Colt World Series brings in $1.5 mil

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - From visitors staying at area hotels, to eating at local restaurants, the Colt World Series brings in nearly $2 million to the Greater Lafayette area.

Hundreds of teen baseball players, coaches and families from around the world are in Lafayette competing in the 10-team Colt World Series baseball tournament.

Officials said visitors and fans attending the games bring financial benefits to retailers, restaurants and hotels.

They said Lafayette's positive economic impact from the Colt World Series tops $1.5 million.

Tim Clark, President of the Colt World Series estimates each of the 9 visiting teams bring roughly at least 100 people to the Greater Lafayette area during the tournament.

"They bring a lot of fans with them. They bring grandmas and grandpas with them. Siblings come out to the ballparks. So we're looking at at least 15 hotel rooms for each team that comes to town," Clark said. "So that makes a huge impacts with the hotels obviously and the restaurants, the mall and the stores downtown."

"We talked with Colt World Series officials and they've made some exciting changes and some things that they're hoping will draw more people so I think it's going to be something fun to watch grow in the future," Amanda Gordon with the Convention and Visitors Bureau said.

The tournament wraps up Thursday night with the championship game scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.