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How Canadian businesses can stay ahead of major sports and entertainment events

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    When Canada hosts global sporting or entertainment events, inflows of fans can drive a spending surge across host cities. Estimates show that a recent large-scale soccer tournament can produce up to $3.8 billion in positive economic output, with each tournament contributing an average of $155 million to Canada’s GDP.

     

    While the opportunity for Canadian businesses is real, capturing it is time-bound. Importantly, it requires more than simply being open. J.P. Morgan’s recent card transaction analysis highlights three generalizable insights that can help Canadian businesses stay ahead of the game.

     

    What to know to stay prepared:

    • Know which fan bases are expected to be visiting your city or region, and use that intelligence to shape customer experiences
    • Understand when demand peaks across the event cycle as different businesses can expect different event-cycle rhythms
    • Strategize based on your business locations’ proximity to the venue; the opportunity is not always closest to the venue

     

    1) International visitors can reshape Canadian commerce

    Besides local fans, major sport and entertainment events bring short-term international visitors. The mix of international visitors is likely to vary by host city depending on what event is taking place. J.P. Morgan Payment's research shows how global fan visits may reshape Canadian commerce in the short term.

    • Large sporting and entertainment events can draw cardholders from many countries, lifting cross-border spending. International card transactions increased across every industry during major sports and entertainment events analyzed.
    • Hotel, lodging and event-related retail (e.g., clothing) often see the highest uplift. Restaurants and bars showed a sustained lift, with day-to-day peaks that can occur beyond game days, depending on local schedules and fan activity.
    • International visitors can bring operational and commercial diversity. Examples include diversity in payment methods, service design, product offerings and communications that reduce friction for international customers.

    When expecting a large sport and entertainment event, it is important to understand which fan bases are expected in your market. Use that intelligence to design experiences to attract international visitors, from product offerings that reflect top visitor markets to promotions and in-store communications in the languages most relevant to expected visitor segments.

     

    In addition, ensure your payment infrastructure can handle a broad range of international cards to reduce friction at the point of purchase during peak periods. When you partner with Chase, you can expand payment options, boost convenience and speed up transactions. Plus, every transaction is protected with fortress-level security.

     

    2) Timing matters across the full event cycle, not just kickoff

    A major trend among global sporting and entertainment events is offering a set of activities designed to make fans arrive in host cities in advance and stay later even after the event ends. In parallel with this trend, analysis of previous card payments from large sports and entertainment events shows spending may not peak uniformly on match days. In fact, different categories follow different event-cycle rhythms.

    • Clothing spend tends to peak early, with the first two days accounting for 43% of total card transactions. Hotel and lodging transactions display a similar pattern, with the opening weekend 22% above baseline.
    • Restaurants tend to see a sustained lift, with day-to-day peaks that can occur beyond event days. Restaurant transactions averaged 14.5% above the pre-event daily baseline, but the single largest day ran 75% above baseline on a midweek day when there was no event.
    • A broader sales lift across other categories may be observed in the late-event stage, with 56% above baseline.

    Instead of planning staffing, inventory replenishment and promotional campaigns around the kickoff, understand where in the full event cycle the demand may peak. Plan with category-specific timing patterns in mind, rather than treating the event as a single, uniform demand spike.

     

    3) The opportunity isn’t always closest to the venue

    A common assumption is that the best event economics belong to the businesses closest to the event venue. However, card payments data from large-scale events suggest a more nuanced reality — the closest zone can be high-volume but low in average spend, whereas the event-adjacent areas farther out can capture fewer transactions but higher average spend.

    • Most transactions tend to occur near the venues. Nearly half of card transactions (49.6%) were observed within ~1 km (0.5 miles) of the gates. However, these were dominated by low-cost purchases such as quick-service food and transit.
    • Highest spend per transaction trend is seen approximately 1.6–3.2 km (1–2 miles) out, driven by hotels and full-service restaurants driving big purchases.
    • Largest share of off-venue spend is observed approximately 5–8 km (3–5 miles) out.

    Winning the event window is less about being closest to the stadium. If you’re right at the gates, the opportunity may be about throughput and product mix rather than assuming every customer will spend big. By contrast, if your business locations are away from the venue, consider targeted promotions and fan-focused traffic initiatives that pull attendees beyond the immediate venue footprint and into surrounding areas.

     

    Conclusion

    Major sporting and entertainment events can deliver a short-lived but huge uplift to Canadian businesses. Previous card transaction patterns tell us to do more than simply expect more customers. Learning in advance when demand may peak, where to look and what to expect for your business can help you predict where that uplift may be. Canadian businesses who understand these patterns can position themselves to capture more of the opportunity.

     

    Disclaimer

    This article references data and insights from Beyond the stadium: Where fans go, spend follows. All figures are based on settled card-present transactions in US host cities and should therefore be viewed as directional.