What does a pro championship do for a local economy? Is it real economic growth, good vibes, or both?
The city erupted when the Denver Nuggets won the first NBA championship in 2023. Bars spilled out, Ball Arena trembled, and fans poured into Civic Center Park like a national holiday. Media sources declared it a victory for the team and the city’s economy in the following days. But once confetti’s been cleaned, and everyone’s hangovers begin, it’s fair to ask: What does a championship do for a local economy?
There’s no question that the city experienced an economic surge. Visit Denver reported that downtown hotels were almost 90% full during the Finals, 20% above average for early June. Bars and restaurants around Ball Arena experienced 30-50% increases on game nights, said the Colorado Restaurant Association. And NBA-licensed merchandiser Fanatics publicized that championship-themed merchandise for the Nuggets became the best-selling team merchandise worldwide for a week following the win.
The excitement was palpable, and that buzz became currency, particularly for small business owners and service workers in the downtown area.
However, when you analyze the long-term economic impact, the picture gets considerably fuzzier. Sports economists, such as Victor Matheson and Robert Baade, have been examining the financial effects of sports for years. They report that the net benefit of a title run is much smaller than one imagines. Indeed, even the dollars spent during the playoffs or finals are redirected money, not “new money.” People who spend money on game-day beers or Nuggets jerseys likely would have been spending that money at restaurants or shops several miles away if the Nuggets weren’t winning.
Who benefits then? The Kroenke family, franchise owners, got a nice payday, with the team’s valuation probably worth tens of millions extra following their first title in league history. Then, there’s the larger economic picture. The cost of living in Denver is rising, and many workers–particularly hospitality and service workers–are struggling to stay ahead, mainly because of increasing prices and housing unaffordability. Sadly, a title victory for their favorite team doesn’t alter that reality. It may distract from it, perhaps, with a robust feeling of local pride, but it does nothing to address underlying inequities.
Ticket prices skyrocketed, and average resale ticket prices for Finals games reached above $1,300, a far cry from just over $300 for regular-season tickets. Attending games in person was out of the question for many fans. Plus, for Denver businesses not involved in the culture of sports, the economic returns on a championship were mainly invisible.
Nuggets win! (photo courtesy CBS Sports)
Of course, not everything can be gauged through measures like GDP. The Nuggets’ championship is something you can’t put into numbers. You don’t need an economic model to know that the win united the city, from neighborhood to neighborhood, income group to income group, and across backgrounds. A collective morale lift won’t ever show up on a spreadsheet.
A championship won’t cure a city’s economy, fix structural issues, pay student debt, or bring down rent. It will, however, provide folks with something to believe in and bring them together.
Conclusion? We shouldn’t let it replace honest conversations about who gets to enjoy and benefit from a city’s prosperity and who continually gets left out.
