Tampa International Airport is preparing for as many as 80,000 passengers a day as the World Series brings baseball fans from across the country to St. Petersburg, pushing traffic projections as much as 45% above what the airport typically sees in October. The airport normally handles about 55,000 passengers a day this time of year, when travel tends to slow after the summer rush, putting the expected increase at 20,000 to 25,000 additional passengers daily.
Among those flying into Tampa on Monday morning were Jacob Kupferman and two friends he has known since high school in Milwaukee, who made the trip to watch their hometown Brewers chase the franchise’s first World Series championship. The three described it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, arriving ahead of Game 3 at Tropicana Field as the series shifted from Milwaukee to St. Petersburg.
Their arrival came during a steady stream of baseball-related travel Sunday and Monday, with Rays and Brewers jerseys appearing throughout TPA’s Main Terminal and fans stopping for photographs beside giant “TB” letters, swimming-ray decals and Phoebe, the airport’s 21-foot-tall flamingo sculpture. Airport employees also reported seeing Rays supporters arrive from across the United States and the Dominican Republic.
More than 40,000 fans attended Monday night’s Game 3, where Milwaukee defeated Tampa Bay to take a 3-0 series lead and put the Rays at risk of elimination Tuesday night. A Tampa Bay victory would extend the series to Wednesday, keeping visiting fans in the region for at least another game.
Once the series concludes, TPA’s operations team expects another wave of traffic as fans begin flying home, extending the World Series-related rush into what is typically one of the airport’s slowest travel periods. The airport’s figures are projections, and officials have not released actual passenger counts or identified how many travelers are visiting specifically for the games.