The Pistol Shrimp collegiate baseball team’s quick move from Dupage County to Peru means a lot of free baseball viewing this year. There’ll be no admission charge. Mayor Scott Harl says there’s not enough time to close off the field to keep non-payers from watching, so that’s going to be used as a promotional advantage. The first home game is barely 12 weeks away.
So the city will pay about $2,600 per game to the team from its hotel-motel tax fund to make up for not having ticket sale revenue. Hotel-motel tax money is for promoting tourism that generates hotel stays. And with many players’ families coming from other states, there are likely to be many hotel stays on top of the other business they bring.