'El Clasico' Proving To Be Big Score For Local Business
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MIAMI GARDENS (CBSMiami) -- For the first time on American soil, Barcelona and Real Madrid will play against each other in Saturday's El Clasico match at Hard Rock Stadium and the city is already feeling the economic impact.
"We are tracking the hotels and occupancy is up two percent," said Rolando Aedo with the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. "Hotels are practically sold out."
Businesses are prepped. At Segafredos in Brickell, patrons can be bused to and from the stadium.
"We have a watch party. We always have watch parties but this will be special because people are going to the game," said Jose Vazquez. "We are 90 percent sold out in Segafredo and almost sold out in Blume for the after party."
But if you waited until the last minute for tickets, your risk comes with reward.
When it was first announced tickets were pricey. Upper level seats were going for hundreds of dollars but now just days out from the game, they're $200.
And lower level, which began in the thousands, are as low as $350.
Todd Rubin from "Todd's Tickets" said the drastic drop in prices may be the stadium's fault.
"When the Dolphins originally negotiated the deal they probably had to pay a lot of money to get the teams here, so that could be one factor," he said. "And they have to allocate that into the cost of the ticket."
Miami is once again in the international headlines, which means more name recognition, respect and, of course, revenue.
"For us, the real impact is the global media that is going to be covering this game," said Aedo. "We are very excited and looking forward to welcoming the world."
Only a thousand tickets are left but the Hard Rock Stadium expects it to be sold out on match day.
And Hardrock Stadium is now a rock solid multiple sport entertainment venue. It's exactly what was envisioned when the 27-year-old stadium got that big revamp.
"This stadium is beautiful something different not like before," a fan said.
Another fan added, "The more soccer comes down here the more I will be here."
Generating a different fan base for the stadium was the plan.
"With events like this, Super Bowl coming in 2020, the U2 concert we just had, I think it is living up to expectations," said Miami Dolphins CEO Tom Garfinkel.
