Phillies Playoff Magic Bringing Millions To Local Economy

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Anyone who has even caught a passing glance of the raucous and roaring carnival of red that explodes out of south Philadelphia every few nights now shouldn't be surprised to learn: Red October is good for business.

For the second straight year, the Phillies are making a deep playoff run, and for hte second straight year, that means that hotels, restaurants, transit, and more are raking in the cash.

It's not clear exactly how much the Phillies deep playoff run has brought in thus far, but there's a benchmark. Roughly $78 million was funneled in during the 2022 World Series run, according to the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"Philadelphia truly is a sports destination, and we demonstrate time and time again how we excel at hosting the country's largest sporting events," Larry Needle, the executive director of the Bureau's PHL Sports division, said in a statement.

See also: 2022 Phillies World Series Run Brought $78 Million To Philadelphia Economy

Eateries like Lochel's Bakery in Hatboro are making Phillies-themed treats, like they did last year. Hotels are adding more staff, like they would for holiday weekends or big events like the Philadelphia Marathon. And restaurants across the city and suburbs are continually offering specials for each game, as people gather by the hundreds and thousands to rally in the sea of red.

Its actually even better business if the Phillies aren't quite as dominant as they have been. After a big victory in Game 1 Monday night, the Phillies will host Game 2 again Tuesday night. But the series would only return to Philadelphia if the Diamondbacks get a win here or during the following three games in Phoenix. So a Phillies loss "means more room nights for my hotels, it means more hours for our front-line employees, and millions of dollars in economic impact for our city," Ed Grose of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association told 6ABC.

The Phillies could host a maximum of three more NLCS games and four World Series games (they would have home field advantage if they advance). They're hoping, of course, that they'll need half of that to win it all. And the way they've been playing makes that seem likely.

Last year, Philadelphia also saw an outsized impact compared other cities' World Series runs. Houston's own championship run in 2022 generated less than $50 million, while Atlanta's run last year brought about $30 million, according to published estimates from economic analysts.