On April 9, the Warriors vs. Suns game concluded in Golden State’s favor — and by a significant 38 point margin.
The stakes were high — and right now, it seems like the Phoenix Suns will ride off into the sunset. With three games to go in the regular season, a single loss will eliminate Phoenix from playoff contention. Moreover, due to the specifics of the current standings, a single win from the Dallas Mavericks, recently bereft of Luka Dončić, will also eliminate the Suns.
To make matters worse, Phoenix’s next game is against the Oklahoma City Thunder — and OKC is the 1st seed in a Western Conference that is historically competitive and packed with talent.
So, to recap — things aren’t looking good for the Suns. However, no matter which way high-stakes matchups like the Golden State Warriors vs. Phoenix Suns go, the local economy benefits — here’s how.
The league that brought us the Warriors vs. Suns game contributes hundreds of millions to cities
Sure, every sport has its stars — but the National Basketball Association (NBA), in particular, is a star-driven league. An unfortunate ankle injury prevented fans from witnessing Kevin Durant — but Stephen Curry made a good showing with 25 points (despite a slump in three-point shooting percentage).
Star power translates into tickets, tickets translate into crowds, and those crowds do what all other crowds of sports fans do — buy hot dogs, down beers, and buy jerseys.
The draw of games like these isn’t just local — the tourism and hospitality industry sees an uptick when a big game is about to happen. Ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft see an increase in demand, while marketers, whether they’re on local news stations, sports radio, or independent social media influencers, ride the coattails of the game.
Quantifying these benefits is hard, but we do have some idea as to the exact numbers. The Seattle Supersonics (a now-defunct team, which happens to have also drafted Durant), relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008, costing Seattle an estimated $188 million on an annual basis.
There’s also the matter of infrastructure and job creation to consider. To use a more recent example, the Philadelphia 76ers intend to build a new stadium. While the project has run into several issues, that’s beside the point — what’s of interest to us is the fact that an economic study done by the city pointed out that the project would result in some $390 million in new tax revenue.
Featured image via Shutterstock
