World Series a home run for Arlington's entertainment district
ARLINGTON (CBSNewsTexas.com) - The excitement for this Rangers World Series battle is a home run for the team's home turf - Arlington.
They are not the Arlington Rangers or the Arlington Cowboys, but the city that sits between Dallas and Fort Worth will have you know it has strategically become a sports and entertainment location, evolving over the decades.
"This is now an Arlington sensation, an Arlington feeling, where it may not have been 10 years ago," said Bruce Payne.
Payne leads the city's Economic Development division, and from the air, you can see the expansion of Arlington's defined entertainment district, adding hotels and food and drink businesses that accommodate thousands who come for a game or concert before they hit the highway.
The World Series coming to Arlington on Friday may be small in comparison to a Taylor Swift tour or a George Strait show where a quarter of a million people showed up.
"So we are well set up now to accommodate everything from the World Cup to the Super Bowl to the World Series," said Payne. "It's as much as we'd hoped for."
Arlington's economic development leaders believe this World Series run will be a financial home run, although they don't like to talk about money.
But here's the scorecard: The Arlington City Council approved a $672.6 million Fiscal Year 2024 operating budget, which includes a property tax rate reduction for an eighth consecutive year.
$145 million of city operations comes from property taxes. But your tax rate dropped. Where did all the extra money come from? The entertainment district.
"It has completely changed the character in many ways of the city, particularly in that part of the city."
The city is set to handle it all - and reap the economic benefits too.