There’s been a lot of buzz about the 49ers’ new stadium among Bay Area football fans — not just about the team on the field but also the traffic, the Wi-Fi, the craziest hot dog in the NFL, and issues with the field itself. So we decided to take a different look: How is the most tech-advanced stadium in the world driving local commerce?
Perhaps not surprisingly, it’s having a huge impact. On the September 14 season opener against the Cowboys, Square sellers around the stadium pulled in a whopping 571 percent more sales than on an average Sunday in July. And at the next home game on September 28, the neighborhood generated 128 percent more sales than the preseason average (despite being down 23.5 percent from the home opener).
But it was yesterday’s game that brought in the most dough for local Square sellers, with 15 percent more sales than on the opening game. Hotter weather plus winning equals increased cold beer consumption? So whether you’re a fan of the new stadium or not, there’s no denying that local businesses are reaping some serious benefits.
Photo credit: Levi’s Stadium, Intel Free Press, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0
