The incessant chants of "Let's go Brewers" bouncing off the roof were an affront to most Tampa Bay Rays fans during this week's three World Series games at Tropicana Field.
To downtown St. Petersburg businesses around the ballpark, they represented a plethora of credit card swipes by the thousands of Milwaukee fans in town to see the Brewers win their first championship.
While most locals would rather the home team would have lifted the Commissioner's Trophy, the windfall from the Brew Crew takeover made up for the Rays losing the best-of-seven series in five games.
“One of the best parts about having a sports team in your hometown is that you hope to capitalize on a championship and bring that economic injection into your city,” said Brian Lowack, president of Visit St. Pete-Clearwater.
In this case, the boost came from Midwestern fans who been waiting for this moment since 1970 — the franchise began as the Seattle Pilots in 1969 and moved to Milwaukee a year later.
The ferver in Wisconsin drove secondary ticket prices for Games 1 and 2 at American Family Field to thousands of dollars - in the 38th largest market in Major League Baseball. Many tickets at the Trop were going for less than $1,000 for Games 3-5, meaning Milwaukee fans could fly to Florida, stay in hotel and attend a game at a relative bargain.
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The secondary ticket marketplace reseller TickPick estimated 41% of all tickets for Game 4 on Tuesday were bought in Wisconsin, as opposed to just about 30% in Florida. Once the gates opened, a loud “Let's go Brewers” chant began as players began stretching in left field.
For Game 5, people from "Wisco" filled the area behind Milwaukee's dugout and screamed with every successful play by their team. The Fox broadcast crew covering the Series said Game 5 had an estimated 10,000 Brewers fans amid the sellout crowd of 40,489.
As the Brewers celebrated after 4-1 victory, hundreds of fans spilled onto the field.
Darron Nelson, who was visiting from Minnesota, told Spectrum Bay News 9 the cost of tickets was enough of a reason to fly down to the Sunshine State.
“I mean, it’s cheaper to come to games down here,” he said. “It’s $2,000 up north and it’s $500 down here.”
City officials estimated that over 100,000 people visited downtown for the three games, watch parties and related events.
Ferg’s Sports Bar & Grill owner Mark Ferguson told WFLA-TV his business across the street from the Trop saw a month’s worth of sales during Game 3, and even better beer sales for Game 4.
It closed a better baseball season for the businesses, which have faced some major financial hits in recent years. Rays crowds returned to downtown after the Rays were forced to play the 2025 season in Tampa because Hurricane Milton tore the roof off the stadium in 2024.
Also, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Rays advanced to the World Series but had to play the games at a neutral site in Texas. That came after a shortened schedule at the Trop with no fans and businesses operated with strict restrictions and temporary closures.
