March Madness is just the latest event to give downtown Sacramento a boost. It’s a welcome return after lean years caused by the pandemic, and some businesses said they’re rebounding thanks to the thousands of basketball fans. “The Golden 1 Center is a wonderful venue and it should be here every year,” said Jonathan Bertz, a Missouri fan who took the train from the Bay Area to enjoy the games. Matt Espinosa grew up in Los Angeles and said he first visited Sacramento to watch the UCLA Bruins. “It’s fun to walk around. There’s a lot of history here, so it’s great,” Espinoza said. “It’s actually a nice change of pace, so I’d love to come back.” Out-of-town basketball fans said Sacramento makes them feel at home. Northwestern fans are seeing a lot of purple around town. “I love how everyone is wearing purple now and they lit up the purple for the Cats’ win the other night. I feel like it was meant to be,” said Zach Feldman, who flew in Thursday from New York. With games on Thursday and Saturday, Friday was a busy day and time for fans to explore more of the city. Owners of Identity Boutique at DOCO like to see more traffic to their store. “We have a chance to educate them and hopefully they shop online and tell all their friends about this cute little holiday boutique in Sacramento,” said owner Shane Twila. Stephanie Bozalla said she hopes people will want to come back to Sacramento because of their experiences this weekend. “We get a lot of first-timers and send them to K Street and Old Sac,” she said. “The goal is for all these small businesses to thrive.” Many fans ventured into Old Sacramento to check out the businesses and shops. Frank Bell opened Frankie’s Pizza last fall and is now starting to see business take off. “It’s been tough, tough, but on days like this there’s March Madness, the Kings actually make the playoffs,” Bell said. “We’re excited about it, and so are all the other businesses.” Visit Sacramento estimates the boost from the NCAA tournament will bring $10 million to the economy.
March Madness is just the latest event to give downtown Sacramento a boost.
It’s a welcome return after the lean years brought on by the pandemic, and some businesses said they’re rebounding thanks to the thousands of basketball fans.
“The Golden 1 Center is a wonderful venue and it should be here every year,” said Jonathan Bertz, a Missouri fan who took the train from the Bay Area to enjoy the games.
Matt Espinosa grew up in Los Angeles and said he first visited Sacramento to watch the UCLA Bruins.
“It’s fun to walk around. There’s a lot of history here, so it’s cool,” Espinoza said. “It’s actually a nice change of pace, so I’d love to go back.”
Out-of-town basketball fans said Sacramento made them feel at home. Northwestern fans are seeing a lot of purple around town.
“I love how everyone is wearing purple now and they lit up the purple for the Cats’ win the other night. I feel like it was meant to be,” said Zach Feldman, who flew in Thursday from New York.
With games on Thursday and Saturday, Friday was a busy day and time for fans to explore more of the city.
Owners of Identity Boutique at DOCO like to see more traffic to their store.
“We have a chance to educate them and hopefully they shop online and tell all their friends about this cute little holiday boutique in Sacramento,” said owner Shane Twila.
Stephanie Botsala said she hopes people will want to come back to Sacramento because of their experiences this weekend.
“We get a lot of first-timers and send them to K Street and Old Sac,” she said. “The goal is for all these small businesses to thrive.
Many fans ventured into Old Sacramento to check out the businesses and shops.
Frank Bell opened Frankie’s Pizza last fall and is now starting to see business take off.
“It’s been tough, tough, but on days like this there’s March Madness, the Kings actually make the playoffs,” Bell said. “We’re excited about it, as are all the other businesses.”
Visit Sacramento estimates the boost from the NCAA Tournament will bring $10 million to the economy.