JUPITER, Fla. — Major League Baseball cancellation of what's left of spring training is a loss for area businesses that depend on the added guests.
"Literally it's cut in half as of tomorrow," Aaron Fuller said about business at his restaurant.
Fuller, sitting at the bar of Aaron's Table, spoke about MLB suspending spring training because of coronavirus. Roger Dean Stadium is right around the corner from the restaurant.
He said the financial toll will be significant.
"My budget for the year is gone," he said. "We budget literally for 12 months. A lot of it comes down to these four weeks of spring training that fills our streets up."
Fuller said during spring training his sales are up 30%. He said there's no way to make up that kind of money.
"If this goes in the direction it's going right now, come the first of next month, I'll be canceling advertisements, I'll be canceling everything that I can do for the local community to get my name out there because, quite frankly, this is where the money comes from," he said.
Fuller isn't the only business owner concerned. Jared Zwilling is the owner of Will To Escape escape rooms.
Zwilling said he invested heavily in advertising at the stadium.
"I don't know what's going to happen right now," he said. "I'm kind of scared because I paid all that money and I don't know I'm going to get any of that back."
The Miami Marlins defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 on Thursday before the cancellation was announced. The Cardinals were supposed to play the Houston Astros on Friday.
All over town, you can see the bright red colors of the Cardinals fans. But the stadium will sit empty for now in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
At Aaron's Table, Fuller believes local support will sustain them.
"The local support of the community is really what's kept us in business and profitable," he said.
Not only did MLB suspend spring training, but the beginning of the regular season was delayed by two weeks.
