Aziz Francis Kobty has experienced the power of the Rangers fandom, first-hand. His Arlington restaurant, Prince Lebanese Grill, has served up food at Globe Life Field a few times this season-- and sold out every time.
“Wednesday, we sold out, came back and got more food, and sold out again," Kobty said.
So this week, he's bumped up food deliveries from every other day, to every day, doubling chicken from 200 to 400 pounds a day, and planning for 10 gallons of hummus per day.
“Which is a lot of hummus!” Kobty laughed.
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He said no one on his team will be on the bench come World Series time.
"All 50 will be working, if not on Friday and Saturday. And then we’ll call in some family members too, if we have to," Kobty said.
Brent DeRaad, president of the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau, said they're already hitting capacity at hotels.
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“We are almost sold out in Arlington on Friday and Saturday," he said.
He said they expect spending to skyrocket from $1 million per home game to $12 to $14 million per home game.
"Anytime you’re bringing a World Series game, not only do you get the national attention, but you also get people coming in," DeRaad said.
DeRaadt said their research shows there are 30 to 40 restaurants that fans patronize before and after games.
"When small businesses get a chance to participate in something of this magnitude, it allows them to win, it helps them to scale, it gives them opportunities that ordinarily they wouldn’t have had access to," said Jacoi James Pugh, president of Black Women's Wall Street.
Pugh's nonprofit aims to help Black women become business owners through training, financial literacy and education. She said the national spotlight will be crucial.
“[To] gain exposure, and so that we can increase our client base. And the World Series is absolutely going to be that for a lot of small businesses," Pugh said.
The excitement was on display at Arlington Mayor Jim Ross' State of the City address on Thursday.
“Arlington, Texas, will be the center of the baseball world," said Chuck Morgan, Rangers' executive vice president of ballpark entertainment, promotions and production.
Morgan introduced the mayor on stage, who took off his jacket to reveal a custom Rangers jersey that said "Mayor" on the back.
"All eyes will be on Arlington, Texas," echoed Kobty.
He said the Rangers have already run up their customer counts; they've seen an uptick before home games.
“People coming into Arlington, staying in the hotels, dining local. The locals also coming out and supporting us before the game, so it’s been a big—big uptick for us," he said.
Kobty said they're ready for a big weekend on a big stage.
“Winning cures everything and it helps everybody out," he said.
