Major sports events boost business near Chase Center, but lasting impact uncertain
Mega sporting events such as the Super Bowl, NBA All-Star Weekend and World Cup can bring hundreds of millions of dollars into the Bay Area, and while they can produce significant sales increases for some businesses, economists say the long-term benefits are less certain.
Moshi Moshi has been serving sushi rolls and teriyaki at Third and 18th streets for nearly 40 years, long before Chase Center opened and Mission Bay began its rapid expansion.
"We have staff that were kids raised coming here," general manager Sarah Spradling said. "It feels like a very neighborhood spot."
Spradling has watched the restaurant's customer base evolve along with the surrounding Dogpatch and Mission Bay neighborhoods. The opening of Chase Center and expansion of the UCSF Mission Bay campus have brought more people and potential customers to the area.
"We have clients who come to every Warriors game and now regular Valkyries fans," Spradling said. "We have one who comes to almost every game with one, two, six people."
As restaurants contend with rising labor, food and operating costs, Spradling said certain events at Chase Center provide an important influx of customers. She estimated that the 2025 NBA All-Star events increased Moshi Moshi's revenue by at least 20% during that weekend.
"We prep more, get more things ready for it, and add more staff on for those things," Spradling said. "We've had to figure out how to balance it."
A study found that the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend generated more than $328 million in economic activity across the San Francisco Bay Area. But economists caution that large regional estimates do not necessarily show how much money reached individual neighborhood businesses or whether the gains continued after visitors left.
Anoshua Chaudhuri, an economics professor at San Francisco State University, said restaurants and other small businesses often experience short-term sales increases during major events, but research has not consistently demonstrated lasting economic growth.
"When you're looking at one-time events, a lot of the economic impact analysis has not shown anything beyond that particular day," Chaudhuri said. "It doesn't do much to the economy other than maybe create a branding effect or an uptick in tourism."
Chaudhuri said that branding effect can still matter. A successful, widely televised event can improve a city's image and potentially encourage visitors to return, producing longer-term benefits that are more difficult to measure.
Economists say events such as the Olympics may leave a larger economic footprint when host cities build transportation systems, venues or other infrastructure that residents continue using after the event ends.
For some customers at Moshi Moshi, one consequence of Mission Bay's growth and the crowds attracted by Chase Center is easier to identify. They say finding parking has become increasingly difficult.
Spradling said large events can provide a significant boost, but staffing pressures, parking shortages and rising operating expenses remain ongoing challenges. For longstanding neighborhood businesses, the goal is to attract new customers while continuing to serve the regulars who supported them before the neighborhood became a major entertainment destination.
