Ravens fans aren't the only ones rooting for a Baltimore win Saturday over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Scores of businesses across the region are pulling for the team. With each Ravens win in the playoffs, restaurants, retailers and electronics stores see a short-term spike in sales as fans pony up for food and drink, team jerseys and big-screen televisions for game parties.
"The further they go, the more it improves the business," said Josh Wiley, a manager at the Big Screen Store in Towson, which specializes in large televisions, the kind that can be seen across a living room, or even several rooms. "If they beat Pittsburgh, we might see a 35 percent increase in sales."
Retailers remember the lucrative Ravens Super Bowl victory in 2001 — and are raising their sales expectations. Wiley, for one, estimates that if the team makes it back to the big game, his store could see its business triple.
Economic impact studies often show that playoffs can generate spending in the tens of millions of dollars. One study from two professors at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County found that residents in a city whose team wins the Super Bowl see an average $140 increase in per capita income. (However, the study found negligible impact on income simply because a team is in the playoffs.)
To be sure, in economics as in football there are winners and losers. That means, on balance, that the economic impact of the Ravens' advancing in the playoffs would likely be muted, said Richard Clinch, director of economic research at the University of Baltimore's Jacob France Institute.
That's because of what economists call the "substitution effect" — people who spend discretionary income on team-related merchandise tend to reduce expenditures elsewhere. Instead of spending an afternoon bowling or visiting a museum, for instance, consumers are buying food and drinks in a bar and watching a football game.
"If you're buying a purple jersey with the Ravens, you might go out to dinner less," Clinch said. (By the way, a Joe Flacco "big & tall" jersey will set you back $100.)
Still, many local businesses with a direct or indirect tie to the Ravens hope to benefit from the team's playoff run even if a few big days for sales in January don't move the bottom line that far. Besides, the civic impact of a winning football team is about more than dollars and cents.
A winning Ravens team is "good news for the region," Clinch said. "It boosts morale, and certainly the bars will see more business. But it's not something that introduces new economic activity."
For fans and businesses alike, a Ravens playoff run is a celebratory mix of hope and lust for Super Bowl glory. People prepare feasts at home or pack elbow to elbow in bars across the region for the camaraderie, the spirit — and beer, wings and spirits.
The Field House sports restaurant in Canton was packed with fans during last weekend's playoff games and the staff expects similar crowds this weekend.
"We had a completely full dining room and bar area and upstairs bar area," said M.C. Corson, the restaurant's marketing events manager. "I don't think it would have been as robust a crowd if it wasn't for the playoff game."
Since the Ravens' victory Sunday over the Kansas City Chiefs, people have been calling the Field House to ask about specials and to make reservations for this weekend's game.
"The Ravens' success has definitely helped bolster the crowds," Corson said. "We're hoping that they will go all the way to the Super Bowl."
Football season is always a good time for the Sports Shop at Towson Town Center. And lately, business is even better for the retailer, which has seen a steady rise in sales of Ravens apparel since the team made the playoffs, said Jason Llerena, a store manager.
"The more the team wins, the higher the demand gets," Llerena said.
Howe Burch, executive vice president and managing director at the advertising firm TBC in Baltimore, said the Ravens' playoff run attracts die-hard fans as well as casual observers who get swept up in the excitement.
"It makes for a bigger pie, for sure," Burch said. But, "it's a finite lift — I don't see it as any longtime impact to the region or the city."
Another economic factor that cuts both ways is the location of playoff games: The Ravens were in Kansas City on Sunday and will be in Pittsburgh on Saturday. Only if the Ravens beat the Steelers this weekend and the New York Jets beat the New England Patriots can Baltimore fans expect to see the winners play here next weekend.
While hotels and businesses near M&T Bank Stadium would benefit from a playoff game that would attract attention and crowds to downtown Baltimore, some establishments in the suburbs say that they get bigger crowds when the Ravens are playing out of town.
