Sales of merchandise and concessions also increase during the playoffs. During a typical regular-season game - the Flyers play 41 home games before the playoffs - food, beverage, and merchandise sales amount to $350,000 to $400,000 per game, said Luukko. In the playoffs, sales might reach $700,000, of which the arena gets a net of 20 percent to 25 percent.
"Fans come earlier, they stay later and just spend more while they're there," Luukko said. "It's really a fun time."
The players also get a share of the pie.
Under the terms of the NHL Players Association contract, the league distributes $6.5 million to players whose teams appear in the playoffs. The champions get $1,875,000 of that, which the players divide into shares among themselves. The players on the second-place team get $1,125,000.
As for the Philadelphia economy, Luukko said each home game generates about $200,000 in city tax revenue - sales tax, wage tax, admissions tax.
But Zimbalist, the sports economist, said the games would not really generate too much additional economic activity, because the hockey games do not attract too many out-of-town fans (although 600 media representatives will attend).
"Pretty much all the people who are going to be at the arena will be from Greater Philadelphia, and they spend money at the arena instead of spending it somewhere else in the Philadelphia economy," Zimbalist said. "So it doesn't have much impact one way or another."
Contact staff writer Andrew Maykuth at 215-854-2947 or amaykuth@phillynews.com.
