Playoffs Create Economic Boost for St. Louis

A baseball team in the postseason is more than a point of pride in St. Louis — it's a big economic boost.

The St. Louis Regional Chamber's director of economic research, Ruth Sergenian, says the economic impact of each playoff game is about $5.3 million, money spent by visitors on hotel rooms, restaurants, souvenirs and other items.

Sergenian says that if the Cardinals played the maximum number of home games and played through the World Series, the overall impact for the region would be $68 million.

The Cardinals hosted Pittsburgh in the first two games of the best-of-five division series. Game 5, if necessary, would also be in St. Louis on Wednesday.