragging rights.
Despite the flurry of events swarming local business budgets, many local businesses are choosing not to hire additional staff for the All-Star Week.
"We’re not looking at hiring
additional staff for this particular event," said Tim Smith, director of sales and marketing for the Hilton Milwaukee City Center. "Prior to the All-Star Game, there are just as busy days for Summerfest."
Sazama is looking forward to selling more pork sandwiches.
"With all the extra people coming into the city, the impact on our business will be terrific," Sazama said on generating fresh revenue. "I don’t know how many people from Milwaukee are actually going to be at the game."
July 5, 2002 Small Business Times, Milwaukee
