Minor league baseball has economic clout in N.C.

DURHAM -- Minor-league baseball puts $47 million a year into North Carolina's economy. So say the Minor League Baseball organization and the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The games of the state's 10 minor-league teams annually draw 2.3 million fans, who spend $59.6 million on tickets, concessions and souvenirs.

MiLB and the visitors bureau presented an analysis of minor-league baseball's economic effects Friday at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The Bulls opened their home season Thursday night. The Carolina Mudcats won their home opener in Zebulon on Wednesday.

Bureau President Reyn Bowman said the idea for the analysis came from a meeting with Mark Cryan, author of "Cradle of the Game: Baseball & Ballparks in North Carolina." "It got us to thinking how -- we had always crunched numbers for the Bulls -- it would be something to see what the aggregate was," Bowman said.

Durham officials are asking the state legislature to authorize a referendum on a 1 percent prepared-food tax. Some of the tax revenue would be used for tourist attractions such as a proposed $55 million Minor League Baseball "fan experience" museum in downtown Durham adjacent to the historic Durham Athletic Park.

According to the analysis, minor-league baseball teams pay more than $9.1 million in wages to North Carolina residents and more than $5 million in local-occupancy and sales taxes.

"It was pretty amazing to see their clout," Bowman said, and he acknowledged that the figures could help the case for taxes supporting a baseball museum.