After 16 challenging and drama-filled years, the Sacramento Kings clinched a spot in the NBA postseason and will soon face the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. The first game in the series tips off Saturday at 5:30 p.m., here in Sacramento at the Golden 1 Center.
Excitement and pride for the team’s playoff run is palpable in Sacramento: Kings logos and flags adorn the windows of homes and apartments around the city, and people are out sporting their Kings gear and jerseys.
Businesses, office buildings and homes are also bathed in purple. Fans from all over plan to come into the downtown corridor for at least two (but up to four, depending on how the series progresses) upcoming games at the Golden 1 Center.
CapRadio’s Vicki Gonzalez spoke with Vice President and CEO of Visit Sacramento, Mike Testa, to talk about how all of the basketball fanfare has impacted business in the city.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Interview Highlights
On what effect the playoffs will have on the city outside of basketball
So you think about when the Kings were in the playoffs last time, they had close to 20 nationally televised games. That spotlight on our city is not just about basketball.
Our job is to bring in conventions, right? And so when I have to educate people on the East Coast where Sacramento is or what we are, that makes the sale harder.
So when the Kings are creating that image for us, it’s an easier sell. Same with the great people at the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, when they’re trying to get businesses to relocate here, it’s a lot easier to sell the city when people already have an idea of what it is.
On how success in professional sports boosts the overall image of the city
When the Kings are playing well, it’s fun. It’s exciting. You’re watching them on the screen. It says Sacramento across their jersey.
I think to those of us who live here and work in the city, it’s an extension of who we are. It shows the joy and the happiness, and I think the passion that we have for the team and for the city.
When you look at the events [held in Sacramento] … Aftershock, the largest hard rock festival in the country, Golden Sky, the new country festival, we’re doing things that are attracting people from across the country.
We couldn’t really have said that ten years ago, so it’s a very different city than what we were [then]. I’m excited because, hopefully, this is the start of a long run for the Kings. This is not just this year. You have to assume that with the team they have now, they’ll attract even more talent and we’ll be having this conversation for years to come.
On the team attracting visitors from out of town
We certainly saw in the second half of the season — when it looked like the Kings were going to make the playoffs — that there were a lot of people coming into town to see those games.
Now, you talk about the Warriors just down the road. There's going to be a lot of Warriors fans that come to this playoff game. The economics of that are really important because not only is it the restaurants, the bars, everything around the Golden 1 Center, but it's also the hotels. People will come and stay the night. And we've heard that from hoteliers that — especially the second half of the season — they were seeing ten, 15, 20 rooms a night per hotel from fans coming in … that's a lot of money coming into our economy.
On how this might impact future tourism
We saw [an example of] that with March Madness. I talked to a guy who came in from Denver to watch the tournament. He'd never been to Sacramento before, and his response was, ‘I had no idea this city was so cool.’ So you get somebody in for one reason and they want to come back. He said, ‘I'll be bringing my family back to Sacramento because I had no idea what a great space it was.’ Oftentimes, it takes a catalyst like a Kings playoff game to introduce folks to our city and then, you know, they'll continue to come back and spend money into our economy.
On reaction from the business community
Well, it's been a revival, right? I think it's been a lifeline in a lot of ways. You look [at] last weekend when the Kings were playing, DOCO was packed. Not everybody was inside the arena, there were a lot of people that just came down to be part of the excitement.
The good thing is this has been going on for a couple of months now and so the businesses are prepared. A lot of them are making sure that they're open early, that they're staying open late because part of the value of the Golden 1 Center is people are coming in before the games and they're staying after the game. We didn't see that at Arco arena. It's much more of a destination than it ever was before.
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