Lack of spring training impacts small businesses, ballpark employees
If it weren’t for the ongoing MLB lockout, spring training games would already be underway for the league’s 30 teams. The economic boost that comes with Spring Training is "greatly missed" according to a local business owner.
TAMPA, Fla. – If it weren’t for the ongoing MLB lockout, spring training games would already be underway for the league’s 30 teams.
But not only are spring training fields empty and fans disappointed. Normally, these games bring lots of tourists to cities like Tampa, Florida, and a local business is missing the action.
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A base on the field before the spring training game between the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins at George M. Steinbrenner Field on March 18, 2018, in Tampa, Florida. (B51/Mark Brown/Getty Images)
"We do get a great business when the Yankees play," George Pavlakos, the former long-time owner of Mom’s Place, a breakfast spot located down the street from the Yankees' George M. Steinbrenner Field, told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.
Mom's is not only a local favorite but a Yankees favorite too.
"We used to cater to a lot of the Yankees. They used to come in and we’d feed them breakfast," Pavlakos said.
Pavlakos said the restaurant can still rely on its regular customers for business, but spring training normally brings a boom of customers as locals and tourists flood the area to see a game.
"And that is greatly missed," he said.
It’s a similar story across Florida and Arizona, where the MLB's 30 teams play their spring training games. About half of the teams play in Florida in cities like Fort Meyers, West Palm Beach and Lakeland. The other half play in the greater Phoenix area, in cities like Tempe, Mesa and Scottsdale.
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The 2018 Spring Training MLB logo during the spring training game between the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins at George M. Steinbrenner Field on March 18, 2018, in Tampa, Florida. (B51/Mark Brown/Getty Images)
Spring training hasn’t officially been canceled yet. But this week the MLB said Opening Day and the first two series of the 2022 season are canceled. This leaves this year’s spring training in doubt, a bummer for fans hoping to catch a game.
"We know our locals do. We know our visitors do too. You know, some travel here explicitly to do that," said Santiago Corrada, the president and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay.
Corrada told Fox News Digital it’s tough to know how many people travel just for the games, but the economic impact will likely be most noticeable for people who work part time at the fields during spring training games.
Pavlakos said many of those workers are elderly and rely on the money.
"To think you have a job for a month and a half or two, and it’s pulled out. It impacts them also," Pavlakos said.
A spokesperson with the Aloft and Element Hotel in Midtown Tampa said tourism likely won’t take too big of a hit this year, at least in the Tampa area.
Signs are posted outside Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida, Monday, Feb. 21, 2022. Baseball labor negotiations moved to the spring training ballpark from New York as players and owners join the talks, which enter a more intensive phase with perhaps a week left to salvage opening day on March 31. (AP Photo/Ron Blum)
"We haven't seen that much of an impact with the cancelation of spring training as both hotels show high occupancy for the whole month of March," spokesperson Nori Guevara said.
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Guevara said March is the busiest month of the year for the Tampa market because the area will soon see travelers for spring break.
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