DOCO Businesses Hope A Kings Turnaround Also Brings Back Foot Traffic
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - As the only game in town, the Kings have a widespread impact not just on sports, but businesses as well.
CBS13's Steve Large talked to businesses around G1C. While the Kings are hoping for a comeback with this very tough season -- it's one that affects how nearby business flows.
The new arena was built because the city wanted to get downtown foot traffic back. Now, it's gotten so bad that it's noticeable in the bottom bowl of the Kings game home games that fans aren't even showing up.
Of course, this is happening during a time of COVID but even with that, you're seeing other arenas selling out. The fans in Sacramento are not coming to the games and it's noticeable.
And this is all about the Downtown Commons that was built around the arena. A lot of small businesses in the area are being impacted.
On business just opened their doors a week ago. They're not a Kings store, but they know that they're impacted by the team's popularity.
"So, there's no link between us and them, you know, but yeah, if they're doing good, the more...people are going to come in, the more people are going to come they're going to come inside and shop with us," said the owner. "The more this area is busy the more our business kind of gets busy."
The capacity at G1C is 17,000 plus. We've been seeing numbers in the 13,000s and there hasn't been a sellout since October. So a shake-up was due and the NBA has a trade deadline this week, so it's not surprising that it timed out this way today.
CBS Sports gives the trade a C+ grade.