Weekend sports events bring thousands to St. Louis

ST. LOUIS – It was a big weekend for downtown St. Louis with Arch Madness and the home win for St. Louis CITY SC. Each event brought thousands of people downtown and thousands of dollars to the city.

A sold-out crowd of more than 22,400 football fans filled CityPark on Saturday for CITY SC’s first home game.

“I feel like the whole community has been waiting for this,” said CITY fan Ben Licari. “So to be there when they finally come home is really a unique experience.”

The team won 3-1 against Charlotte FC.

“We need wins, and we’re going to get that win for sure on and off the field last night,” said Patrick Rishe, sports business director at Washington University St. Louis.

But it was also a win for St. Louis.

“It’s good for St. Louis,” said fan Margaret Hovis. “It’s something we needed. … We’re big fans, so it’s just a lot sweeter.”

Rishe said with tickets and retail spending, it’s a big boost for the city.

“If people spend, on average, say, $100 per person on different things, that adds up to almost a quarter of $1,000,000 pretty quickly,” Rishe said. “Well, some of that is going to leak out of downtown and go up into the county or on the Illinois side. It’s still a cash injection at the end of the day.”

It was also a big weekend for college basketball with Arch Madness. Drake Bulldog fans traveled from Des Moines to pack the Enterprise Center.

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“It was fabulous,” said Drake graduate student Jeff Stark. “As if it couldn’t even have been designed better. The wins, the big win today, the hospitality of St. Louis and the fun downtown – it was off the charts.

Overall, fans said they felt safe downtown.

“It was a blast, very safe, well lit and parked in the garage, it took several trips back and forth,” said Drake fan Andrew Wheeler.

Safety is key to St. Louis’ success, according to Rishe.

“If people don’t feel safe, you won’t see that energy and these other retailers won’t come,” Rishe said. “So a lot of the responsibility is on the shoulders of the city leadership to do the right thing and make sure the city is safe when we have these big events.”

Battlehawks fans at Ballpark Village, disappointed by Sunday’s loss, are hoping the city can return to their home game at the Dome at America’s Center next weekend.

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