SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Coming off another big playoff win last night, Sacramento Kings fans are spreading their money all throughout the city and surrounding areas.
The economic impact is already being felt among businesses and those fighting to see Sacramento thrive.
"It's a phenomenal vibe in downtown and throughout the region. Everyone is obviously so excited. You know, the games have been fun. Bars and businesses have been full," said Dave Eadie, the chief of Sports and Entertainment for Visit Sacramento.
Visit Sacramento says the teams' success is making an impact on multiple industries, including bars and restaurants, but it doesn't stop there.
Local shops and hotels are reaping the benefits as well.
"We opened 18 months ago during the end of the pandemic, and it was very slow to start. And we now enjoy sold-out nights for the Kings games and, especially the playoffs, we were able to sell our hotel rooms at some of the highest rates we've been able to capture in the market," said Nancy Wagner, who is the director of Sales and Marketing for the Hyatt Centric Downtown Sacramento.
The Hyatt Centric Downtown Sacramento says it's almost fully booked for the next home game after the Kings won their first game.
Business is spreading like wildfire, and it's not just impacting the downtown circle.
"Regardless of where they are, the impact is always spread out as people stay in different parts of town and travel to different areas while they're here," said Eadie.
While it's too soon to know the exact economic impact, Visit Sacramento is comparing it to other popular events.
"For a lot of the events that Visit Sacramento puts on, we have some pretty robust economic impact data. We know, for example, March Madness, the economic impact was in the neighborhood of $12 million," said Eadie.
People are coming in from everywhere as businesses put their best face forward.
"The games brought people downtown and from the Bay Area that hadn't been here before, so they got to see what's downtown. All the changes that happened since the pandemic. Businesses like ours that are new, and we do expect to see a lot of them come back," said Wagner.
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