Recent Brewers runs haven't done much for Milwaukee Co budgets. Is this year different?

Great sports weekend here in Wisconsin, topped off by this.

That also included two packed houses at American Family Field, and that hit guarantees at least one more home game in Milwaukee (and more than one should the Brewers finish off the Padres this week). Which means a lot of money was being spent in the Milwaukee area for this weekend.

But how much more, and how much was actually being added to the economy and local government tax revenue in that weekend? Milwaukee’s tourism organization has a number with that.

Each postseason Brewers game at American Family Field will generate an estimated $3.55 million in direct spending at hotels, restaurants and other area businesses, according to Visit Milwaukee. That publicly funded nonprofit group promotes Milwaukee as a travel destination.

That figure, which doesn't include money spent at the ballpark, rises to $5.1 million for each game when it takes into account the multiplier effect. That includes re-spending of those dollars within the local economy by vendors/suppliers and households that benefit from direct spending.

"We expect a beautiful October," said Josh Albrecht, Visit Milwaukee chief marketing officer.

The direct spending estimate per game includes lodging, $641,634; transportation, $551,301; food and beverage, $655,410; retail, $870,201; recreation, $682,244, business services, $145,402, and space rental, $5,570.

Well that’s pretty good, and as mentioned, that doesn’t count what those 44,000+ fans are paying for tickets, food, gear, and other items at the ballpark.

In theory, that should cause a sizable increase in local sales taxes. But it doesn’t appear to be the case, if you look at the combined November and December sales tax distributions in Milwaukee County for the last three years (which would reflect sales taxes paid in September and October).

Interestingly, Milwaukee County’s additional 0.4% sales tax has to be tracked due to that money being earmarked for pension costs, with any remainder going to law enforcement and fire protection services. So the Wisconsin Department of Revenue still reports how much was raised with the original 0.5% sales tax, so we can go apples-to-apples on this. Combined Nov and Dec sales tax distributions, Mke Co. Using 0.5% sales tax base.
2023 (2 Brewer home playoff games) $18.128 million
2024 (3 Brewer home playoff games) $16.968 million
2025 (5 Brewer home playoff games) $16.191 million

Those are three straight declines, which is odd and unexpected due to inflation. But I’ll also add that sales tax revenues were level between 2023 and 2024 for the first 10 months of the year, and were up nearly 7% in the first 10 months of 2025, so it shows how sales taxes distributions can be jumpy in a short time period.

That said, it doesn’t seem that there has been a significant impact on Milwaukee County’s budget based on the Brewers’ playoff appearances of the previous three years. Which makes me wonder how much of the economic impact is displacement of other spending that happens, either within Milwaukee County itself or in the nearby area.

However, we haven’t seen what has happened in a longer Brewers run, particularly if they could get more than 5 playoff games at home and especially if the Crew were to make the World Series (gasp!). Along with the additional game-related revenues, you’d see more outside media and related out-of-staters coming into town and staying in the Milwaukee area if the Brewers made the Series.

If the Brewers qualified for the Series (we’ll know soon enough, won't we?), the Milwaukee County Board could in theory make an adjustment to David Crowley’s 2027 budget and remove part or all of the $7.87 million in increased property tax revenues with the idea of a one-time boost in sales taxes. But it seems risky, as the effect of recent Brewers playoff runs hasn’t had a noticeable effect on Milwaukee County sales tax revenues.

That said, I’d love to find out what a month’s worth of playoff games would do. And have this next month repeat what happened in another year when there was an open Governor’s race in Wisconsin at the same time that Dems stood to make big gains in midterms.

That’s also in a game vs a California team where the Crew was trailing 3-2 at home. And Jim Gantner and Sal Frelick look pretty similar coming around 3rd and diving into home, don’t they? Also happened to be preceded in scoring by Number 22 (RIP Charlie Moore).

I’ll take a repeat of 1982 this October, outside of the double-digit unemployment. Hopefully the good guys win the Big One this time, should they get that far.