All Star Weekend 2019 and Charlotte Money
All Star weekend 2019 will bring a lot of money to Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2011, the NBA all star game held in Los Angeles generated $85 million in spending. Fast forward seven years to 2018 and Los Angeles enjoyed about a 40% increase in spending. Although the data is still coming in for analysis, more events and new entertainment options sparked the additional spending in Los Angeles during the 2018 all star weekend.
What does that mean for Charlotte? It means the “Queen City” sits ready to eclipse the all star weekend revenue record set by LA in 2018. Charlotte will benefit from several factors that helped pump the local Southern California economy with what appears to be more than $100 million in spending.
More Hotels
The civic and business leaders who formed the coalition that led to the awarding of the All Star Weekend 2019 to Charlotte had several priorities set before heading to New York to make the case for the “Queen City.” The first priority involved building more hotels to create more rooms for fans who want to remain close to the action in Uptown. Los Angeles reaped the rewards of additional hotel development to keep fans spending money in the city and not in outlying Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. Charlotte has not only witnessed a hotel boom, the city has also witnessed a boom in the design and construction of four and five star hotels.
State of the Art Arena
Tickets to the All Star Weekend 2019 games should be in high demand, which will drive up the price of the tickets. However, more money is generated from the sales of concessions inside the Spectrum Center than the money made from ticket sales. Ask any professional sports franchise owner what the business model is when it comes to increasing sales. The answer is to create an experience that makes fans want to spend money inside sporting venues. From memorabilia to upscale fare, 2019 all star weekend will drive sales for vendors both inside and outside the Spectrum Center.
All Star Weekend 2019 Parties
Expect 2019 NBA all star weekend parties to be the difference between falling just behind LA’s record shattering spending figure for 2018 and shattering the old record in 2019. Every NBA all star game brings the level of sophistication to another level for celebrity parties. An increasing number of A listers spare no expense dazzling partygoers with lavish gifts and upscale culinary feasts. Although Uptown hotels and restaurants will benefit the most from 2019 NBA all star weekend parties, special events center located near the Spectrum Center will receive a slice of the spending pie as well.
Charlotte hosts 2019 all star weekend for the first time in the city’s history. Unlike Los Angeles, the “Queen City” does not have another all star weekend to compare spending data. Maybe the best way for Charlotte to compare what the city generates in revenue is by comparing sales figures with what LA generated for the 2018 game. With new hotels and restaurants, as well as a polished transportation system, Charlotte should give the City of Angels a run for its money.