Dodger Mania Boosts LA Economy During Run-Up to World Series

Affecting everything from merchandise sales to local bars to entire neighborhoods, the economic effect of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ road to the World Series cannot be disputed.

After a comeback from 5-0 to win 7-6 against the New York Yankees, the Dodgers kept everyone on the edge of their seats. With history made by Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam to win Game 1, fans will have moments seared in their memories for decades to come. Dodgers fans are willing to shell out big to celebrate their champions. Fanatics reported that after winning Wednesday night, “the Dodgers set a Fanatics sales record for first-hour sales of a team's merchandise, across any sport, after claiming a championship.”  The top five players for merchandise sales were Ohtani, Freeman, Betts, Yamamoto, and Kershaw.

Local bars in various parts of L.A. that featured Dodgers games saw an uptick in year-over-year traffic most weeks, particularly in recent weeks leading up to the National League Championship and the World Series. Spontaneous parades erupted in locations such as Whittier Blvd in East L.A., in Downtown L.A., and near Dodger Stadium in Elysian Park.

We’ve previously written about the Shohei Effect on hotels like the Miyako that features the mural “LA Rising” by Robert Vargas, but now after a World Series championship, the Boys in Blue are set to go even higher into the stratosphere of fandom. We looked at the foot traffic to Dodger Stadium and to Little Tokyo, and no surprise there’s definitely an uptick to the latter on game days, especially on Saturdays. Vargas is currently working on a mural of the late Fernando Valenzuela in Boyle Heights, and Angelenos will likely be flocking in droves to come see  “Fernandomania Forever” when it is unveiled.

One interesting finding is that visitation was actually higher during some of the regular season games than for the World Series Games 1 and 2 that took place in LA.  One reason may be the sky high prices.  Per reseller Ticket IQ, “the average price for a World Series ticket on the secondary market was $3,887, the second most expensive average since it started tracking data in 2010.”  For some fans, it was a dream of a lifetime, one that some were willing to “sell a kidney” to attend.