Business & Tech
Super Bowl 50 Could be a Windfall for Novato, Other Marin Cities, Chamber Leader Says
Close proximity to San Francisco and Wine Country makes North Bay cities such as Novato well-positioned to benefit from "spillover" effect.
When the NFL owners selected the San Francisco 49ers new Santa Clara stadium to host the 2016 Super Bowl, they may have given a city 75 miles to the north they probably never heard of a shot in the arm.
That's according to Novato Chamber of Commerce CEO Coy Smith, who views the Super Bowl as a potential windfall to local businesses.
"Sometimes we get what's called 'spillover' for people coming over for some event," Smith said.
"Anytime there's a massive, large event like that there is potential benefit to us because obviously our hotels are not going to be quite as expensive as the San Francisco hotels and we're closer to wine country.
"You just never know if it actually happens, but we're in a good strategic location for that sort of stuff to occur."
Smith said Novato business leaders won't just wait around for tourist dollars to fall in their laps, noting the chamber's tourist committee will promote local hotels, restaurants and other tourist attractions about eight months before the game.
He said the tourist committee has benefited from other major events such as the U.S. Open and Oracle conventions. Smith said the tourist committee will likely work with business groups from other Marin county cities to promote tourism-related businesses.
"There's a very good chance that we can see some spillage from (Super Bowl 50) and we'll probably market to that," Smith said. "I'm sure as it gets closer we'll gear up, we'll probably even buy ads in ways that target people who are thinking of coming here."
