Gov. Bill Ritter on Thursday told the Economic Development Council of Colorado that he credits the Colorado Rockies’ run to the World Series with raising the city’s profile and providing a potential windfall of millions of dollars from tourists in town for the games.
“The Rockies have done a fabulous job and have their own story,” Ritter said. “They are a great way to talk about economic impact. We’ll see a $2.6 million bonus to the region per game because of the World Series.”
And intangibly the state and Denver are getting free national exposure because of the Rockies’ success.
“We are going to be able to market this state as a place you can play baseball and ski at the same time,” Ritter said.
According to the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, the impact could range from $2.5 million to $5 million per game. The economic activity in the estimate includes restaurant and bar business and memorabilia and retail purchases.
The estimate is based on studies in metro areas similar to Denver that have hosted World Series and playoff games, said Angela Berardino of the Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The World Series appearance has both short- and long- term benefits, said Bill Becker, chair of the EDCC, which represents economic development professionals from state, county and city offices.
“In the near term it’s helping the businesses in LoDo so they are smiling, and there is state and regional pride,” he said. “In the long term anything and everything that is positive publicly about Colorado is positive and gives us a chance to be seen in a new light and gives us a chance to talk to folks about what’s going on here.”
The governor highlighted the Rockies but also credited the coming Democratic National Convention as a chance to showcase not just the state but the Rocky Mountain region.
The two events lend some celebrity to the city and help when wooing companies to come to Colorado, he said.
During his talk, Ritter also addressed the state’s economic situation. He said Colorado seems to be in good shape, with a 3.9 unemployment rate, well below the national average.
Ritter also discussed educating young people for jobs in the state, the importance of addressing health care concerns and the importance of both traditional and renewable energy.
The state particularly wants aviation and aerospace companies, and Ritter said Colorado has the second-largest concentration of aerospace workers in the nation. He also has plans to create a $3.5 million bioscience fund to help increase the industry in Colorado.
“He had a lot of specifics about the different things he’s done,” Becker said of Ritter’s talk. “And he talked about the challenges … trying to address issues that directly connect to economic development. If we don’t find reasonable solutions to health care, education and transportation, then employers have a hard time saying this is where they want to be.”
