NBA: All-Star Economic Impact Roughly $280 Million For Utah
Feb 18, 2023, 8:43 PM
SALT LAKE CITY – NBA commissioner Adam Silver praised Utah as a host for All-Star Weekend and projected a record economic impact for the state.
Silver spoke on a series of issues facing the NBA before All-Star Saturday night at Vivint Arena.
“In terms of the magnitude of All-Star, this is our largest in our history,” Silver said. “They’re estimating the economic impact here in Salt Lake City will be roughly $280 million. That’s an all-time record.”
The number is significantly higher than initial projections when the All-Star game was awarded to the state in 2019. Then governor Gary Herbert had initially estimated an impact of $45-50 million.
Adam Silver says there’s been an expected $280 million economic impact on the state of Utah from the #NBAAllStar game.
That’s a new record for the NBA.#TakeNote | @kslsports pic.twitter.com/yA00IFSAZo
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) February 19, 2023
Last season Cleveland reportedly saw an economic impact of nearly $250 million, including direct net economic benefit to the city of $141 million.
“We have an all-time record in terms of hotel nights,” Silver said as part of his praise for the state. “We’re occupying 33,000 hotel nights in the community here, and we have more fan events than any time in history.”
The weekend marks the 30th anniversary of the first time All-Star weekend was hosted in Utah.
Silver discussed the process of the NBA event returning to the state, including sharing praise for the Miller family who helped host the event in 1993.
Click Here For a Full Rundown Of The All-Star Weekend Events
“We awarded All-Star to Salt Lake City while they were still in place,” Silver said. “They were passionate about bringing the All-Star back here to Salt Lake City. It wasn’t lost on them when they were applying for 2023 that it would be the 30th anniversary, and that was very significant to them. So a huge thank you.”
Silver also thanked current owners Ryan and Ashley Smith for playing host to this year’s event.
“They’ve been tremendous hosts for the entire NBA community that’s been here,” Silver said. “I can’t think of any specific governors in recent history that have been so hands-on, not just in the planning, but they’re at every event.”
All-Star weekend runs through Sunday night culminating with the All-Star game at Vivint Arena.
Ben Anderson is the Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops or on Instagram @BensHoops.
