CRVA says success from All-Star Weekend could bring more big events to Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The City of Charlotte said it believes All-Star Weekend will prove to have been a major economic boost for the Queen City.

Eyewitness News reporter Mark Barber spoke with officials with the Charlotte Regional Visitors Association, who said people spent a lot of money in Charlotte this weekend.

For the next two months or so, the CRVA said it will be doing a lot of research at its offices in uptown to try to figure out exactly how much money the weekend brought in.

Officials said for the past three days the event brought tons of visitors from all over to the city for the NBA All-Star Game and its parties.

The NBA said it brought in nearly 30 social media influencers from the United Kingdom to South Africa to China, and one of the broadcasts in China reached nearly 6 million people.

The CRVA said all those impressions were free advertisement for the city.

Officials said landing the All-Star Game this year sets the stage to go after other big sporting events that Charlotte hasn’t been able to land yet.

“There are dozens of dozens of events out there. It all depends on what our capabilities and our strengths are. For this event, our strength was the Hornets,” said Tom Murray, CRVA CEO.

CRVA officials said they think the Panthers' willingness to get involved in soccer could open up a lot of new possibilities, now that Charlotte has pulled off the All-Star event.

Cox Media Group