Sports bars and ticket sellers are getting a boost from the American League Division Series between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, which started Friday night at Fenway Park.
“We expect bigger crowds,” said Elena Corliss, general manager of Binga’s Stadium in Portland, which has 55 televisions and five projectors to play the game. “But we won’t see the real crowds until Game 4, which will bring in extra business.”
Hero’s Sports Grill in Bangor, which has 30 flat-screen TVs, also expects busy nights during the five-game playoff series.
“We expect more people with the playoff games than during the regular season,” said Hero’s host Emmitt Ross.
Tickets still are available for the series, though Dan McCarthy, manager of TIckets Unlimited in Westbrook, said the best seats are available through ticket agencies like his, which get them from season ticket holders.
“The prices aren’t demand-driven. They’re what the season ticket holder wants for them,” he said.
He said Game 1 ticket sales weren’t as high as he anticipated. He cited fans waiting for the results of the one-game Yankees-Oakland A’s wild card playoff, rain earlier in the week and fans already traveling to the Boston area for the Patriots game on Thursday.
Had the A’s won against the Yankees, ticket sales would be half of what they are, McCarthy said.
“The ALDS is good business because the Yankees are in it,” he said.
However, demand for tickets to Game 2 on Saturday at Fenway is very strong, he said, with prices ranging from $200 to $800.
McCarthy said there’s a “been there, done that” element to this series, because the Red Sox have been in the playoffs and World Series games many times since 2004.
He expects ticket prices to double if the Sox beat the Yankees to advance to the American League Championship Series.
Amazon’s pay hike could benefit Mainers
Amazon on Oct. 2 said it is raising its minimum wage for all U.S. workers to $15 an hour starting in November. The hike will benefit more than 350,000 workers, including those at Whole Foods, which Amazon bought in 2017.
The higher pay could potentially benefit more Mainers than those working at Whole Foods, as Boston, within commuting distance of southern Maine, still is in the hunt as a location for Amazon’s second headquarters.
The minimum wage in Maine is $10. It will be raised to $11 per hour on Jan. 1, 2019.
Federal Reserve chairman advocates steady rate hikes
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Oct. 3 that gradual interest rate hikes are the correct policy. He made the comments in a discussion sponsored by The Atlantic magazine, according to the Associated Press.
Powell said the rate is low but still boosting economic growth. The Fed hiked rates three times this year, most recently a week ago, with the new rate range of 2 to 2.25 percent. Another rate hike is expected this year, and three more in 2019.
The Fed has been criticized by those who think its pace of increasing rates is too slow, thus risking inflation, and on the other side those who think raising rates too quickly could push the country into a recession.
US unemployment at 49-year low
The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 3.7 percent in September, the lowest rate since December 1969.
Employers added 134,000 jobs last month, the fewest in a year, the Labor Department said Friday. But that number could have been depressed by Hurricane Florence.
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