Rooftop seating at the MLB Cardinals' Ballpark Village "has brought an additional 534 seats" towards the team's attendance figures, according to Derrick Goold of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. A paid crowd of 47,492 attended Monday's home opener, "the largest ever for a baseball game" at the new Busch Stadium. Official capacity at the ballpark previously was 46,861, including standing-room only. The rooftop seats are "part of the attendance, but not the ballpark," and are "shared revenue sources for the Ballpark Village enterprise." Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III said, "You have to look at those as part of the Ballpark Village economics. There will be an element that eventually creates a waterfall that spreads to other aspects of the ballclub. But I think it's premature to say with this revenue the spigot will open, bump up payroll." He added the additional revenue is "not something that will go immediately to the ballclub." Goold notes the potential tickets "added over the course of an 81-game schedule is equivalent to one game" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 4/9).
