Maryland Business

According to Bucky Lasek’s Twitter account, the famous skateboarder was touring around Maryland Tuesday to promote the Dew Tour coming to Ocean City this summer.

The Dundalk native was in and around Baltimore, even paying a visit to radio station Z104.3, to get the word out about the tour coming back to the state.

The event features an array of extreme sports, most notably skateboarding, and is scheduled for July 21-24.

The event will be broadcast live for two hours on July 23 and 24 on NBC Universal, domestically and internationally, and is expected to get coverage on USA Network and MTV as well, according to Alli’s application to the City Council.

The Camden Yards sports complex hosted the Dew Tour in 2007 and 2008, but a scheduling conflict with the Baltimore Orioles prevented the tour from returning in 2009.

When the tour came to Baltimore in 2008, it drew more than 52,000 fans to the Camden Yards parking lots and created about $10 million in economic impact, according to city tourism leaders. The tour drew more than 55,000 action sports fans in its inaugural Baltimore stop in 2007.

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The Orioles had their home opener on Monday, and tens of thousands of fans turned out. And East Baltimore Development Inc. has bought out D and A Liquors from Daisy Jackson, who has worked there since 1975. Those stories and more in this week’s business top 5.

1. Orioles help lift spirits of Camden Yards vendors with Opening Day win – by Rachel Bernstein

Vendors and concession stand owners inside and outside Oriole Park at Camden Yards Monday were equally positive about a strong Opening Day bringing in the cash.

A re-energized team and beautiful weather made for a particularly busy home opener as the streets around the ballpark were flooded with fans in orange.

2. 2 plans call for more residences in downtown Baltimore – by Melody Simmons

Downtown Baltimore needs to grow, and adding residences is among the best ways to do that, according to two development plans for center city unveiled Wednesday.

One plan, from the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, highlights a need to whittle down the high vacancy rate for office space, use existing and new development incentives to spur redevelopment and convert of old office space to residential units.

3. Bill limiting credit checks by employers approved – by Nicholas Sohr

The General Assembly passed legislation Wednesday that would limit businesses’ ability to use the credit histories of job applicants in making hiring decisions.

The House of Delegates approved SB 132 on a 90-46 vote and the Senate voted 33-13 on twin legislation, HB 87.

Sen. Catherine E. Pugh, D-Baltimore City, said technical amendments tacked on to the bills by both chambers made them identical, meaning routine concurrence votes on both are all that stands between the legislation and the governor’s desk.

4. EBDI is buying out Miss Daisy for $250K – by Melody Simmons

Daisy Jackson has worked the small, cut-rate liquor store she owns at Eager Street and North Broadway since 1975.

But all week, the 74-year-old was clearing out nearly a lifetime of memories at D and A Liquors as she prepares to vacate the red-brick row house decorated with brown paneling, wood shelves, bulletproof Plexiglas and posters for beer and alcoholic beverages.

5. Motion to dismiss State Center lawsuit has 3-hour hearing – by Melody Simmons

Did they “hide in the weeds” or are a group of downtown property owners on the brink of financial ruin?

A Baltimore City Circuit Court judge heard a motion Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit by members of the group, who claim the $1.5 billion State Center redevelopment will render leasing in center city null and void.

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With 15 home games left in the season, the Baltimore Orioles are staring down an abysmal attendance hole they won’t remedy before the end of the year.

Just 1.37 million people have gone to Camden Yards this year through 65 games — a 13.5 percent drop in attendance from this point last year. I doubt it will end that low with the Red Sox and Yankees each due for one more weekend visit here before the end of the season. But a 10 percent drop in overall attendance and a total of just over 1.7 million total fans isn’t out of the question either.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Nope — that’s not a typo. It seems counterintuitive, right? The Orioles are stinking up the ballpark something fierce this season, losing 21 of their last 26 and with a 20-52 overall record.

But attendance is up more than 3 percent this year. And at one point (just after their last home stand against Boston) it was up by 10 percent.

I know. It seems weird. Through 35 home games, total ballpark attendance is at 802,977. Last year through 35 games the total attendance was 777,775. After the June 4-6 weekend series against Boston total attendance was 596,703 compared with 540,999. Read the rest of this entry »

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The company that has been the concessionaire at Oriole Park at Camden Yards since the ballpark opened in 1992 hopes that relationship will continue. But ARAMARK’s contract with the Orioles is up, and the team is considering its options, according to the team’s spokesman.

ARAMARK does not comment on potential bids, but when asked if it submitted one for its own contract a spokesman said, “we hope to continue providing services at the ballpark.”

Last month, ARAMARK, which recently lost a bid at the Baltimore Convention Center, filed a notice with the state that 609 full- and part-time employees at its Camden Yards office would be affected if ARAMARK did in fact lose its deal with the Orioles.

ARAMARK also has offices at the Warehouse (which is owned by the state), and there’s no guarantee that a new concessionaire would take the same space — or even any space.

And a drop in rent income is not something I imagine the agency wants to be staring at during the last half of an already tough fiscal year for Maryland.

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All right, before you start freaking out over that subject line, I’m sure Camden Yards is perfectly safe. But it did get you to click on this post, didn’t it?

But as for the question at hand, we may have a specific answer in a few months after a safety study on the ballpark is finished. The Maryland Stadium Authority recently hired Chicago-based Hillard Heintze to conduct a comprehensive security threat and vulnerability assessment of the Camden Yards Sport Complex (which includes the ballpark, the warehouse and M&T Bank Stadium).

Stadium Authority officials at their last public meeting mentioned that the impact the sports complex’s proximity to D.C. was an element they wanted covered.

But here’s my question — what about the little things? The last several times I’ve gone to either ballpark (D.C. or Baltimore), I’ve noticed the bag check at the security has gone a little lax. So far it’s just encouraged me to try and sneak food into Nationals Park (thank you O’s for letting me bring in my own food without the risk of getting mustard on my wallet).  But what kind of tricks could ill-intentioned people pull?

And the same does not go for football games — especially the Ravens, which seems like the equivalent of going through airport security. At least it is for the guys…finally a perk to being a woman that involves shorter lines!

What’s your assessment as a fan of the security at sporting games? Are some venues in this region better than others?

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Well, we’re at the All Star break and it’s time for another Orioles attendance update. And this time — are you sitting down? — it’s good news!

If you’ll remember, back in early June I predicted we’d start seeing a boost in our beloved O’s attendance rate because the Birds were hosting a string of high-drawing teams, Matt Wieters had arrived and school was out.

I love being right.

After the June 9-11 series against Seattle, Oriole Park’s total attendance for the year was 692,891 — a whopping 21 percent down from its corresponding 32nd game at home last year. Since then, the O’s have hosted Atlanta, the New York Mets, Boston, Washington and Toronto and picked up 15 points in the meantime.

The team is still down from last year, but only by 5.2 percent. And that’s pretty much in line with the rest of Major League Baseball attendance, which is down between 4 and 5 percent, according to the Sports Business Journal.

Meanwhile, since Wieters joined the club on May 29, more than 600,400 people have passed through the gates at Oriole Park in 21 games. During the previous 26 games, attendance totaled about 541,000.

Now, not all is well — I attended Sunday’s matchup against Toronto (which drew about 21,600) as a plain old fan and the atmosphere was almost sleepy in the upper reserves. And this was despite the fact the Orioles won and had the lead for most of the game. Toronto’s not the kind of team that will draw road fans (as opposed to the previous clubs I mentioned), and with just orange and black shirts to fill the stands, the emptiness was palpable.

I know many Orioles fans who pride themselves on their baseball knowledge and their steadfast support of the team (although maybe not always its ownership). And while maybe it’s not as bad as attending a Sunday afternoon game at Nationals Park, it’s still a little depressing to see the lack of turnout from home fans on a beautiful day when you can get tickets for as little as $9.

The visiting fans are doing their part for Orioles attendance — if more Orioles fans showed up to support their team, Oriole Park may even beat its attendance total from last year. But the ball’s in your court — we’ll see how the second half of the season goes.

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New to Oriole Park? Don’t know where to park? Want to get the lay of the land before you arrive at the ballpark? The Orioles and the Harris Corp. have teamed up to offer “Virtual Birdland,” an online virtual tour of the park and its surroundings aimed at visitors unfamiliar with the area.

Harris Corp., a Melbourne, Fla.-based international communications and information technology company, has created 3-D flyover videos that show the park, adjacent parking lots, entrance roadways and the nearby Inner Harbor.

“This is especially convenient for first-time visitors who…want to become more comfortable with where they are going, and how to get there,” said Greg Bader in a news release. “We are confident that Virtual Birdland will demonstrate the ease and convenience of attending a game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards and we’re very excited to offer this capability to our fans.”

I’m wondering what kind of difference this will really make for people attending Camden Yards for the first time. I mean, doesn’t Google Maps’ satellite view essentially do most of this already? I know I use that option when mapping a new destination with which I’m unfamiliar.

The new campaign is, however, in line with the team’s marketing angle that its ballpark is accessible and a tourist destination. But will it help sell tickets? Won’t most of the people checking out Virtual Birdland be doing it to plan their routes and have already have purchased a ticket?

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