Rangers A Home Run For Arlington Pockets
ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) - The big kick-off for the Rangers season may be a needed score for the city of Arlington. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington hosted record crowds for its home opening weekend. But next door, Cowboys Stadium faces the possibility of no pro football games. Arlington hopes boosted sales tax revenues from Rangers Fever would close that potential gap.
"We've always wanted them to go to the World Series," said Rene Cavazos, a Rangers fan. "Do what they did last year and now everybody's on fire for them."
Which is why Cavazos not only drove his family down from Oklahoma for a game, but spent $300 in the Rangers gift shop.
It's also why businesses near the ballpark got a boost from fans ready to roll out the barrel opening weekend. "We had a bigger flow of people and starting off much earlier," said Wayne Curtis, manager at Sherlock's, a pub near the ballpark.
A visit to Mayor Robert Clucks office emphasizes the importance of sports in the economy; sports images are everywhere.
But it's winning the championship ring that sells tickets. "We don't have to do anything for them to drop money now," laughed Mayor Cluck. "If the Rangers keep winning they're going to keep dropping it."
The Rangers have already sold more season tickets than the previous five years combined -- more than 3,500.
More than 15,000 ticket packages with fewer games than a season ticket plan have sold.
Overall, the Rangers broke a decade long record for early ticket sales with one-point five million tickets sold.
And that means more city revenue to pad city coffers should Arlington lose a few NFL games. "Because the capacity is not there but the longevity is there it could be very similar to that," said Mayor Cluck. "I do know our surplus of 2010 of three million dollars is certainly attributable to some degree to the World Series being played here."
