The Big Dance big boost to Sacramento's economy
SACRAMENTO -- The Big Dance gave Sacramento a big "boom" for business, with millions in economic impacts, more than a hundred thousand fans, and thousands of hotel room nights.
For round one of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament held at Golden 1 Center, Visit Sacramento reported 70,000 visitors -- and for round 2, held Saturday at G1C, more than 102,000 visitors.
With the thousands of fans who descended on the capital city, millions of dollars in spending on ride shares, restaurants, hotels, travel, and all the necessary items included in a trip. The total economic impact of March Madness was valued at around $9.4 million. That number includes the economic boost of 11,000 hotel room nights.
"A lot of people lost a lot of money, but a lot of people made a lot of money, which helped me out here at Public House," said Hannah Frederick, a bartender at Public House Downtown, who said she was pleasantly surprised by how busy the restaurant was over the course of the March Madness weekend.
The hotel room night numbers impact Sacramento's local economy via the Transient Occupancy Tax of 12% charged to all people who stay at a hotel within city limits. This money, according to Michelle Willard, the Chief Public Affairs Officer for the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, goes right back to locals and the city.
"Those TOT dollars are continuing to go up as we get [an] increase of visitors. It's really exciting for our community," said Willard.
Then, there's the national spotlight shined on Sacramento during the tournament and throughout the Kings' winning season. These are opportunities to showcase what Sacramento has to offer, Willard said, as "you never know who is traveling to our city."
The opportunities for potential investments or city growth go up when Sacramento is in the spotlight.