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Bay Area Ready For Baseball Fans

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By MICHAEL SASSO msasso@tampatrib.com and TED JACKOVICS

tjackovics@tampatrib.com

Published: October 22, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - With the World Series opening today at Tropicana Field, restaurants, hotels and bars in the area are hoping to hit a home run when it comes to attracting extra business off baseball's big event.

But like the Tampa Bay Rays, many are newcomers to Major League Baseball's big event and so aren't quite sure how much business to expect or how to leverage the opportunity into a welcome windfall.

Some hotels in the St. Petersburg area are seeing strong bookings and reporting few or no vacancies.

Russ Bond, general manager of the Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club in St. Petersburg, said his hotel is booked for the entire series.

"We are definitely full, full, full," Bond said.

Some sports bars, particularly Ferg's in downtown St. Petersburg, also are expecting big crowds. But restaurants without big-screen TVs may lose business as people stay in to watch the game, said Bill Gieseking, director of marketing for Anheuser-Busch distributor Pepin Distributing, which supplies beverages throughout Hillsborough and Pasco counties.

The World Series came along so suddenly that some bars weren't able to coordinate outdoor tent parties and other big events to draw a crowd in time. A few are waiting to see whether the series goes to six or seven games - which would bring it back to St. Petersburg - before investing in tents and other marketing expenses, Gieseking said.

The community is doing its best to welcome fans to the area and capitalize on the series. Tampa International Airport is posting banners with "Go Rays," and Pepin has quickly printed up 150 Rays posters and distributed them to sports bars.

Lenny's, a Clearwater restaurant that is ground zero for Phillies fans, is hosting a group of 160 people from Philadelphia who are coming to the area for the game, said General Manager Kevin Schauer. He's considering proposing a friendly wager with Ferg's, the downtown pub that is home to Rays fans.

Nick Vojnovic, president of Family Sports Concepts, which owns the Beef O'Brady's chain, said one franchisee reports sales were up 20 percent during the recent Rays playoffs games against the Boston Red Sox. The company is hoping to see strong customer turnout for the series.

Reporter Michael Sasso can be reached at (813) 259-7865.

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