By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – Finally, baseball's opening season is hitting the Metroplex. If you can't wait for tomorrow's Ranger opening, head on up to Frisco. In fact, head on up to Frisco anyway. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Midday.
I've said it before - I'm a huge sports fan. Though it's taken a couple of years for the sour taste I had about baseball to dissipate, I'm pretty keyed up about what's here now in North Texas. And so is Frisco. Tonight is the inaugural game for the Frisco RoughRiders at the new Dr. Pepper / Seven-Up Ballpark.
When talking to the Frisco Chamber of Commerce this morning, as well as the Frisco Economic Development Corp., you'd think they'd just won the lottery. And in some ways, they did. Bill Lacy at the EDC announced, over the next ten years, this new facility is projected to have an economic impact of $1.5 billion for Frisco. That's what Dallas-based Inside Research found in its ten-year impact analysis. But that's not all. Tax revenues will get a boost of about $98.5 million. That money will go to the city, Collin County, the state, Frisco ISD, and Collin County Community College. No wonder everyone is lickin' their chops. When complete, 3100 new jobs will have been created.
You might be asking yourself, how can a Double-A ballpark generate that much money? Easy. The Dallas Stars are moving their office to this facility in August and by October, the new ice facility will be ready for the team to practice on and practice will be open to the public. Audie Adkins at the Chamber also informed me that a junior ice hockey league will be joining the program. Add retail shops, office space and an attached convention center inside an Embassy Suites hotel, and you've got a lot of consumer dollars being spent.
The fun part, ticket prices range from $9 to $15. Half of what it cost at the Ballpark in Arlington. And you get to see hopeful future Ranger players.
But the name - it's a mouthful. Can't we just say, "I'm headin' up to the Dr. Pepper Ballpark?" After all, it is the drink of Texas. For KERA Marketplace Midday, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m. To contact Maxine Shapiro, please send emails to mshapiro@kera.org.
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